PIX: The Hottest Southern Actors

Last updated on: October 5, 2011 10:59 IST

In part one and two you saw the hottest actresses down south.

Now, we move on to the hot men in the Southern film industry in the third part of this series.

Rajnikanth

Did you know that Rajnikanth did many odd jobs before getting into films? The superstar was a coolie in the early days and later took up a job as a bus conductor in Bangalore Transport Service.

His mother died when he was only five.

Although a Maharastrian, Rajnikanth began his acting career with Kannada stage plays and gained popularity.

He joined Madras Film Institute on his friend Raj Bahadur's insistence and he also helped him financially for two years when he was studying.

Image: Rajnikanth

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Last updated on: October 5, 2011 10:59 IST

Did you know that Kamal Hassan made his film debut as a child artist at the age of four in Tamil film Kalathur Kannamma?

His father was a criminal lawyer, his two elder brothers also studied law but Kamal was never interested in studies.

For a while Haasan ran a magazine called Mayyam under Kamal Haasan Welfare Association.

Image: Kamal Hassan

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Last updated on: October 5, 2011 10:59 IST

Did you know that Ajith's mother is a Sindhi?

Ajith gave up studies after higher secondary and started repairing two wheelers. He soon got himself driving licenses as he was interested in car and bike racing.

At 18, he started a garment export company and got into merchandising.

His friends suggested that he try modeling and that led to his first Telugu film but the film didn't materialise. At the age of 21 he acted in his first and last Telugu film Prema Pustagam. He's done Tamil films ever since.

Image: Ajith Kumar

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Last updated on: October 5, 2011 10:59 IST

Did you know that Suriya is the founder of Agaram Foundation that helps dropouts pursue education. In 2010 his organisation sponsored 159 underprivileged students for higher education in various disciplines?

He is an active participant of Save The Tigers campaign and REACH, a non-profit organization who treat TB patients for free.

Image: Suriya

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Last updated on: October 5, 2011 10:59 IST

Did you know that Vikram's father is a Christian and mother is a Hindu?

His father ran away from home to become an actor but ended up doing small supporting roles. His father motivated him to take up acting and asked him to get training in acting and various dance forms. But he also insisted that he complete his education. Vikram did his graduation in English Literature.

In his college days he met with a motorbike accident and a truck crushed his leg, to save his leg from being amputated, he underwent 23 surgeries and was in the hospital for three years.

Image: Vikram

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Last updated on: October 5, 2011 10:59 IST

Did you know that 57-year-old Sarathkumar was a journalist and bodybuilder?

Sarathkumar did his graduation in Mathematics.

He's acted in all the four South Indian languages Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films.

Image: Sarathkumar

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Last updated on: October 5, 2011 10:59 IST

Did you know that Vijay acted in several films as a child artist but was never credited for it?

Vijay was born to very talented parents -- his father is a well-known producer director S A Chandrasekhar and his mother Shobha Chandrasekhar is a Carnatic singer.

Vijay is married to Sri Lankan Sangeeta Sornalingam. They have two children, son Jason Sanjay and daughter Divya Saasha.

Image: Vijay

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Last updated on: October 5, 2011 10:59 IST

Did you know that Prithiviraj was doing his Bachelors in Information Technology from University of Tasmania in Australia, when he got a call from director Ranjith to work in his film Nandanam? It was Ranjith's debut film too.

Privithiraj's whole family is into acting including his father Sukumaran, mother Mallika Sukumaran, his elder brother Indrajith and his sister-in-law Poornima.

But Prithviraj is married to journalist Supriya Menon, a BBC India Reporter.

Image: Prithviraj

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Last updated on: October 5, 2011 10:59 IST

Did you know that Mohanlal wanted to be chef?

Mohanlal had no filmy background before he entered films, his father was legal secretary in the Kerala government.

The star acted in school and college plays and got noticed. While he was in college, he acted in a comedy film Thiranottam. He completed his studies and is a commerce graduate.

Thiranottam was released after more than 25 years of its making and by then Mohanlal was a superstar.

Image: Mohanlal

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Last updated on: October 5, 2011 10:59 IST