Rajinikanth & Rathi Movies Together List — 3 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-07-13 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Rajinikanth and Rathi appeared together in 3 Tamil films between 1980 and 1981. Their highest-rated collaboration was Kazhugu (1981 — 7.5/10). Films span Anbukku Naan Adimai (1980) through Garjanai (1981).
The Rajinikanth & Rathi partnership
From Anbukku Naan Adimai (1980) to Garjanai (1981). Garjanai (1981, 7.5/10) is the underseen one in the catalogue. The played out closed with Garjanai in 1981.
Kazhugu is the one most viewers reach for. It started with Anbukku Naan Adimai (1980).
The shape of the work
Rajinikanth acted in every film; Rathi acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Rajinikanth and Rathi first faced the camera together in 'Anbukku Naan Adimai' (1980), but the pairing almost didn't happen — the director, R. Thyagarajan, initially wanted a bigger name opposite the rising star. Rathi was a newcomer then, and Rajinikanth personally pushed for her casting after seeing her screen test.
- In 'Kazhugu' (1981), Rajinikanth deliberately slowed down his usual rapid-fire dialogue delivery to match Rathi's more measured, naturalistic style. The result was a rhythm that felt like real conversation — something Tamil audiences hadn't seen from him before.
- The success of 'Kazhugu' (1981) directly led to the production of 'Garjanai' (1981) — the same producer, K. Balaji, greenlit the second film within weeks of the first one's box office run. That quick turnaround was unheard of for a non-mega star pairing at the time.
- During the shoot of 'Garjanai' (1981), Rajinikanth would often drive Rathi to the set in his own car — a vintage Standard Herald — because her transport kept getting delayed. He never mentioned it in interviews, but crew members remember him waiting outside her house at 6 AM.
- Rathi once said in a 1982 magazine interview: 'Rajini sir never treated me like a junior artist. He'd rehearse scenes with me in his van until I felt confident. That's why our fights on screen looked real — we actually argued about the lines beforehand.'
3 films across 1 decade
- Kazhugu
- Garjanai
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
3 films across 1 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 35 films behind them; Rathi had 0. After Garjanai, Rajinikanth kept going for 105 more films; Rathi stepped back.
Before Anbukku Naan Adimai, Rajinikanth had starred in 35 films, including Padhinaru Vayadhiniley (1977) and Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai (1979).
After Garjanai, Rajinikanth went on to appear in 105 more films, including Robot (2010) and Nallavanuku Nallavan (1984).
Anbukku Naan Adimai was Rathi's acting debut.
After Garjanai, Rathi went on to appear in 8 more films, including Solla Marandha Kadhai (2002) and Pallavan (2003).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Rajinikanth & Rathi's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Thengai Srinivasan is the through-line — cast on 3 of their 3 films. Thengai Srinivasan appears alongside them in 3 films — practically a third lead. Ilayaraja scored 3 of them.
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Other iconic Tamil director-actor duos
Discover other partnerships with comparable filmographies and ratings
