What Malaysian students can learn from Rajinikanth

Last week, a young student at AIMST University asked me: “Datuk, did Rajinikanth go to university?”

I smiled.

Rajini studied in a Kannada-medium school and worked as a coolie, carpenter and bus conductor in Bangalore.

He joined a film institute at 25, an age when we tell our youth, “You are late.”

Last week, Jailer 2 was breaking box-office records again. At 74, he is still a superstar.

We celebrate his punchlines, but we ignore his lessons on education.

As a former deputy minister of education who oversaw five million students, I see five lessons from Rajini that our new National Education Plan 2026-2035 is trying to teach.

First: Learning agility beats certificates

Rajini had no degree. But he had what the ministry now calls “learning agility”. From stage plays to learning Hindi for Andha Kanoon to learning motion capture for Enthiran, he never stopped.

In Switzerland this year, I saw Swiss CEOs with no MBAs but 10 micro-credentials in AI. That is the Rajini model: lifelong TVET.

Second: Discipline is education

Director SP Muthuraman once said that Rajini was the first to arrive and the last to leave. In 50 years, there has been no “Rajini late” headline.

We chase tuition, but our students fail because they cannot wake up at 6am. Discipline, like that of the Bangalore bus conductor punching tickets at 5am, is the first certificate.

Third: Humility is Karamah Insaniah

The National Education Plan speaks of Karamah Insaniah, or the recognition and uplifting of human dignity. Look at Rajini.

He is a superstar, yet he sits on the floor, touches elders’ feet and says, “I am a small child of K Balachander.”

In an age of TikTok arrogance, he teaches adab. My mother always taught me that education without humility is noise.

Fourth: Reinvention in the AI age

Rajini, at 74, is learning AI filmmaking for Jailer 2. If a 74-year-old can act with de-ageing technology, our youth can earn Google AI certification, which the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) offers free in Selangor.

Fifth: Do well, do good

Rajini famously said, “Money comes, goes. Give.” He built schools quietly. This is what I tell my colleagues at the Public Relations Practitioners Society of Malaysia: sustainability is a competitive advantage. Rajini has sustained a 50-year career because people trust his goodness.

That student asked if Rajini passed his exams. I told him: He did not pass with straight As, but he passed the hardest exam: life.

This Deepavali, when we watch Rajini on screen, let us tell our children:

Don’t copy his style; copy his discipline.

Don’t just whistle for the superstar; learn to be a superstar in your own trade, whether as a welder, coder or teacher.

Because, as Rajini said in Padayappa: “En vazhi, thani vazhi”, or “My way is my own way”.

Let our education system allow every Malaysian child to find their own way.

P Kamalanathan is an MIC central working committee member and a former deputy education minister.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.

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