Chennai

Superstar Rajinikanth, who turns 65 on Saturday, haslong since been synonymous with style. From the way he flips his cigarette tohis signature walk, the man is known for his inimitable and unparalleled stylein his movies.

His style statements, which have turned trendsetters over the years, are afashion school in their own right.

*Flipping cigarette: In Indian cinema, nobody can flip a cigarette to his lipslike Rajinikanth and it remains his most elusive trick ever because he hasconstantly reinvented it. From tossing a cigarette into his mouth from a fairdistance to rolling it in the air and lighting it with a revolver, or eventaking a burning cigarette into his mouth, and taking it back out. Although thestar has stopped endorsing smoking on screen, his fans wait with bated breathto see him light a cigarette in films, even if it means for one last time.

* The walk: In Rajinikanth's walk, you find pride and confidence of a man whorose to super-stardom against all odds. While the star walks a tad faster thanpeople usually do, it has never been an issue for filmmakers who captured it inslow motion on several occasions in his films, much to the delight of his fans.

* Wearing goggles: Rajinikanth likes the concept of flipping. Be it acigarette, a jacket, or even the stole that rests on his shoulder; he doesn'tuse them without a flip. While many may consider his way of using a gogglepeculiar - flipping it from elbow level and rolling it a few times beforeactually wearing it, the style was still a hit among youngsters. It was sopopular that even children, especially in the age group of 5 to 10, imitated itwith likable innocence.

* Hairstyle: It's quite possible that the star never required a comb, becausehe'd mostly flip his hair with his own hands with panache. Rajinikanth'shairstyle had striking similarity with a lion's mane and it could also be oneof the reasons why it was never altered in his films.

* The namaskar: When people do namaskar to greet others, their palms usuallycome together before the face or chest, but it goes sideways for Rajinikanth.It usually goes towards the right or left side of his chin. While the actornever did it on purpose, yet people started imitating it.

* The salute: There's a flip in his salute, too. He flips his hand in acircular motion and stops at forehead to salute. Rajinikanth popularized it inhis film "Padayappa" and although he never used it again in hiscareer, people still remember it as one of his most stylish gestures.

Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!

Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!

Click here for iOS

Click here for Android