Rajanikanth is the man of the year!

Superstar Rajinikanth is 2010′s Man of the Year, for giving Tamil cinema global reach.

The combined world gross (Tamil, Telugu & Hindi versions) of his Enthiran would be around Rs 250 to Rs 300 Crore. Phenomenal for a south Indian hero at 61, to get this kind of global reach, which puts him on par with any A-grade Bollywood superstars.

Rajinikanth has opened up hitherto difficult markets like Japan for Tamil cinema. The buzz is that Enthiran and Robot together did business worth Rs 65 Crore in overseas market, which is unheard of for a south Indian film.

Closer home in Kerala Enthiran has taken a share of Rs 8 crore plus, which 2010′s biggest hit in Malayalam Mammootty-Prithviraj starrer Pokkiri Raja has not been able to touch!

A close look at Rajinikanth’s career graph from Billa (1980) that made him a superstar till Enthiran (2010), reveals what made him a global phenomenon. He is undoubtedly the man of the masses and the face of inspiration as the star has constantly reinvented himself over the years, and wooed the generation next audiences throughout his career.

Ace director Shankar recently said: “The way he has structured his career and his extraordinary reach among all sections of the audiences makes him the icon of Indian cinema. He has terrific script sense and understands what would work with the audiences and has moved with the times.”

Adds KS Ravikumar who has made one of his biggest hits Padayappa : “Rajini sir has the uncanny ability to judge the commercial potential of a film, as he understands the audiences pulse.”

“Rajinikanth is a combination of fearless bold mass movies and modest humility that makes him the complete superstar”, says Swaroop Reddy in whose Sathyam Cinemas, Enthiran has grossed the highest in the world. Suresh Krishna, who made the superhit Annamalai and the star’s biggest hit Baasha (in terms of the number of people seeing a film in a theatre including repeat audiences) and his biggest flop Baba said: “From an ordinary bus conductor to a superstar, it’s the fire in him that has made him a phenomenon”.

Rajinikanth is not only the newsmaker of 2010, but the man who put Kollywood on a high pedestal. Today he has more reach and penetration than all other Tamil stars put together in the global market.