BIGGEST DON IN TAMIL CINEMA

DON IN TAMIL CINEMA ?

1. Rajini is and always will be the original don whose style quotient was simply off the charts. Not to forget, his daredevil attitude left every woman in the audience breathless. The vintage suits he sported in the movie, his sun glasses and the pipe he smoked were to die for. A powerful performance completed the picture and made Billa one of the most awesome films ever.

This film is also special because Rajini had a double role and did an exemplary job in carrying off the stylish don character as well as the paan – chewing country bumpkin, Rajappa character with equal élan. As everybody knows, Rajini’s brand of special style is inimitable making him the darling of just about everybody who has had the privilege to become acquainted with his fine body of work.

2. Kamal Haasan was unforgettable as the intense, enigmatic and complicated Velu Nayakar. He won the National award for his efforts and many credit this as being Mani’s finest film. One of the unique aspects of Kamal’s portrayal was that he literally portrayed the birth, maturation and final years of a don. He made a mark as the unassuming young man trying to make his way in the big bad city, who goes on to become a powerful don inspiring adoration, fear and hatred in equal measure.

This unique characters love for a prostitute, grief and guilt over the loss of a wife and son and the estrangement from a daughter, and attempt to live his life on his own terms with all the dignity and grace he can bring to bear makes him one of the most memorable creations of all time. Needless to say, Kamal did complete justice to Velu Nayakar and together they made movie magic.

 3. Ajith pulled off the seemingly impossible when he took on the onerous task of playing a legendary screen character already immortalized by one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema, Rajinikanth. Ajith sank his teeth into the character of David Billa and made it his own. The panache and undeniable style he brought into his performance drove the fans into an absolute tizzy and everybody started imitating his mannerisms in the film.

Such is the popularity of Ajith’s Billa. In fact, Ajith’s David Billa has become so beloved that a prequel has been spawned.

4. Rajini in Baasha Nobody and absolutely nobody can exude masculine power, menace and killing rage like Rajinikanth. His turn as Manick Basha proves the above statement beyond a shadow of a doubt. Certain scenes in Basha like the one where he has a ‘friendly’ word with the dean of a university who has been trying to seek sexual favors from his sister in return for a medical seat or the one where he flies into a spectacular paroxysm of rage when a bunch of thugs manhandle his sister and beats the stuffing out of them is the stuff of legend.

The famous “Naan oru tharava sonna nooru tharavu sonna madhiri” line is insanely popular and is quoted a billion times by a billion people on a daily basis. Which other actor can boast of such a powerful performance that is indelibly imprinted on the minds of so many?