Rajinikanth
RajinikanthTwitter/Rajinikanth

Superstar Rajinikanth has stepped into the 40th year in the Indian film industry.

Rajini's "Lingaa" team celebrated the special occasion on the film's sets in Chennai. Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha, who is making her Tamil film debut with "Lingaa," shared a picture and also wished the superstar on achieving this feat.

"Lingaa" team also congratulated the superstar on their official Facebook page.

"Superstars are not born, they are made. Rajnikanth is one such superstar who has been made by people. The man who doesnt need introduction, the man who is admired and worshipped all over the world and the man who can travel faster than light! Lingaa The Movie team and Rockline Entertainments , congratulates and thanks the 'Thalaiva' for giving 39 of his glorious years to the Indian Cinema," they posted.

Born as Shivaji Rao Gaikwad in 1950, Rajini worked as a bus conductor before entering the film industry. Veteran director Balachander named him Rajinikanth and introduced him in the 1975-release "Apoorva Raagangal." He began his film career doing the villain roles, but later started doing the male lead characters in films.

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The actor has been part of several hit films in the 70s, 80s and 90s including "16 Vayathinile", "Padikathavan", "Thillu Mullu", "Mr Bharath", "Ninaithale Inikkum", "Billa", "Murattu Kalai", "Moondru" Mugam", "Rajathi Raja", "Dharmathin Thalaivan". 

"Sri Raghavendra" was his 100th film and in "Anbulla Rajinikanth", the actor plays himself.

"Muthu", "Veera", "Annamalai", "Baasha" and "Padayappa" are some of his most renowned films. He has also starred in several Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films during this period.

Since 2000, Rajini has cut down on his film work and has been doing only one film once in two years or three years. The actor's films including "Chandramukhi", "Sivaji" and "Enthiran" turned out to be huge hits at the box office.

His last release "Kochadaiiyaan" hit the screens in May 2014 and performed decent business. The film is India's first 3D project using motion capturing techniques. With "Kochadaiiyaan," Rajini has become the only actor to have acted in black and white, colour and 3D films.

The superstar commands a huge fan-following not just in India, but also in other locations including Europe and Japan.

The actor has won several awards including the filmfare award, Tamil Nadu state film awards and Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award given by the government of India.

Rajini is currently working in "Lingaa," directed by KS Ravikumar. This is the third time that the actor-director duo has teamed up post the stupendous success of films like "Muthu" and "Padayappa."

"Lingaa" is all set to hit the screens for the superstar's birthday on 12 December.