Chennai, Aug 24 - He started his career on stage and now Tamil superstar Rajnikant urges the film industry to encourage plays as he knows theatre will be there, always.

'Stage play will never die... it will stay forever. I started my career on stage. I have done over 25 plays in Bangalore. When my friends saw my performance on stage, they encouraged me to act in Tamil films. The first thing I did was to come to Chennai and join the film institute,' said Rajnikant Sunday.

He was speaking on the valedictory of Ninaivalaigal, a drama festival organised by South Indian Artists Association, Nadigar Sangam.

Walking down memory lane, Rajnikant said: 'In 1979, when I started my career, I was denied entry into the Nadigar Sangam premise when I came on my scooter to watch the play 'Ashok Chakravarthi' featuring Sivaji Ganesan.