Jaishankar & Suruli rajan Movies Together List — 4 Films

The shape of the work

The 1970s account for 75% of everything they made together. The 1970s belonged to Sondham; the 1980s to Murattu Kaalai. Jaishankar acted in every film; Suruli rajan acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Jaishankar was already a star when he insisted on casting Suruli Rajan as the comedian in Sondham (1973). The director wanted a bigger name, but Jaishankar bet on Suruli Rajan's raw energy — and that film became the launchpad for their on-screen pairing.
• In Murattu Kaalai (1980), Jaishankar played the straight-laced hero while Suruli Rajan improvised most of his comic lines on set. Jaishankar would deliberately pause his dialogue delivery to give Suruli Rajan space to riff — a rhythm they perfected over three films.
• Their 1977 film Nallathukku Kalamillai was the first Tamil movie to feature a comedian (Suruli Rajan) driving the entire second half's subplot without the hero — a structure later copied by many 80s masala films.
• Off-screen, Jaishankar and Suruli Rajan were neighbours in Chennai for over a decade. They'd carpool to shoots together, and Suruli Rajan often cooked biryani for Jaishankar on set — a ritual that started during Sondham (1973) and continued till Murattu Kaalai.
• Suruli Rajan once said in a 1985 interview: 'Jaishankar never treated me like a sidekick. He'd tell directors, 'Let Suruli have his moment' — that's why our scenes together felt like a conversation, not a one-man show.'