Indian Superstar Rajinikanth has on Thursday got added to the club of the country's greatest, finest, and everlasting cinema icons after the Central government announced that the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award will be bestowed to the superstar for his immense contribution to the Indian cinema. 

Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the country's highest honor for cinema artists. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar has announced that Rajinikanth will be receiving the award, which had relished the ardent fans of the superstar across and beyond the borders. Ever since the announcement about the award was made, the legendary actor has been in the rain of wishes as several people including national leaders and celebrities had wished and congratulated the actor for receiving the prestigious award. 

Rajinikanth has penned an emotional letter after being bestowed with the highest honor in which he had mentioned to whom he wishes to dedicate the award. Apart from dedicating the award to his fans all across the world, Rajinikanth had dedicated the award for his friend Raj Bahadur, for his elder brother Sathyanarayana Rao Gaikwad, and for his guru legendary director K Balachander. 

Raj Bahadur was the driver of a public transport bus in which Rajinikanth worked as the conductor. Before coming to acting, Rajinikanth had worked as a bus conductor in Karnataka during which Raj Bahadur worked as a driver. In his emotional letter, Rajinikanth remembered Raj Bahadur and how he motivated him. Rajini called Bahadur as his close friend and said that he was the one who found the acting skill in him and encouraged him towards acting. 

Some years back, Raj Bahadur said in an interview, "In 1970, we were working together at the Bangalore Transport service. I was a driver and Rajini was a conductor. We worked for three years on a bus route 10A shuttling between Srinagar and Majestic Bus station, Bangalore. Even if there was an empty bus ahead of us, people would wait to board 10A - it was a pleasure watching Rajini whistle and distribute tickets with style. He had a huge fan base even then. We have 45 years of friendship behind us. I forced him to shift to Chennai and join the Madras Film Institute to sharpen his skills. I convinced him that he had the fire in him to become a big actor and assured him that I would take care of his expenses for two years". 

Raj Bahadur must have had an instinct that he is with someone who is going to rule the Indian cinema. He was true and was the first drop of water in the rise of Superstar. Rajinikanth has been active since 1975 with that first drop and he has been decorating the Indian cinema as the superstar. Rajinikanth has now been named to be the recipient of India's highest honor of Cinema and Raj Bahadur was the first name that Rajini had mentioned in his letter to dedicate the award. 

After Raj Bahadur, Rajinikanth has remembered the contribution of his elder brother Sathyanarayana Rao Gaikwad. The superstar has said that his brother had made more sacrifices for making him an actor and helping him when he was trapped by poverty. Raj Bahadur's motivation and Sathyanarayana's support had taken Rajinikanth towards legendary director K Balachander, whom Rajini had mentioned in his note of dedicating the award. Balachander, who was fondly known as a Paramount Director, was one of the lubricants that keep the cinema industry running through the hardships. 

Balachander was the one who had found and left precious assets to the Tamil cinema and Rajini is one of them, so is Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan. Balachander gave a big breakthrough in Rajini's career by introducing him in 'Apoorva Raagangal' in 1975. It was the first movie for Rajini and from then on, there is no turn back and Rajini kept growing and in a short span of time, he graduated from villain roles and started playing the hero. Balachander had shown the way and Rajini had built an ever-lasting career. 

Rajinikanth had always been remembered and extended his gratitude for Balachander for every award. Likewise, when he has now been conferred with Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Rajinikanth had thanked Balachander again. By calling him as his guru, Rajinikanth said that Balachander had created him. It must be noted that Balachander had received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2010, and after ten years, his student Rajini has been named for the award. 

Through his emotional letter, Rajinikanth had remembered how Raj Bahadur, Sathyanarayana, and Balachander had supported and contributed to his career and success as the rise of Superstar. Along with these three, Rajinikanth has extended his heartfelt thanks to movie producers, directors, technicians, distributors, theater owners, media, and his fans all over the world. In 2000, Rajinikanth was honored with the Padma Bhushan award, which is India's third-highest civilian honor and he had received India's second-highest civilian honor Padma Vibhushan in 2016. In the year 2014, he was presented with the 'Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year' at the 45th International Film Festival of India. Now, he will be receiving Dadasaheb Phalke Award, which is India's highest honor in cinema.