Rajinikanth & Senthamarai Movies Together List — 13 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-05 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Rajinikanth and Senthamarai appeared together in 13 Tamil films between 1977 and 1990. Their highest-rated collaboration was Kavikkuyil (1977 — 7.5/10). Films span Kavikkuyil (1977) through Panakkaran (1990).
The Rajinikanth & Senthamarai partnership
Their work runs across 3 decades of Tamil cinema. 1984 was their peak — 3 films in twelve months. For 13 years, a Rajinikanth–Senthamarai film arrived almost every year.
From Kavikkuyil (1977) to Panakkaran (1990). Kazhugu (1981, 7.5/10) is the underseen one in the catalogue.
The shape of the work
The 1980s account for 77% of everything they made together. The 1970s belonged to Kavikkuyil; the 1990s to Panakkaran. Rajinikanth acted in every film; Senthamarai acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Senthamarai was already a respected character actor when Rajinikanth was still a bus conductor. Their first film together, Kavikkuyil (1977), was only Rajini's third film — Senthamarai's seniority on set helped the newcomer find his footing.
- In Moondru Mugam (1982), Senthamarai played a villain opposite Rajini's triple role. Rajini deliberately slowed his dialogue delivery in their scenes together — he later said it was to match Senthamarai's measured, menacing rhythm, making the tension land harder.
- Rajinikanth personally requested Senthamarai for Anbulla Rajinikanth (1984) — not because the script demanded it, but because he wanted a familiar face on set during a film that was essentially a vanity project about his own life.
- Their pairing in Oorkavalan (1987) was the last time they worked together. The film flopped hard, and both actors later admitted the script was weak — but it indirectly pushed Rajini to be more selective about co-stars and scripts in the late '80s.
- Rajinikanth once told a magazine: 'Senthamarai sir never raised his voice on set. Even when playing a villain, he'd whisper his lines to me before the take — just to check if I was comfortable.'
13 films across 3 decades
The 1970s brought 2 films together, anchored by Kavikkuyil (7.5/10).
The 1980s brought 10 films together, anchored by Polladhavan (7.5/10).
The 1990s accounted for 1 film, averaging 4.2/10.
- Kavikkuyil
- Naan Vazhavaippen
- Polladhavan
- Kazhugu
- Panakkaran
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
13 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
46% of Senthamarai's screen credits are with Rajinikanth. After Panakkaran, Rajinikanth kept going for 44 more films; Senthamarai stepped back.
Before Kavikkuyil, Rajinikanth had starred in 2 films, including Apoorva Raagangal (1975) and Moondru Mudichu (1976).
After Panakkaran, Rajinikanth went on to appear in 44 more films, including Robot (2010) and Petta (2019).
Before Kavikkuyil, Senthamarai had starred in 14 films, including Arangetram (1973) and Shanti Nilayam (1969).
After Panakkaran, Senthamarai went on to appear in 1 more film, including Rudhra (1991).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Rajinikanth & Senthamarai's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Ilayaraja is the through-line — music on 11 of their 13 films. Ilayaraja scored 11 of them. They worked with the same 6 people again and again — a small repertory company.
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