Rajinikanth & Sridevi Movies Together List — 17 Films

The shape of the work

The 1970s belonged to Padhinaru Vayadhiniley; the 1980s to Johnny. Rajinikanth acted in every film; Sridevi acted in all of them.

Partnership facts

• Their first film together, Moondru Mudichu (1976), was directed by K. Balachander. He cast Rajinikanth as the villain and Sridevi as the lead — she was only 13 years old at the time. The pairing was accidental; Balachander was just casting the best actors for each role, not trying to create a romantic pair.
• In Johnny (1980), Rajinikanth played a street-smart ruffian and Sridevi played a rich girl. The film's success hinged on their contrasting energies — he was loud and physical, she was subtle and expressive. Director Mahendran said he wrote the scenes knowing Sridevi's reactions would ground Rajini's over-the-top style.
• Their 1977 film Padhinaru Vayadhiniley was a massive hit and directly launched Sridevi as a top star in Tamil cinema. Before this, she was a child actor in Telugu and Malayalam. Rajinikanth was already rising, but this film made both of them bankable leads — and it inspired a wave of teen romance films in Tamil throughout the late 70s.
• During the shoot of Gaayathri (1977), Sridevi was still a minor and her mother stayed on set every single day. Rajinikanth reportedly treated her like a younger sister — he never smoked or drank in front of her, and he made sure the crew didn't use foul language around her. This was unusual for a male lead in those days.
• Rajinikanth once said in a 1980s interview: 'Sridevi is the only actress who could make me forget my lines. I would just watch her perform and lose track of the scene.' He said this during the promotion of Johnny.
• After their last film together, Bhagwaan Dada (1986), they never worked together again. But in 2013, when Sridevi returned to Tamil cinema after decades with the film English Vinglish, Rajinikanth personally called her to congratulate her. She later told a magazine that he was the first person from the industry to reach out.