Rajinikanth

Rajinikanth and Mani Ratnam worked together exactly once — on Thalapathi (1991), a reimagining of the Karna–Duryodhana friendship from the Mahabharata, set in the underworld of rural Tamil Nadu. It remains the only Mani Ratnam film where the star persona and the director's vision fused without friction. Rajinikanth, typically larger than his films, was here contained by Mani Ratnam's framing and Ilaiyaraaja's music into something more restrained and emotionally direct. The film's cult status has only grown. That they never worked together again is one of Tamil cinema's most discussed might-have-beens.