Before ‘Kaala’, films in which Rajinikanth played a gangster

Superstar Rajinikanth is gearing up for the release of the gangster drama ‘Kaala’, which is directed by Pa Ranjith. Following ‘Kabali’, Rajinikanth is reported to be playing a gangster once again in ‘Kaala’, which is all set for a massive release on June 7. From the trailer, it looks like Rajinikanth, who plays Kaala Karikalan, is fighting for the rights of Tamil people in Mumbai. On the other hand, every time Rajinikanth played a gangster on screen, the film turned out to be a huge hit at the box office. With ‘Kaala’ releasing in a week’s time, we present a list of popular films in which Rajinikanth played a gangster.

In the ‘80s, Rajinikanth remade several Amitabh Bachchan’s films in Tamil. A remake of the Hindi blockbuster ‘Don', ‘Billa’ catapulted Rajinikanth to superstardom and became one of the biggest hits in his career. Playing the titular role, Rajinikanth played a gangster and redefined the word ‘swag’ in every frame. Set in Madras, the film tracks the story of Billa, a mafia leader who dies in an unfortunate accident. Later, a lookalike of Billa called Rajappa (also Rajinikanth), is asked to impersonate the gangster to track his underground members. Directed by R Krishnamoorthy, ‘Billa’ opened to rave reviews and completed a 25-week run in theatres. In fact, the film was a comeback for Rajinikanth, who wanted to quit acting. In 2007, Ajith Kumar reprised Rajinikanth’s iconic role in the remake, which also became very successful at the box office.

‘Nallavanuku Nallavan’ remains to be one of Rajinikanth’s best performances to date. A remake of the Telugu film starring Krishnam Raju and Jayasudha, ‘Nallavanuku Nallavan’ was directed by legendary filmmaker SP Muthuraman. In the film, Rajinikanth plays a thug Manickam, who gets into trouble every time he gets an opportunity. However, Manickam's life changes when he meets Radhika Sarathkumar, who plays his wife. The rest of the film is about family values. Upon release in 1982, Rajinikanth was praised for his performance as Manickam. ‘Nallavanuku Nallavan’ was a blockbuster and completed a 152-day run at the box office. Interestingly, Rajinikanth won his first and only Filmfare Award for the film.

The film directed by R Thyagarajan saw Rajinikanth playing a gangster in the titular role. ‘Ranga’ tells the story of separated siblings. Years later, Ranga grows up to be a full-time thug, while his sister Lakshmi (KR Vijaya) settles as a homemaker. Initially, actress Jayalalithaa was supposed to be cast as Rajinikanth's sister. However, the offer eventually went to KR Vijaya. Upon release, the dialogue “Avasara adi Ranga” became extremely popular among the audiences. 'Ranga' is still remembered for the song ‘Pattukottai Ammalu’ by music composer Sankar Ganesh. Like any other Rajinikanth film, ‘Ranga’, too, was very successful at the box office.

Arguably, one of the best commercial films ever made in the history of Tamil cinema. Ask any kid his/her favourite Rajinikanth film and the list would definitely feature ‘Baasha’, which was directed by Suresh Krishna. It follows the story of a notorious gangster Baasha masquerading his identity as a humble auto driver. When Manickam (Rajinikanth) is confronted with a serious situation, he resorts to violence and reveals his actual life. Even after all these years, ‘Baasha’ is still remembered for its unimaginable transformation scene, which has a cult following among fans. Written by late writer Balakumaran, ‘Baasha’ became an out-and-out money spinner at the box office and was the highest grossing Tamil film when it released in 1995. Apart from story and performances, the background score by Deva is widely popular among the audience. A digitally remastered version of ‘Baasha’ was released last year, which too, received a decent response from ‘Thalaivar’ fans.

Time and again, Rajinikanth has proved that he’s one of the biggest stars in Indian cinema. This was particularly evident when ‘Kabali’ hit the screens in 2016. The film had huge expectations on the audience as it marked Rajinikanth’s first collaboration with director Pa Ranjith. Also, the kickass teaser and the song ‘Neruppu Da’ piqued the curiosity. Playing the role of a gangster Kabali, the film tracked the story of an aging gangster slowly coming to terms with his past and trying to reunite with his family. ‘Kabali’ opened to a phenomenal response from fans across the world and rightly so. Despite high expectations, the film mostly received mixed responses from critics and audience. However, Rajinikanth and Radhika Apte, who plays his wife in the film, were highly appreciated for their stellar performances in lead roles. ‘Kabali’ became very successful at the box office, thereby landing Pa Ranjith another opportunity to direct Rajinikanth in the upcoming ‘Kaala’.