India, Aug. 14 -- 15 August 1975 will forever be etched in history as the day Rajinikanth, born as Sivaji Rao Gaikwad, was first seen on the silver screen in K Balachander's Apoorva Raagangal. Unlike the larger-than-life persona he's known for now, his first show had him in shabby clothes and entering a gate to meet his estranged wife. And the rest, as they say, is history.

While Rajinikanth's cigarette and sunglass flipping, walk with a swagger, the way he says 'Ardhamainda Raja' (did you understand it?) sardonically might be his trademark today, at the beginning of his career, the actor might not have had much of a choice when he played the villain back to back in films like Avargal, 16 Vayathinile, Aadu Puli Attam and Gaayathri. He sn...