Once, Rajinikanth was still Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. Once, he was just a bus conductor. Once, he used to be a fan of NT Rama Rao. Wait here! Let's share something exciting.

Shivaji Rao being an NTR fan had a consequence. A life-changing consequence at that. When he was a bus conductor in Bangalore, an annual event would be held at the transport depot every year. One year, Shivaji Rao happened to play Duryodhana at the annual event since he was an NTR fan. He imitated NTR and this impressed his fellow driver Raj Bahadur so much that he told the future superstar to just go join some film institute.

Thanks to the financial support extended by Satyanarayana Rao (Rajini's elder brother), Rajini enrolled himself at a film institute in Chennai. A few months later, he bumped into director K Balachander. The rest, as they say, is history.

Speaking to a magazine, the '2.0' actor says that he has always been a big fan of Shivaji Ganesan.