Y. Gee. Mahendra & Ilayaraja Movies Together List — 11 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-05 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Y. Gee. Mahendra and Ilayaraja appeared together in 11 Tamil films between 1980 and 1988. Their highest-rated collaboration was Kazhugu (1981 — 7.5/10). Films span Murattu Kaalai (1980) through Manasukkul Mathappu (1988).
The Y. Gee. Mahendra & Ilayaraja partnership
Between 1980 and 1988, they barely worked apart — 11 films in 8 years. 1985 was their peak — 5 films in twelve months. For 8 years, a Y.–Ilayaraja film arrived almost every year.
The work is uneven: Kazhugu (7.5) at one end, Nalla Thambi (1.0) at the other. From Murattu Kaalai (1980) to Manasukkul Mathappu (1988).
The shape of the work
Y. Gee. Mahendra acted in every film; Ilayaraja scored all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
11 films across 1 decade
- Kazhugu
- Padikkaatha Pannaiyar
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
11 films across 8 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
After Manasukkul Mathappu, Ilayaraja kept going for 300 more films; Y. Gee. Mahendra stepped back.
Before Murattu Kaalai, Y. Gee. Mahendra had starred in 7 films, including Manmadha Leelai (1976) and Idhaya Malar (1976).
After Manasukkul Mathappu, Y. Gee. Mahendra went on to appear in 23 more films, including Yuddham Sei (2011) and Sringaram (2007).
Murattu Kaalai was Ilayaraja's acting debut.
After Manasukkul Mathappu, Ilayaraja went on to appear in 300 more films, including Pithamagan (2003) and Merku Thodarchi Malai (2018).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Y. Gee. Mahendra & Ilayaraja's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Thengai Srinivasan appears alongside them in 5 films — practically a third lead. They worked with the same 5 people again and again — a small repertory company.
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