Nizhalgal Ravi & Rajinikanth Movies Together List — 9 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-02 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Nizhalgal Ravi and Rajinikanth appeared together in 9 Tamil films between 1984 and 1997. Their highest-rated collaboration was Thambikku Entha Ooru (1984 — 6.7/10). Films span Thambikku Entha Ooru (1984) through Arunachalam (1997).
The Nizhalgal Ravi & Rajinikanth partnership
From Thambikku Entha Ooru (1984) to Arunachalam (1997). The spanned closed with Arunachalam in 1997. It started with Thambikku Entha Ooru (1984).
The shape of the work
The 1980s belonged to Thambikku Entha Ooru; the 1990s to Veera. Nizhalgal Ravi acted in every film; Rajinikanth acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- For Thambikku Entha Ooru (1984), director Panchu Arunachalam cast Rajinikanth as the lead. But he needed a strong villain. He picked Nizhalgal Ravi after seeing his debut film. Ravi was so new that Rajini didn't even know who he was on day one of shoot.
- In Veera (1994), Rajinikanth played a double role — father and son. Nizhalgal Ravi played the villain who kills the father in the first half. The fight scene between them in that flashback sequence is the only time in their four films where Rajini actually loses a physical confrontation to Ravi on screen.
- Nizhalgal Ravi has said in interviews that Rajinikanth personally recommended him for Dharma Dorai (1991) after the original actor dropped out. Rajini told the director: 'He'll bring the right menace. Just let him do his thing.' Ravi got the call the next day.
- Nizhalgal Ravi once said about Rajinikanth: 'He never treated me like a junior artist. Even when I was just starting out, he would discuss the scene with me as an equal. That's rare in this industry.'
- Their only non-villain pairing was Sri Raghavendra (1985), a devotional film where both played saints. It bombed hard. But that film's failure directly led to both of them avoiding religious roles for the rest of their careers — Rajini never played a saint again, and Ravi stuck to negative roles from then on.
- In Thambikku Entha Ooru, Nizhalgal Ravi's character is a silent, cold-blooded killer. Rajini's character is a loud, comic village simpleton. The entire tension of their scenes comes from Ravi barely moving a muscle while Rajini bounces around him. Ravi later admitted he deliberately underplayed every reaction to make Rajini's energy pop more.
9 films across 2 decades
The 1980s accounted for 4 films, averaging 4.9/10.
The 1990s accounted for 5 films, averaging 5.5/10.
- Thambikku Entha Ooru
- Naan Sigappu Manithan
- Veera
- Arunachalam
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
9 films across 13 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
When they first worked together, Nizhalgal Ravi had 3 films behind them; Rajinikanth had 67. After Arunachalam, Nizhalgal Ravi kept going for 99 more films; Rajinikanth stepped back.
Before Thambikku Entha Ooru, Nizhalgal Ravi had starred in 3 films, including Nizhalgal (1980) and Mann Vasanai (1983).
After Arunachalam, Nizhalgal Ravi went on to appear in 99 more films, including Ratsasan (2018) and Andhadhi (2015).
Before Thambikku Entha Ooru, Rajinikanth had starred in 67 films, including Padhinaru Vayadhiniley (1977) and Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai (1979).
After Arunachalam, Rajinikanth went on to appear in 22 more films, including Robot (2010) and Petta (2019).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Nizhalgal Ravi & Rajinikanth's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Ilayaraja is the through-line — music on 7 of their 9 films. Sathyaraj appears alongside them in 3 films — practically a third lead. Ilayaraja scored 7 of them.
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