Thambi Ramaiah & Jiiva Movies Together List — 5 Films

The shape of the work

The 2010s account for 80% of everything they made together. The 2010s belonged to Jilla; the 2020s to Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimaiyil. Thambi Ramaiah acted in every film; Jiiva acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Jiiva was the one who pushed for Thambi Ramaiah to play the comedic father role in Jilla (2014). The director initially wanted a different actor, but Jiiva insisted after seeing Thambi's stage work.
• In Kadavul Irukaan Kumaru (2016), Thambi Ramaiah improvised an entire monologue about marriage fears on set. Jiiva, who was playing the lead, broke character and laughed — that take made it into the final cut.
• Thambi Ramaiah calls Jiiva 'my lucky charm' because every film they did together released without any legal or financial trouble — a rare thing in Thambi's career at the time.
• Thambi Ramaiah once said in an interview: 'Jiiva is the only hero who let me rewrite my lines on the spot. He trusts my comic timing more than I do.'
• Their pairing in Sangili Bungili Kathava Thorae (2017) directly led to Thambi Ramaiah getting cast as the lead in his own solo comedy film the next year — a first for him after decades as a supporting actor.