Rajinikanth & Nassar Movies Together List — 5 Films

The shape of the work

The 1980s belonged to Thambikku Entha Ooru; the 2010s to Kabali. Rajinikanth acted in every film; Nassar acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• For Thambikku Entha Ooru (1984), director SP Muthuraman cast Rajinikanth first. He needed a strong villain. He picked Nassar, who was still a stage actor with barely any film experience. Rajini personally backed the choice.
• In Chandramukhi (2005), Nassar played the comic sidekick to Rajini's hero. But on set, Nassar would quietly correct Rajini's Tamil diction between takes. Rajini never got defensive. He just nodded and did the retake.
• Nassar has said in interviews that Rajini never treated him like a junior artiste, even back in 1984. They'd share tea breaks and talk about acting theory — something most stars avoided with supporting actors back then.
• Their pairing in Thambikku Entha Ooru directly led to Nassar getting his first lead role. Director Balu Mahendra saw Nassar's performance opposite Rajini and cast him as the male lead in the classic 'Sathi Leelavathi' (1985).
• Nassar once said: 'Rajini sir gave me my first break in cinema. But more than that, he taught me that a villain should never look like a villain. He should look like a normal man who can do terrible things.'
• For Kochadaiiyaan (2014), both actors performed in motion-capture suits for the first time. Neither had done it before. They spent weeks together in rehearsal, figuring out how to act without costumes or makeup — just their bodies and voices.