Actor Rajinikanth on Tuesday arrived at the city’s Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus stand where he went down memory lane when he once worked as a bus conductor. Rajinikanth (72) surprised everyone by reaching the Jayanagar bus stand and spent some time with BMTC drivers, conductors and other employees. Shivaji Rao Gaikwad once worked as a bus conductor in this city, while legendary Tamil director late K. Balachander noticed him and named him Rajinikanth. He got an opportunity to debut in the film ‘Apoorva Ragangal’ in the year 1975, which was a hit. Kamal Haasan also acted in this film.
When Rajinikanth reached there, he was greeted and surrounded by the staff of BMTC’s Traffic Transit Management Center (TTMC). Rajinikanth spoke to her for some time and also clicked her photographs. The actor also visited the Raghavendra Swamy Mutt here. Rajinikanth played the lead role in the film ‘Sri Raghavendra’, based on the life of the 16th-17th century saint-poet of the Madhava sect.
Sources said that Rajinikanth spent his childhood in Bengaluru and lived in the city till the age of 22, after which he shifted to Chennai to pursue a film career. Before moving to Chennai, he worked as a conductor in the erstwhile Bangalore Transport Service (BTS), now known as BMTC. Rajinikanth made his big screen debut after two years with the Nelson Dilipkumar-directed film ‘Jailor’. The film released earlier this month and is said to have earned well.