Moondru Mugam (1982)

Arun (Rajinikanth) comes back from America to India as a saint after 10 years of living abroad. His father (Thengai Srinivasan)does not want his son to be a saint so he asks a press reporter (Radhika Sarathkumar) to change him back to normal.

She sets up a number of things such as an interview, which he thwarts. Later, on the pretense of taking him to a temple, she plans another set up. On the way to the temple, she pretends that the car has broken down and he leaves to roam around a bit. While he is walking he sees a crying child and offers him a chocolate.

Suddenly he is swarmed by children and the adults of the village think he is a children kidnapper. During this commotion, Radika cuts Arun's beard off, as it is viewed as a symbol of piety. After a few more set-ups such as this, he renounces his saint hood. Later, Arun goes to work and finds out that his father has been sending money to someone for over twenty years.

In another scenario, a man informs a lady that someone has proposed to her nephew John (again Rajinikanth). She informs the bride's parents about John, telling them he is actually a man named Alex Pandian's (also portrayed by Rajinikanth). A flashback ensues that explains Alex Pandian's story.

Alex Pandian is a scrupulous police officer. He arrests some people and brings upon him the wrath of their mob boss. They kill him. As he exhales his last breadth, Alex Pandian predetermines that he will be born again to kill them.

When Alex Pandian dies so does his wife after giving birth to twins. One is named Arun and the other, John. Meanwhile Thengai Srinivasan's wife gives birth but the child dies, just like the other two times she had been pregnant. Alex's sister gives one of Alex Pandian's children to them and he is christened Arun.

On Arun's 25th birthday party, he gets a divine epiphany that makes him realize he is the reincarnation of Alex Pandian. He is asked to meet a woman named Smitha at a hotel but it proves to be a set up. In the ensuing battle for survival, he kills the attacker and goes to jail.

He comes to court to reveal the truth when suddenly an Alex Pandian comes up and says that he is not in fact dead but that he was in Sri Lanka all this time. However, the truth is that this man posing to be Alex Pandian is in fact Arun's twin, John. Unbeknownst to John, he is working with the man who murdered his father.

Later Arun says he lied that he was an incarnation because he wanted to know who his enemies were because they will want to kill him. Later in the story John finds who Alex Pandian is and who Arun is and goes to save his brother. However, John is fatally wounded by the villain who he eventually kills and throws into the sea; the same way his father was murdered. Arun and Radhika get married in the end and all is well.