Superstar Rajinikanth turns 75-year-young today, but his craze refuses to die even as he steps into his 15th year as a senior citizen. The veteran actor has delivered a string of blockbusters at the box office since he turned 60. Here are five films that prove Rajinikanth is the Thalaivar when it comes to generating box office numbers.
Enthiran (2010)
Enthiran was a milestone in Tamil cinema. Director Shankar and Rajinikanth pushed boundaries with a sci-fi spectacle that shattered box office records. Rajinikanth played a double role in the film: scientist Vaseegaran and the iconic robot Chitti. The robot evolves from loyal companion to a destructive force, forcing Vaseegaran to dismantle it. With Aishwarya Rai Bachchan playing Rajinikanth’s love interest, and music by A.R. Rahman, the film raked in Rs 320 crore gross globally.
Kabali (2016)
Pa Ranjith’s gangster drama Kabali features Rajinikanth as a former gangster who returns to the criminal underbelly to exact revenge on his rivals and search for his wife and daughter who were presumed dead. The film earned Rs 305 crore gross globally, and also recorded the highest opening day collection for a south Indian film overseas, surpassing Baahubali: The Beginning. The gangster drama also stars Winston Chao, Radhika Apte, Dhansika and Kishore.
2.0 (2018)
A sequel to Enthiran, this Shankar-directed spectacle pushed the envelope once again, and emerged as the highest-grossing Tamil film of all time. Rajinikanth returns as Vaseegaran and Chitti, this time pitted against the antagonist Pakshi Rajan (played by Akshay Kumar) in a visually-stunning narrative mounted on a lavish scale. 2.0 released in nearly 7,000 screens in India and 2,000 screens overseas, raking in Rs 800 crore gross globally.
Jailer (2023)
At an age when most actors step away from film sets, Rajinikanth stepped up his mojo with Jailer, one of his most explosive late-career hits of his career. Nelson’s film dominated worldwide box offices, raking in Rs 650 crore globally and emerging as the second-highest-grossing Tamil film of all time. The cast also includes Ramya Krishnan, Vinayakan, Sunil, Vasanth Ravi, Yogi Babu and Mirnaa.
Coolie (2025)
The hype around Coolie was unmistakable. Rajinikanth was teaming up with Lokesh Kanagaraj for the first time and fans expected the filmmaker to kindle the same magic on screen with Thalaivar, which he did for Kamal Haasan (Vikram) and Vijay (Leo). Although the film failed to impress most cinegoers, Rajinikanth’s superstar aura ensured that it swept the box office in the opening weekend itself. Coolie registered a lifetime collection of Rs 518 crore gross.