India, Aug. 15 -- When Rajinikanth forayed into cinema, exactly 50 years ago today with K Balachander's Apoorva Raagangal, he was not Thalaivar. The tag superstar was still a few years or so away from him. In fact, he was not even a hero. He was simply an actor, playing a flawed wife-beater, a character that evoked more derision than awe. To those who have grown up on Superstar Rajni, it may be hard to fathom, but the man was once known as a powerhouse performer - one that cinema lost at the altar of superstardom.

Rajinikanth's first few roles were of a wife-beater, a rapist, and someone who murders his own friend. Not the resume an aspiring hero would want. But in all these roles (from Apoorva Raagangal, Katha Sangama, and Moondru Mudic...