Before Baasha , Rajinikanth was a superstar. After Baasha , he became a . The film redefined the "mass masala" genre and introduced the template of the "sleeping tiger"—a seemingly ordinary man with a violent, glorious past. Even after three decades, when Rajinikanth lights a cigarette and flicks his sunglasses on screen, the whistle from the audience is deafening. The Plot: From Sambavam to Baasha The story follows Manickam (Rajinikanth), a simple, righteous auto-rickshaw driver in Chennai who hates violence. He lives with his sister and loves a medical student named Priya (Nagma). He is kind, soft-spoken, and refuses to fight.
When the Mumbai underworld, led by the cunning (Raghuvaran in a career-best performance), threatens his family, the "auto driver" vanishes. In a gut-wrenching interval block, Manickam reveals his true identity: Manick Baasha , the undisputed King of the Mumbai underworld who once ruled the D-Gang. baasha tamil movies
But there is a ghost in his past.