C. V. Rajendran & Jaishankar Movies Together List — 6 Films

The shape of the work

The 1960s belonged to Nil Gavani Kathali; the 1980s to Garjanai. C. V. Rajendran directed every film; Jaishankar acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Jaishankar was already a star when he agreed to do Nil Gavani Kathali (1969) with debutant director C. V. Rajendran. The director had no track record, but Jaishankar liked the script enough to bet his career on a newcomer.
• In Nawab Naarkali (1972), Jaishankar played a double role — and C. V. Rajendran deliberately shot both characters in the same frame without body doubles or split-screen tricks. Jaishankar had to time his own reactions to himself, and Rajendran choreographed the camera moves so precisely that the film became a technical showcase for both.
• Garjanai (1981) was the first Tamil film to use a helicopter for a chase sequence. C. V. Rajendran convinced the government to lend an army helicopter, and Jaishankar performed his own stunts hanging from its skid. That scene directly inspired the aerial stunts in later Tamil action films like Baasha.
• After Vazhkai (1984) flopped, Jaishankar and C. V. Rajendran never worked together again. But they stayed close — Jaishankar would call Rajendran every year on his birthday, and Rajendran later said in an interview that Jaishankar was the only actor who never asked him for a script change.
• C. V. Rajendran once said: 'Jaishankar never needed a director to tell him where to stand. He would walk into a set, look at the lights, and tell me where the camera should go. I learned framing from watching him.'