Rajinikanth & Babu Movies Together List — 10 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-05 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Rajinikanth and Babu appeared together in 10 Tamil films between 1977 and 1984. Their highest-rated collaboration was Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai (1979 — 8.3/10). Films span Aadu Puli Attam (1977) through Anbulla Rajinikanth (1984).
The Rajinikanth & Babu partnership
Between 1977 and 1984, they barely worked apart — 10 films in 7 years. For 7 years, a Rajinikanth–Babu film arrived almost every year. From Aadu Puli Attam (1977) to Anbulla Rajinikanth (1984).
Kazhugu (1981, 7.5/10) is the underseen one in the catalogue. The spanned closed with Anbulla Rajinikanth in 1984.
The shape of the work
The 1980s account for 60% of everything they made together. The 1970s belonged to Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai; the 1980s to Kazhugu. Rajinikanth acted in every film; Babu directed all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
10 films across 2 decades
The 1970s brought 4 films together, anchored by Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai (8.3/10).
The 1980s brought 6 films together, anchored by Kazhugu (7.5/10).
- Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai
- Priya
- Kazhugu
- Murattu Kaalai
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
10 films across 7 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
43% of Babu's screen credits are with Rajinikanth. After Anbulla Rajinikanth, Rajinikanth kept going for 78 more films; Babu stepped back.
Before Aadu Puli Attam, Rajinikanth had starred in 2 films, including Apoorva Raagangal (1975) and Moondru Mudichu (1976).
After Anbulla Rajinikanth, Rajinikanth went on to appear in 78 more films, including Robot (2010) and Petta (2019).
Before Aadu Puli Attam, Babu had starred in 3 films, including Mogam Muppadhu Varusham (1976) and Oru Oodhappu Kan Simittugiradhu (1976).
After Anbulla Rajinikanth, Babu went on to appear in 10 more films, including Vetri Karangal (1991) and En Uyir Thozhan (1990).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Rajinikanth & Babu's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Ilayaraja is the through-line — music on 8 of their 10 films. Ilayaraja scored 8 of them. Thengai Srinivasan appears alongside them in 5 films — practically a third lead.
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2
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22
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2
8
2
23
Other iconic Tamil director-actor duos
Discover other partnerships with comparable filmographies and ratings
