A Trip Down Memory Lane; Rajinikanth's Hollywood Debut, 1988 Bloodstone

Yes, you heard it right! Our beloved Superstar Rajinikanth had been featured in an American movie called Bloodstone in 1988. To those that remember, good for ya, to the remaining that didn’t know he had a stint in Hollywood, this is news for you.

Rajini was just 38 years old then and was still experimenting with roles and having his first breakthrough.

Along with Bloodstone, he also released a few other movies; Guru Sishyan, Dharmathin Thalaivan, Kodi Parakuthu, Bada Bhauja, and Tamasha(Old). Bloodstone, the Hollywood movie is about the quest for ‘India’s largest ruby.’

A thief who stole the cursed stone puts the stone in an American couple’s luggage who came for a holiday in Chennai, and by accident passed it on to a crooked, English-speaking taxi driver, Shyam.

The movie was directed by Dwight H Little and was produced by Ashok Amritraj, from the tennis playing clan, who moved to Hollywood in the 1980s and produced a series of soft-core and action titles.

Rajinikanth starred alongside Brett Stimely and Anna Nicholas. During the extremely busy time frame of Rajinikanth’s career, Bloodstone was released, besides the numerous Tamil releases, and Hindi remakes.

During an interview for Bloodstone, the Superstar mentioned that the Hollywood industry experience was really insightful and the film crew team were well organised and skilled stating that he worked with highly trained professional perfectionists.

During the interview, Rajini when asked about his next ambition responded by humbly stating: “I really didn’t have any ambition at all,” further saying that he was merely going with the flow and completing the task at hand.

He was Spritual even during his early days as an actor, which may explain his cool composure and therapeutic Approach in Life.

It is believed that he was the first Tamil actor from South India to make his debut in a Hollywood movie. Our ‘Thalaiva’ did it all, including Hollywood!