Rajinikanth has many times told Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan (List of the Remakes of Amitabh Bachchan’s Movies by Rajinikanth) as his inspiration. Both have also worked together in Bollywood films like ‘Andha Kanoon’, ‘Him’ and ‘Girftaar’. There was a time in the 70-80s, when Rajinikanth earned both name and money by working in Tamil remakes of Hindi films of Amitabh Bachchan. It started with the film ‘Shankar Salim Simon’ released in 1978. It was actually the Tamil remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ released in 1977. This was followed by ‘Naan Vazhavaipen’, released in 1979, a remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s 1974 release ‘Majboor’.
‘Badla’, a remake of ‘Don’, made Rajinikanth a superstar
Rajinikanth has worked in the Tamil remake of 11 films of Amitabh Bachchan, which ultimately made his career shine. Among them, the film that benefited Rajinikanth the most was Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Don’, whose story was written by Salim-Javed. It is said that this was the period when Rajinikanth had almost decided that he would quit acting. But he made a comeback in Tamil films with the film Badla which was released in 1980. It was actually a remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Don’ released in 1978. Rajinikanth played a double role in ‘Billa’ and it became his first major commercial hit.
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Rajinikanth became No. 1 by overtaking Kamal Haasan
The success of ‘Billa’ gave a new twist to Rajinikanth’s career. Those opponents also had to face, who were claiming that Rajinikanth is over now. The truth is that ‘Billa’, a remake of Amitabh’s ‘Don’, made Rajinikanth the number-1 star of South Indian cinema. He defeated Kamal Haasan with the success of this film.
Here’s a list of 11 Tamil remakes of Amitabh’s films, which made Rajinikanth’s star shine-
1. Dawn- Badla
Amitabh Bachchan’s 1978 superhit film ‘Don’ was released in Tamil as ‘Billa’ in 1980. It is considered one of the best films of Rajinikanth’s career.
2. Amar Akbar Anthony – Shankar Salim Simon
Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, and Vinod Khanna starrer ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ was remade twice south with Rajinikanth. In 1978, Rajinikanth remade the film in Tamil with the title ‘Shankar Salim Simon’. In this, Vijay Kumar played the role of Shankar, Jai Ganesh played the role of Salim and Rajinikanth played the role of Simon. Later the same film was remade in Telugu as ‘Robert, Ram, Rahim’. In this, Krishna played the role of Robert, Rajinikanth played the role of Ram and Chandra Mohan played the role of Rahim.
Amitabh’s films which were remade by Rajinikanth.
3. Blood Sweat- Shiva
Amitabh’s 1977 superhit film ‘Khoon Pasina’ was released in 1989 in Tamil with the title ‘Shiva’ with Rajinikanth.
4. Trishul- Shri Bharat
In 1985, Amitabh’s blockbuster film ‘Trishul’ was also remade. Released with the title ‘Mr Bharat’, Rajinikanth was in the lead role in this film. The film was also a blockbuster in the South.
Not only Bollywood, South also copies Hindi films, these movies of Salman Khan-Aamir Khan have been remade
5. Unclaimed – Panakkaran
Amitabh Bachchan’s superb acting in the film ‘Laawaris’ is still praised. Released in the year 1981, this Hindi film was released in 1990 with Rajinikanth as the title ‘Panakkaran’.
6. Mard- Maveeran
Amitabh Bachchan’s film ‘Mard’ released in the year 1985 is still very popular for its dialogues. In 1986, the film was remade in the South with the title ‘Maveeran’. Rajinikanth was in the lead role.
Amitabh Bachchan with Rajinikanth and Govinda in the movie ‘Hum’.
7. Salt Halal- Velakaran
Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor’s superhit film ‘Namak Halal’ was released in Hindi in 1982. It was remade in Tamil. Rajinikanth did the role of Amitabh Bachchan once again in ‘Velaikaran’.
8. Khuddar- Padikathavan
Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Mehra and Parveen Babi starrer ‘Khuddar’ was remade in Tamil as ‘Padikathavan’ in 1985. The character of Amitabh Bachchan was played by Rajinikanth in the lead role.
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9. Wall- Di
Yash Chopra’s ‘Deewar’ worked magic on the silver screen. Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor were in this Hindi film. Rajinikanth remade the film in Tamil. Played the role of Amitabh Bachchan and named ‘The’.
10. Majboor – Naan Vazhvaipen
‘Majboor’ was directed by Ravi Tandon in the year 1974. Amitabh Bachchan was in the lead role. Five years later, in 1979, Rajinikanth remade the film in Tamil with the name ‘Naan Vahavavaipen’.
11.Kasme Vade- Dharmathin Thalaivan
Rajinikanth’s ‘Dharmathin Thalaivan’ is also a remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s film. While Bollywood’s ‘Kasme Vaade’ featured Randhir Kapoor with Amitabh Bachchan, the Tamil version of the film featured Prabhu, Suhasini and Khushboo in the lead roles along with Rajinikanth.