11 films where Rajinikanth acted in an Amitabh Bachchan remake and aced them

Tamil Nadu’s Thaliava Rajinikanth and Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan share a special bond. Apart from being very good friends, there is one more aspect which binds them together – remakes.

Not many would know that many of Rajinikanth’s films, now considered cult movies of Tamil filmdom, are actually remakes of Amitabh Bachchan hit films.

Take a look:

Shankar Salim Simon (Amar Akbar Anthony)

It all started in 1978 when Rajinikanth remade an iconic Hindi film, Amar Akbar Anthony, in Tamil. Called Shankar Salim Simon, starring Vijayakumar as Shankar, Jaiganesh as Salim and Rajinikanth as Simon. He remade the Manmohan Desai film again in Telugu, this time as with actors Krishna as Robert, Rajinikanth as Ram and Chandra Mohan as Rahim.

Naan Vazhavaippen, (Majboor)

The 1974 hit film Majboor, directed by Ravi Tandon, was remade in many Indian languages but in the Tamil version, it featured Rajinikanth playing Big B’s part. It was made in 1979.

Billa (Don)

Arguably one of the biggest hits in Rajinikanth’s career (and certainly among his most memorable roles) was Billa (1980). This was actually a remake of one of Bachchan’s best known films, Don, scripted by the legendary Bollywood writer duo, Salim-Javed.

Dharamathin Thalaivan (Kasme Vaade)

A remake of Kasme Vaade (1978) starring Bachchan, Rakhee and Randhir Kapoor, Dharamathin Thalaivan featured Rajinikanth, Suhasini Mani Ratnam and Prabhu in the lead roles.

Thee (Deewaar)

The following year, Rajinikanth returned with another blockbuster – Thee – a remake of the iconic Yash Chopra directorial, Deewar. The roles of the two brothers, played by Bachchan and the late Shashi Kapoor, was repeated by Rajinikanth (as Bachchan) and actor Suman (as Kapoor) in the remake.

Mr. Bharath (Trishul)

In 1985 released Mr Bharath, remake of the 1978 Trishul, which starred Rajinikanth playing the son who takes revenge from his father for cheating on his mother. This too was a blockbuster.

Panakkaran (Laawaris)

In 1990 came Panakkaran, where Rajinikanth reprised Bachchan’s role in 1981 hit Laawaris (1981). South Indian actor Gauthami, former partner of Kamal Haasan, played Zeenat Aman’s role in the film.

Maaveeran (Mard)

Manmohan Desai directed Mard, featuring Bachchan’s populist dialogue – Mard ko dard nahin hota – was remade as Maaveeran in 1986. Needless to say, Rajinikanth played Bachchan’s role, while Amrita Singh’s character was played by actor Ambika.

Padikathavan (Khuddaar)

This 1985 film, which also starred another heavyweight of Tamil cinema, Sivaji Ganesan, was a remake of Ravi Tandon directed Khuddaar staring Bachchan, Vinod Mehra and Parveen Babi.

Siva (Khoon Pasina)

This Ameerjan directed Tamil film, which released in 1989, was the remake of Bachchan’s 1977 film Khool Pasina. The film also starred actor-dancer Shobana playing Rekha’s role from the original.

Velaikkaran (Namak Halal)

Prakash Mehra directed Namak Halaal (1982), which featured one of the hit Bollywood jodis, Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor, was remade as Velaikkaran in Tamil. So faithful was Rajinikanth to the original that it even featured Bachchan’s iconic ‘I can talk English, walk English because English is a very funny language’, of course, with a few changes.

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First Published: Dec 12, 2017 20:26 IST