Johnny

The 1980 Tamil-language film "Johnny" is a crime thriller directed by Mahendran and starring Rajinikanth in a dual role as Johnny, a con artist. The story revolves around Johnny who teams up with his friend to pull off cons aimed at settling his father's debts.

Produced during its director's debut, the film was released on August 15, 1980. Despite an initially disappointing audience response due to misleading title expectations, it achieved significant commercial success by running for over 100 days in theaters after picking up momentum in the third week.

The film features Rajinikanth alongside Sridevi and Deepa, and marks Mahendran's first original script as a director. Johnny is a con artist who indulges in cons with his friend to settle his father's debts, driven by a desire to help his family after being born out of wedlock.