Rajinikanth & Charlie Movies Together List — 3 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-02 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Rajinikanth and Charlie appeared together in 3 Tamil films between 1989 and 1993. Their highest-rated collaboration was Thalapathi (1991 — 5.4/10). Films span Siva (1989) through Uzhaippali (1993).
The Rajinikanth & Charlie partnership
From Siva (1989) to Uzhaippali (1993). The played out closed with Uzhaippali in 1993. It started with Siva (1989).
The shape of the work
The 1980s belonged to Siva; the 1990s to Thalapathi. Rajinikanth acted in every film; Charlie acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Rajinikanth personally called Charlie to offer him the role in Siva (1989). Charlie was a rising comedian, and Rajini wanted a fresh face to bounce off — not the usual sidekick.
- In Thalapathi (1991), Charlie’s character was written as a nervous, fast-talking sidekick. Rajini deliberately slowed his own dialogue delivery in their scenes together — so Charlie’s jittery energy would pop more. He told the director: 'Let him be the spark, I’ll be the anchor.'
- During Uzhaippali (1993), Charlie’s father passed away mid-shoot. Rajini quietly arranged for the entire unit to pause shooting for three days, paid for the funeral transport, and didn’t tell anyone until years later. Charlie only found out from a crew member.
- Charlie once said in a 2005 interview: 'Rajini sir never treated me like a comedian. He treated me like a co-actor. In Thalapathi, he’d ask me, “Is this line funny enough for you?” He wanted me to shine, not just serve his scene.'
- Their comic track in Thalapathi (1991) — where Charlie’s character keeps mispronouncing Rajini’s name — became so popular that it directly inspired a similar running gag in the 1995 film Baashha, which then became a template for Rajini-comedy duos for the next decade.
3 films across 2 decades
The 1980s accounted for 1 film, averaging 4.3/10.
The 1990s accounted for 2 films, averaging 4.8/10.
- Siva
- Thalapathi
- Uzhaippali
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
3 films across 4 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, Rajinikanth had 104 films behind them; Charlie had 34. After Uzhaippali, Charlie kept going for 136 more films; Rajinikanth stepped back.
Before Siva, Rajinikanth had starred in 104 films, including Padhinaru Vayadhiniley (1977) and Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai (1979).
After Uzhaippali, Rajinikanth went on to appear in 29 more films, including Robot (2010) and Petta (2019).
Before Siva, Charlie had starred in 34 films, including Enakkul Oruvan (1984) and Kalyana Agathigal (1985).
After Uzhaippali, Charlie went on to appear in 136 more films, including Papanasam (2015) and Maanagaram (2017).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Rajinikanth & Charlie's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Ilayaraja is the through-line — music on 3 of their 3 films. Ilayaraja scored 3 of them.
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