Livingston & Ilayaraja Movies Together List — 11 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-05 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Livingston and Ilayaraja appeared together in 11 Tamil films between 1985 and 2007. Their highest-rated collaboration was Kanni Rasi (1985 — 6.5/10). Films span Kanni Rasi (1985) through Kuttrapathirikai (2007).
The Livingston & Ilayaraja partnership
After 12 years apart, they came back together for Kuttrapathirikai (2007). They didn't share a set between 1995 and 2007. 1991 was their peak — 3 films in twelve months.
Their work runs across 3 decades of Tamil cinema. The work is uneven: Kanni Rasi (6.5) at one end, Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran (1.0) at the other.
The shape of the work
The 1990s account for 64% of everything they made together. The 1980s belonged to Kanni Rasi; the 2000s to Kuttrapathirikai. Livingston acted in every film; Ilayaraja scored all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
11 films across 3 decades
The 1980s accounted for 3 films, averaging 3.8/10.
The 1990s accounted for 7 films, averaging 5.3/10.
The 2000s accounted for 1 film, averaging 5.5/10.
- Kanni Rasi
- Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran
- Pattukku Naan Adimai
- Irumbu Pookkal
- Kuttrapathirikai
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
11 films across 22 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
42% of Ilayaraja's screen credits are with Livingston. After Kuttrapathirikai, Livingston kept going for 59 more films; Ilayaraja stepped back.
Before Kanni Rasi, Livingston had starred in 1 film, including Vidhi (1984).
After Kuttrapathirikai, Livingston went on to appear in 59 more films, including Chennai City Gangsters (2025) and Taanakkaran (2022).
Kanni Rasi was Ilayaraja's acting debut.
After Kuttrapathirikai, Ilayaraja went on to appear in 15 more films, including Merku Thodarchi Malai (2018) and Naan Kadavul (2009).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Livingston & Ilayaraja's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Janagaraj appears alongside them in 3 films — practically a third lead. They worked with the same 5 people again and again — a small repertory company.
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Other iconic Tamil director-actor duos
Discover other partnerships with comparable filmographies and ratings
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