In the 1970s, Amitabh Bachchan shot to superstardom with his Angry Young Man persona. While it was Zanjeer that gave birth to that phenomenon, the actor solidified his status as Bollywood’s numer uno star with hits like Deewar, Don, Lawaaris among others. Funnily enough, a couple of years later, another actor became a superstar with these same films, or at least their remakes.
The man who became a superstar with remakes of Amitabh Bachchan films
In the 70s, Rajinikanth was a promising actor, largely known for playing the villain in Tamil and Telugu films. He had earned praise for his negative roles but had not received the same success as a hero. All that changed in 1980 when he starred in Billa, a remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s Don. Rajini was chosen for the role as it was half-negative, since one of the two characters played by him was a gangster. The film was a smash hit and Rajinikanth became an established star. Over the next few years, he acted in six more films that were remakes of Amitabh’s hits. All were successful at the box office and firmly established Rajinikanth as the number one star in the Tamil film industry.
All of Rajinikanth’s Big B remakes
After Billa, Rajinikanth starred in Ram Robert Rahim, a remake of Amar Akbar Anthony (1978). His next big hit came through Thee (1981), a remake of the 1975 blockbuster Deewar. This was followed by Padikkadavan in 1985, a remake of Khud-Daar (1982), and Velaikkaran (1987), a remake of Namak Halaal (1982). The superstar then rounded off the decade with Dharmathin Thalaivan (1988), a remake of the 1978 release Kasme Vaade. Rajinikanth’s last remake of an Amitabh Bachchan film was the 1990 hit Panakkaran, based on the 1981 hit Lawaaris. Incidentally, in 1990, Rajini worked with Amitabh in the Hindi hit Hum.
Rajinikanth’s stardom today
At 72, Rajinikanth is still one of the biggest stars in Tamil cinema, with only Kamal Haasan and Thalapathy Vijay rivalling him. The actor reportedly charges over Rs 200 crore per film and was, in 2023, the highest-paid actor in Asia. The fact that he still charges more than younger superstars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, and Prabhas speaks volumes about his longevity. The actor has a reported net worth of Rs 500 crore.
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