Chennai, Aug 24 (IANS) 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.

"But I'm lucky enough to have been associated with great actors like Sivaji Ganesan, N.T. Rama Rao and Raj Kumar. I expressed to them my desire to start a drama troupe that was received well by them," he said.

He suggested that the South Indian Film Artistes Association should utilise the vacant space inside the premise of Nadigar Sangam by constructing a state-of-the-art auditorium. He feels it will fetch good money.

"We have space here. We should not keep it idle. I am here to do my best for the association. Let us build an auditorium here," he said.

On the occasion, he honoured M.N. Rajam and Anjali Devi.

A play featuring Sarath Kumar, Radharavi and Swathi was staged.