C. V. Rajendran & Major Sundarrajan Movies Together List — 6 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-04 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
C. V. Rajendran and Major Sundarrajan appeared together in 6 Tamil films between 1969 and 1982. Their highest-rated collaboration was Garjanai (1981 — 7.5/10). Films span Nil Gavani Kathali (1969) through Thyagi (1982).
The C. V. Rajendran & Major Sundarrajan partnership
They saved their best for last — Garjanai (7.5/10) came 12 years in. Their work runs across 3 decades of Tamil cinema. From Nil Gavani Kathali (1969) to Thyagi (1982).
Thyagi (1982, 7.5/10) is the underseen one in the catalogue. The ran closed with Thyagi in 1982.
The shape of the work
The 1960s belonged to Nil Gavani Kathali; the 1980s to Garjanai. C. V. Rajendran directed every film; Major Sundarrajan acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Major Sundarrajan was a stage actor first. C. V. Rajendran spotted him in a play and cast him in Nil Gavani Kathali (1969) without a screen test. That film became their first collaboration.
- On the set of En Magan (1973), Rajendran would let Sundarrajan rewrite his own dialogues in Tamil. Sundarrajan's theatre background gave the lines a punchy rhythm that Rajendran's scripts didn't have.
- Garjanai (1981) was a remake of a Malayalam hit. Rajendran insisted Sundarrajan play the villain — a role that won Sundarrajan a Tamil Nadu State Film Award. That film directly boosted Sundarrajan's career as a character actor.
- After Thyagi (1982), the two never worked together again. No public fallout — Sundarrajan just shifted to more serious roles, and Rajendran moved to directing comedies. They never even had a phone call about it.
6 films across 3 decades
The 1960s accounted for 1 film.
The 1970s accounted for 2 films, averaging 6.5/10.
The 1980s brought 3 films together, anchored by Garjanai (7.5/10).
- Nil Gavani Kathali0
- En Magan
- Maalai Sooda Vaa0
- Garjanai
- Thyagi
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
6 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
30% of C. V. Rajendran's screen credits are with Major Sundarrajan. After Thyagi, Major Sundarrajan kept going for 30 more films; C. V. Rajendran stepped back.
Before Nil Gavani Kathali, C. V. Rajendran had directed 2 films, including Galatta Kalyanam (1968) and Anubavam Pudhumai (1967).
After Thyagi, C. V. Rajendran went on to direct 12 more films, including Sandhippu (1983) and Vazhkai (1984).
Before Nil Gavani Kathali, Major Sundarrajan had starred in 18 films, including Major Chandrakanth (1966) and Server Sundaram (1964).
After Thyagi, Major Sundarrajan went on to appear in 30 more films, including Chakravarthy (1995) and Iruvar (1997).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of C. V. Rajendran & Major Sundarrajan's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
M. S. Viswanathan is the through-line — music on 4 of their 6 films. M. S. Viswanathan scored 4 of them.
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