Santhana Bharathi & Ilayaraja Movies Together List — 10 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-07-12 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Santhana Bharathi and Ilayaraja appeared together in 10 Tamil films between 1981 and 1994. Their highest-rated collaboration was Panneer Pushpangal (1981 — 7.5/10). Films span Panneer Pushpangal (1981) through Vietnam Colony (1994).
The Santhana Bharathi & Ilayaraja partnership
From Panneer Pushpangal (1981) to Vietnam Colony (1994). For 13 years, a Santhana–Ilayaraja film arrived almost every year. The spanned closed with Vietnam Colony in 1994.
Panneer Pushpangal is the one most viewers reach for. It started with Panneer Pushpangal (1981).
The shape of the work
The 1990s account for 60% of everything they made together. The 1980s belonged to Panneer Pushpangal; the 1990s to Michael Madana Kama Rajan. Santhana Bharathi director in some, actor in others. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
10 films across 2 decades
The 1980s brought 4 films together, anchored by Panneer Pushpangal (7.5/10).
The 1990s accounted for 6 films, averaging 5.3/10.
- Panneer Pushpangal
- Poovizhi Raja
- Michael Madana Kama Rajan
- Guna
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
10 films across 13 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
After Vietnam Colony, Ilayaraja kept going for 118 more films; Santhana Bharathi stepped back.
Panneer Pushpangal was Santhana Bharathi's directorial debut.
After Vietnam Colony, Santhana Bharathi went on to direct 48 more films, including Anbe Sivam (2003) and Vikram (2022).
Panneer Pushpangal was Ilayaraja's acting debut.
After Vietnam Colony, Ilayaraja went on to appear in 118 more films, including Pithamagan (2003) and Merku Thodarchi Malai (2018).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Santhana Bharathi & Ilayaraja's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Prabhu appears alongside them in 4 films — practically a third lead.
4
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
Other iconic Tamil director-actor duos
Discover other partnerships with comparable filmographies and ratings
