Rajinikanth turns 73 today. The Thalaiva who is now a big superstar of Tamil cinema had a very humble beginning. From working as a bus conductor, coolie, and carpenter he rose to prominence as a Southern actor. Born as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, he is quite fluent in Marathi and Kannada and learned Tamil when he was studying at the Madras Film Institute.
He is a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan and in his long career of almost 50 decades, he has worked on a dozen remakes of Bachchan movies both in Tamil and Telugu. Check out some such remakes:
Rajini’s Thee was a remake of Amitabh’s Deewar
Deewar is a tale of two brothers. One goes on to become an honest cop whereas the elder brother played by Amitabh Bachchan becomes a gangster. In Thee, Rajinikanth essayed the role of Amitabh while Suman played the role of Shashi Kapoor as the honest cop. The movie was a blockbuster hit.
Billa inspired by Don
Another massive hit of Senior Bachchan, already two modern versions have been made in Bollywood on Don. Rajinikanth led the Don-inspired movie in Tamil titled Billa. People loved the Southern superstar in the role of an anti-hero and it also established Rajinikanth as the superstar of the South.
Rajini’s Padikkavadan was a remake of Khuddar
Amitabh Bachchan and Parveen Babi’s Khuddar was a big blockbuster. It was remade in Tamil with Rajinikanth playing the lead. Titled Padikkavadan, the movie was a super duper success.
Dharmathin Thalaivan was inspired from YRF’s Kasme Vaade
Kasme Vaade was a different movie from the regular action genre of Amitabh Bachchan in which he played the double role of a sophisticated professor as well as a gangster. Rajinikanth played the double role in Dharmathin Thalaivan which also had Suhasini Maniratnam and Prabhu in important roles.
Namak Halaal was remade as Velaikkaran
Rajinikanth ’s Velaikkaran was a remake of Prakash Mehtra's directorial Namak Halaal. Both the original and the remake were superhits.
Throughout his successful career, these remakes of Amitabh Bachchan have played an important role in consolidating Rajinikanth’s position as the ultimate Thaliava of Tamil cinema. He has also worked with Big B in Bollywood movies like Andha Kanoon, Giraftaar, and Hum and recently completed shooting with him for his upcoming movie.