Soundarya Rajinikanth

Soundarya Rajnikanth
Soundarya at the NDTV Indian Of The Year 2013 awards
Born	Shaku Bai Rao Gaikwad (1984-09-20) 20 September 1984 (age 32) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation	Graphic designer, film producer, director
Years active	2002–Present
Spouse(s)	Ashwin (2010-2016)
Children	1
Parent(s)	Rajinikanth Latha Rajinikanth
Relatives	see Rajinikanth Family Tree

Shaku Bai Rao Gaikwad (born 20 September 1984) better known by her stage name Soundarya Rajinikanth, is an Indian graphic designer, producer and director who primarily works in the Tamil film industry. She is the founder and owner of Ocher Picture Productions. Soundarya began her career in films as a graphic designer. For those starring her father Rajinikanth, she designed the title sequences. She became a noted film producer through Goa (2010). She made her début as a director in the film Kochadaiyaan.

Soundarya did her childhood education in The Ashram Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Velachery, Chennai. Soundarya is also the founder and chief executive of Ocher Picture Productions. In 2007, Ocher Studios signed an agreement with Warner Bros Entertainment to partner up in producing and distributing Tamil films. Her directorial début was supposed to be Sultan: The Warrior, a 3D animated film featuring her father Rajinikanth. Despite heavy pre-production promotion, including a teaser of the film and an interactive website, the film was dropped. She instead directed Kochadaiiyaan, India's first motion capture film, with Rajinikanth in the lead role. Through Kochadaiiyaan, Soundarya earned the distinction of becoming the first woman to direct her father in a feature film. At the NDTV Indian of the Year awards 2014, she was honoured for "Technical Innovation In Film". Her next directorial venture, Velaiilla Pattadhari 2, will be produced by S. Thanu in Tamil and Telugu languages.

Soundarya is the younger daughter of actor Rajinikanth and his wife Latha. Soundarya married Ashwin Ramkumar, an industrialist, on 3 September 2010 at Rani Meyyammai Hall in Chennai. Soundarya's elder sister Aishwarya is also a director. Soundarya's first child, a son named Ved was born on 6 May 2015. In September 2016, Soundarya revealed that she had filed for divorce due to irreconcilable differences with Ashwin.