Livingston & Mayilsamy Movies Together List — 6 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-05 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Livingston and Mayilsamy appeared together in 6 Tamil films between 1985 and 2019. Their highest-rated collaboration was Kanni Rasi (1985 — 6.5/10). Films span Kanni Rasi (1985) through Butler Balu (2019).
The Livingston & Mayilsamy partnership
After 18 years apart, they came back together for Military (2003). They didn't share a set between 1985 and 2003. Their work runs across 3 decades of Tamil cinema.
From Kanni Rasi (1985) to Butler Balu (2019). It started with Kanni Rasi (1985).
The shape of the work
The 1980s belonged to Kanni Rasi; the 2010s to Butler Balu. Livingston acted in every film; Mayilsamy acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Livingston was already a star when he cast Mayilsamy in Military (2003). But Mayilsamy was so nervous on the first day that Livingston had to sit him down and say, 'Just be yourself. Don't try to act.' That broke the ice.
- In Jeyikkira Kuthira (2017), Livingston deliberately slowed down his delivery to match Mayilsamy's rhythm. He told the director, 'If I speak fast, his comedy won't land. Let me wait for him.' That patience made their back-and-forth feel natural.
- On the sets of Butler Balu (2019), Mayilsamy would bring homemade snacks for the entire crew every Friday. Livingston later admitted in an interview that he looked forward to those Fridays more than the shoot itself.
- Mayilsamy once said about Livingston: 'He never treated me like a sidekick. He treated me like a co-star. That's why I said yes to every film he asked me to do.'
- Their double-act in Military (2003) directly inspired the comedy track in the 2005 hit 'Chandramukhi' — the director of that film admitted he wanted a similar 'straight man vs. funny man' dynamic for the Vadivelu-Rajinikanth scenes.
- In Gurkha (2019), Livingston improvised a scene where he slaps Mayilsamy mid-sentence. Mayilsamy didn't flinch — he just kept his reaction going. The director kept the take because that unplanned moment became the scene's biggest laugh.
6 films across 3 decades
The 1980s accounted for 1 film, averaging 6.5/10.
The 2000s accounted for 2 films, averaging 6.5/10.
The 2010s accounted for 3 films, averaging 4.8/10.
- Kanni Rasi
- Naan Avanillai
- Military0
- Butler Balu
- Gurkha
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
6 films across 34 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
Before Kanni Rasi, Livingston had starred in 1 film, including Vidhi (1984).
After Butler Balu, Livingston went on to appear in 21 more films, including Chennai City Gangsters (2025) and Taanakkaran (2022).
Before Kanni Rasi, Mayilsamy had starred in 1 film, including Dhavani Kanavugal (1984).
After Butler Balu, Mayilsamy went on to appear in 18 more films, including Server Sundaram (2020) and Idiot (2022).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Livingston & Mayilsamy's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Yogi Babu is the through-line — cast on 3 of their 6 films. Yogi Babu appears alongside them in 3 films — practically a third lead.
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
