Still from Uzhaippali (1993) directed by P. Vasu, with Rajinikanth and Roja playing the lead roles.

Uzhaippali was the 3rd film by P. Vasu starring Rajinikanth, after Panakkaran (1990) and Mannan (1992). It was a hat-trick success for this combination, although Uzhaippali had some trouble with its release due to Rajinikanth’s films having been banned by the distributors union then. Later Rajinikanth released it by himself through his distribution company and the film turned out to be a blockbuster hit. P. Vasu started his career as a co-director along with Santhana Bharathi, under the name Bharathi-Vasu. The duo debuted with Panneer Pushpangal (1981) which was a hit. Their later films didn’t do too well at the box office, and eventually made them choose different paths. P. Vasu’s first independent directorial venture was the Kannada film Kathanayaka (1986).