Times when Rajinikanth played a smuggler’s role on the big screens

South superstar Rajinikanth is one of the most celebrated actors in India. In his long career, he has done many different roles, both positive and negative. However, his smuggler characters have been some of the most memorable.

His dialogue delivery and strong screen presence in these roles have become fan favourites. These roles showed that Rajinikanth could make even negative characters unforgettable on the big screen.

Rajinikanth is best known for his films like ‘Enthiran’, ‘Sivaji’, ‘Baasha’, ‘Kabali’, ‘Jailer’, among others. It is worth noting that the Indian government honoured him with the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan in 2000 and 2016 for his contributions to the arts. 

Before Coolie’s release, let’s take a look at the films where he played the role of a smuggler on screen.

Thee

The 2009 Tamil-language film ‘Thee’ features Rajinikanth, Suman, Sowcar Janali, Sripriya, Shubha, Major Sundarrajan, Thengai Srinivasan, and SA Ashokan in the lead roles. In this film, Rajinikanth played the character of Rajshekhar ‘Raja’. He used to be a boot polisher and later became a smuggler and a leading figure of the underworld. This action crime drama film has an IMDb rating of 6.6.

Billa

In the 1980 film ‘Billa’, Rajinikanth played the role of a notorious gangster operating from Madras. The film was directed by R Krishnamoorthy and features Rajinikanth, Sripriya, Major Sundarrajan, K Balaji, SA Ashokan, RS Manohar and others in the key roles. 

The movie revolves around the story of a man who poses as a Mafia don to uncover the gang. Critics have given this film 7.5 stars out of 10 on IMDb. 

Coolie

The superstar Rajinikanth will be next seen in Lokesh Kanagaraj’s directorial ‘Coolie’ alongside Nagarjuna, Shruti Haasan, Sathyaraj and others in the key roles. In this film, he will be playing the role of Deva, a former gold smuggler. For the unversed, the movie follows the story of a mafia gang led by Rajinikanth. The film will be released worldwide on August 14, 2025.