Chennai, Sep 26 (IANS) Tamil superstar Rajnikant, presently the highest paid actor in India, came a poor fourth in a state-wide opinion poll conducted by students of a private educational institution.

The poll was conducted by Loyola College students and late thespians M.G. Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganeshan came first and second.

Vijay, relatively less known than Rajnikant, has ranked third in the poll by getting 16.4 percent votes, while Rajnikant got 16.2.

Last year, Rajnikant had topped the list followed by Vijaykanth.

The pollsters attributed the matinee idol's fall from the top position to his latest flop 'Kuselan'. The star is presently abroad shooting for Shankar's 'Robot'.

Actor-turned-politician Vijaykanth came fifth by getting 10.7 percent of the votes.

Amongst actresses, National Award winning B. Saroja Devi topped the favourite list, while J. Jayalalitha, AIADMK leaer, former chief minister and current leader of opposition, was ranked number two.

The third and fourth positions amongst former femme fatales were taken by the faded out K.R. Vijaya and recent retiree Jyothika Surya.

Controversial actress and television host Khushboo Sundar came fifth.

None of the current female heartthrobs including Trisha, Shreya Saran and Nayanthara came anywhere close to their seniors.