Rajinikanth & Sarath Babu Movies Together List — 3 Films

The shape of the work

The 1970s belonged to Mullum Malarum; the 1990s to Muthu. Rajinikanth acted in every film; Sarath Babu acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Mullum Malarum (1978) was supposed to be a solo hero film. But director J. Mahendran felt the script needed a strong antagonist. He brought in Sarath Babu specifically to play the villain — and that’s how these two first faced off on screen.
• In Mullum Malarum, Rajinikanth played a hot-headed mechanic, Sarath Babu played a calm, educated engineer. The tension wasn’t just in the script — Rajini’s raw energy pushed Sarath Babu to underplay every scene, creating a classic 'fire vs ice' dynamic that Tamil cinema hadn’t seen before.
• Sarath Babu once said in an interview that Rajinikanth personally called him before Annamalai (1992) to offer the role of the villain. Rajini told him, 'I need someone who can match me in intensity, not just act opposite me.' They remained close friends off-screen until Sarath Babu’s passing in 2023.
• Muthu (1995) became a massive hit in Japan — but the film’s climax fight between Rajinikanth and Sarath Babu was directly inspired by a real-life incident. The director K.S. Ravikumar saw them arguing playfully on set and decided to turn that energy into the final confrontation.
• Sarath Babu once said about Rajinikanth: 'He doesn’t act with you — he pulls you into his world. When we did Annamalai, I had to raise my game because he never gives you a dull take.'