Super Star Rajni

Background

This is the vanity card of Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, also known by his mononymous stage name Rajinikanth, an Indian film actor, who works primarily in Tamil cinema. He began acting in plays while working in the Bangalore Transport Service as a bus conductor. In 1973, he joined the Madras Film Institute to pursue a diploma in acting. Following his debut in K. Balachander's Tamil drama Apoorva Raagangal, his acting career commenced with a brief phase of portraying antagonistic characters in Tamil films. After earning ?26 crore (equivalent to ?55 crore or US$8.5 million in 2016) for his role in Sivaji, he was the highest paid actor in Asia after Jackie Chan at the time. While working in other regional film industries of India, Rajinikanth has also appeared in the cinemas of other nations, including the American film Bloodstone. As of 2014, Rajinikanth has won six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards—four Best Actor Awards and two Special Awards for Best Actor—and a Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award. In addition to acting, he has also worked as a producer and screenwriter. Apart from his film career, he is also a philanthropist, spiritualist, and serves as an influence in Dravidian politics. The Government of India has honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2016 for his contributions to the arts. At the 45th International Film Festival of India, he was conferred with the "Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year".

1st Logo (June 27, 1992-April 14, 2005, July 22, 2016-)

Logo: On a black background, the text "SUPER STAR" is seen writing itself. Once the text is complete, three-dimensional gold letters such as "R", "A", "J", "N", and "I", are seen flying itself by letter-by-letter. "RAJNI" zooms backward to put a place between "SUPER" and "STAR". It flashes itself. The text zooms out and the Tamil translation does the same motion as before. It flashes the same as before.

Variant: On the 2005 film Chandramuki, an enhanced version reanimated in CGI was used.

FX/SFX: Simple traditional cel animation, though very effective.

Music/Sounds: A sly bass and brass theme with people constantly cheering "Hey!". The sound of a laser from Star Wars is played when "RAJNI" flies in letter-by-letter, along with it zooming in backwards and it flashing by itself.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On Veera, a synth fanfare is heard instead, along with whooshes.
On Sathya Movies' HD remaster of Baashha, the music is dubstep-remixed with whooshes being replaced with sparkles.
On most films from 2016 onwards, the opening theme of the movie is used.
Petta (2019) uses a brass arrangement of the classic theme, minus the "Hey!" and zaps.

Availability: Seen on all Rajini movies from Annamalai to Chandramuki. The logo was revived in 2016 starting with Kabali.

Legacy: This logo is quite the favorite to many Indians, given its design and longevity of almost 13 years. In fact, its popularity resulted in it to be used again 11 years later.

2nd Logo (June 14, 2007)

TBA. Appeared on Sivaji.

3rd Logo (August 1, 2008)

Logo: Various cut-outs on a black background are seen, including that of a man and the letters of "SUPER STAR". Inside the cut-outs are footage of sparkles and various shapes on a purple background. The logo then gets engulfed by fire, and the text "SUPER STAR" is seen on a purple background. The letters "R", "A", "J", "N", and "I" then fly to the center of the screen, and said letters then fly underneath "SUPER STAR", followed by the same text in Tamil. The Tamil text then burns for a split-second.

FX/SFX: A hybrid of 2D and 3D animation.

Music/Sounds: A funky horn fanfare with whooshes.

Availability: Appeared on Kuselan.