Rajinikanth & Kamal Haasan Movies Together List — 16 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-04 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan appeared together in 16 Tamil films between 1975 and 1985. Their highest-rated collaboration was Padhinaru Vayadhiniley (1977 — 8.4/10). Films span Apoorva Raagangal (1975) through Geraftaar (1985).
The Rajinikanth & Kamal Haasan partnership
1979 was their peak — 4 films in twelve months. For 10 years, a Rajinikanth–Kamal film arrived almost every year. From Apoorva Raagangal (1975) to Geraftaar (1985).
Avargal (1977, 8.2/10) is the underseen one in the catalogue. The played out closed with Geraftaar in 1985.
The shape of the work
The 1970s account for 75% of everything they made together. The 1970s belonged to Padhinaru Vayadhiniley; the 1980s to Geraftaar. Rajinikanth acted in every film; Kamal Haasan acted in all of them.
Partnership facts
- They first shared screen space in K. Balachander's 'Apoorva Raagangal' (1975) because Balachander deliberately cast them together — he wanted two young actors who could handle complex, layered roles. Neither was a star yet. That film put both on the map.
- In 'Moondru Mudichu' (1976), Kamal played a manipulative villain and Rajini played a simpleton. Kamal later said Rajini's raw energy forced him to raise his own game — they pushed each other to extremes in every scene.
- Their 1978 film 'Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu' was remade in Hindi as 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak' — the film that launched Aamir Khan. So a Rajini-Kamal collaboration indirectly kick-started a Bollywood legend's career.
- During the shoot of 'Aval Appadithan' (1978), Kamal and Rajini would stay back after pack-up to argue about acting techniques for hours. They were competitive but also each other's toughest critics — no one else could tell them they were wrong.
- Kamal once said: 'Rajini and I never had a fight. We had disagreements. But we always knew the other was trying to make the scene better.' He said this in a 2013 interview with The Hindu.
- In 'Ninaithale Inikkum' (1979), a musical hit, Rajini played the comic sidekick while Kamal played the romantic lead. They swapped usual roles — Rajini got the laughs, Kamal got the songs. That role reversal is why the film still feels fresh.
16 films across 2 decades
The 1970s brought 12 films together, anchored by Padhinaru Vayadhiniley (8.4/10).
The 1980s accounted for 4 films, averaging 5.0/10.
- Padhinaru Vayadhiniley
- Apoorva Raagangal
- Geraftaar
- Natchathiram0
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
16 films across 10 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 2 languages, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
Apoorva Raagangal was Rajinikanth's acting debut.
After Geraftaar, Rajinikanth went on to appear in 69 more films, including Robot (2010) and Petta (2019).
Before Apoorva Raagangal, Kamal Haasan had starred in 14 films, including Aval Oru Thodar Kathai (1974) and Arangetram (1973).
After Geraftaar, Kamal Haasan went on to appear in 80 more films, including Indian (1996) and Anbe Sivam (2003).










Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Rajinikanth & Kamal Haasan's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Ilayaraja scored 4 of them. They worked with the same 6 people again and again — a small repertory company. Sripriya appears alongside them in 5 films — practically a third lead.
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Other iconic Tamil director-actor duos
Discover other partnerships with comparable filmographies and ratings
Nassar
G. V. Prakash Kumar
Prakash Raj
Trisha Krishnan
Thambi Ramaiah
Samuthirakani
Balu Mahendra
Ilayaraja
Nassar
M. S. Bhaskar
Rajinikanth
Suruli rajan
