Early in his career Rajinikanth was widely told that his dark complexion and unconventional features made him unfit to be a leading man — a prejudice he overturned by turning his style into his identity.
When Rajinikanth entered Tamil cinema, its idea of a hero was fair-skinned and conventionally handsome. He was cast as villains and in supporting parts, and faced open scepticism that a dark, rough-featured actor could ever be a romantic lead or a mass star.
Rather than conform, he built a screen persona around his own distinctiveness — the walk, the style, the trademark mannerisms — that made him more magnetic than any conventional hero. His rise is often cited as a landmark rebuke to the industry's colour and looks bias.
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