Polladhavan , Thalapathi , Baasha  (Tamil)

Polladhavan
Lakshmi is traveling with her nephew to an estate to attend her job interview as a nanny to the estate merchants daughter. There is a suspicious looking man seated in front of her, at a point in the journey he tries to rape her but suddenly he is shot dead. Lakshmi sees the murderer (Rajinikanth) and clearly remembers his face and reports the murder to the police (Delhi Ganesh). Then she is appointed for the nanny position and she and the merchants daughter grow fond of each other.

Then it is announced that the merchant who is extremely fond of his daughter has come back form his journey, Lakshmi meets him only to find that he is the murderer she saw on the train, the merchant realizes this as well and threatens Lakshmi not to tell anyone and makes sure to prevent her from leaving his estate as she is keen on reporting him to the police.

Lakshmi tries many times to escape but does not succeed and is always caught. She doesn't even tell the police when she meets them as Rajini threatens that he will kill her nephew if she did. Later in the movie Lakshmi somehow sees beneath the rough, mean Rajini and grows fond of him but is confused why such a nice man is acting so arrogantly.

Thalapathi
Surya (Rajinikanth), the abandoned child of fourteen-year-old unwed mother Kalyani (Srividya), is brought up by a generous lady living in slums. He grows up to become a fearless kind-hearted slum king who fights the injustice that takes place daily. These qualities lead him to cross swords with the local don Devarajan (Deva) (Mammootty). Deva's friend Ramana is fatally beaten up by Surya, and he threatens Surya that he will find himself in a dangerous situation if the friend was laid to rest. His friend passes away, and Surya gets placed in prison. However, when Deva discovers Ramana's offense, he decides to get Surya released from jail.

Surya is surprised to see Deva send his own man to get him out from jail, and there he tells Surya, Nyayamnu onnu irrukku (there is such a thing called justice). From that moment, Deva surrenders his ego and offers his hand of friendship to Surya. Surya pledges that he has nothing else but his life to give his new friend. From then on Deva makes Surya his "Thalapathi" (commander). Meanwhile Surya falls for a local girl Subbulakshmi (Shobana). They soon fall in love and their relationship continues. Surya and Deva virtually rule the town with their muscle and their sense of justice. In the eyes of the government, they are anti-social elements. Arjun (Arvind Swamy), posted as the new district collector, plans to arrest both so that he can end their brutal activities. But his opportunities are in vain.

Baasha
Manikkam (Rajnikanth) is an humble auto driver who helps people and needy. He also wants to keep away from unnecessary fights, quarrels etc. His main ambition is to bring up his brother and sisters with flying colors. His brother Shiva gets through the police training and waits for posting.

Manikkam meets Priya, a rich girl who travels frequently in his auto. She develops a respect and passion for him due to his nobility.

Shiva attends his interview and he is asked to bring his brother to office by a senior official when he hears the name Manikkam and Shiva's birth place is Bombay. Hesitating at first, Manikkam goes to commissioner's office. Manikkam's sister who had passed with more marks requests a medical seat to a medical college proprietor. The proprietor demands that he wants illegal relationship with her and stay in his guest house. Hearing about this Manikkam meets the guy. He surprises his sister when he makes the proprietor bow to him and readily to give seat without any condition. He also surprises his brother when he attacked the area Don when he teased his sister, as Manikkam is a person who keeps away from fights. The men attacked by Manikkam are serious at hospital. Shiva inquires Manikkam about his past life and what he was doing at Bombay 4 years back. The film then goes into a flashback about Manikkam's life at Bombay.