Vivek & Manobala Movies Together List — 9 Films

The shape of the work

The 2000s belonged to Aethiree; the 2020s to Aranmanai 3. Vivek acted in every film; Manobala acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Manobala actually cast Vivek in 'Three Roses' (2003) after seeing his comic timing in a stage play. Vivek was still a rising comedian then, and Manobala took a gamble giving him a full-length comedy role instead of just a side track.
• On 'Thaka Thimi Tha' (2005), Manobala let Vivek improvise most of his dialogue. Vivek would rewrite his lines on set, and Manobala would just roll camera. The result? That film's comedy track became a cult hit in Tamil TV reruns.
• Vivek and Manobala were close friends off-screen. After 'Palakkattu Madhavan' (2015) got mixed reviews, Manobala told a magazine that Vivek called him the next morning and said, 'Don't worry, we'll bounce back.' They did — with 'Thozha' (2016).
• Their collaboration on 'Bigil' (2019) was the only time Manobala directed a film that crossed 250 crores. Vivek's comic subplot with Yogi Babu in that film directly led to Yogi Babu getting more solo comedy roles in later Atlee films.
• Manobala once said in an interview: 'Vivek is the only actor who can make me laugh even when I'm angry on set. He'd do a take, I'd be furious about the lighting, and he'd make me forget it.'