'Superstar for a reason': Netizens hail Rajinikanth for making surprise visit to Bengaluru bus depot

Tamil superstar Rajinikanth unexpectedly visited a bus depot in Bengaluru's southern region on Tuesday. The 72-year-old actor surprised everyone working there when he stopped by a bus depot in the city's Jayanagar area. In a short video released on X (formerly known as Twitter), the superstar can be seen interacting with the employees at the bus stand, and the employees can be visibly seen excited due to the unexpected pleasant surprise. 

After the videos and pictures were posted online, internet users hailed the superstar's humble gesture.

Rajinikanth worked as a bus conductor for Bengaluru's bus transportation service before entering the film industry. When the actor received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2021 for his contributions to cinema, he thanked Raj Bahadur, a former city bus driver, for requesting him to try his hands at the film industry while he was working as a conductor.

"My friend in Karnataka, bus transport driver, my colleague – Raj Bahadur. When I was the bus conductor, he identified the acting talent in me and encouraged me to join the cinemas," the actor said in his speech after receiving the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

Rajinikanth started his film career in the 1975 Tamil drama 'Apoorva Raagangal', which was directed by K Balachander.

In a media interaction, Bahadur later said that Rajinikanth was not interested in acting. Still, he pushed him to give it a try, which led to the actor joining the Madras Film Institute for training, and after that, there was no turning back.

"Although he was a conductor like many others, he definitely had a spark. We used to watch him act in dramas organised by the employee association, where he would always play the main role. He was really exceptional in acting. But he never dreamt of being an actor,” he said

"Once, I told him that he has all the talent and ability to be an actor in movies. He was not interested in entering movies, but I pushed him. Eventually, he was sent to Chennai for training at Madras Film Institute," added Bahadur.

Meanwhile, Rajinikanth’s latest release, Jailer, is breaking all the records at the box office.

The film is moving towards crossing the lifetime worldwide box office collection of Prabhas-starrer blockbuster Baahubali: The Beginning. The film is marching towards making Rs 650 crore at the global box office.

In its first week of release, Jailer made a total of Rs 450.80 crore, and Rs 124.18 crore in its second week at the global box office.