Jaishankar & R. S. Manohar Movies Together List — 16 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-07-12 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Jaishankar and R. S. Manohar appeared together in 16 Tamil films between 1965 and 1984. Their highest-rated collaboration was Pattanathil Bhootham (1967 — 7.8/10). Films span Vallavanukku Vallavan (1965) through Sarithira Nayagan (1984).
The Jaishankar & R. S. Manohar partnership
Their work runs across 3 decades of Tamil cinema. For 19 years, a Jaishankar–R. film arrived almost every year. Remarkably even — every film rates between 6.5 and 7.8.
From Vallavanukku Vallavan (1965) to Sarithira Nayagan (1984). Nootrukku Nooru (1971, 7.5/10) is the underseen one in the catalogue.
The shape of the work
The 1960s belonged to Pattanathil Bhootham; the 1980s to Thanikattu Raja. Jaishankar acted in every film; R. S. Manohar acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Director C. V. Sridhar saw Jaishankar in a stage play and wanted him for 'Vallavanukku Vallavan' (1965). But Jaishankar insisted on R. S. Manohar as the villain — he had seen Manohar's theatre work and said he'd only sign if Manohar played the antagonist. That demand created their first film together.
- On set, Jaishankar would deliberately slow down his dialogue delivery in fight scenes so Manohar could land his punches cleanly. Manohar later said Jaishankar 'let me win the frame' — meaning he gave Manohar the visual upper hand even when the script said Jaishankar's character should dominate.
- Their 1967 film 'Pattanathil Bhootham' — a comedy-horror about a ghost in a city — directly inspired the 1975 Hindi hit 'Chhoti Si Mulaqat' and later the 2005 Tamil remake 'Ullam Ketkumae'. The original's blend of slapstick and supernatural became a template for Tamil genre-mashups.
- After every film wrap, Jaishankar and Manohar would share a single cigarette — no matter who smoked or didn't. It was a ritual they kept for all 15 films. Manohar's son recalled that even when Jaishankar quit smoking in the 1980s, he'd still hold the cigarette for Manohar to take a puff.
- R. S. Manohar once said in a 1992 interview: 'Jaishankar made me a star. Before him, I was just a stage actor with a loud voice. He taught me to act with my eyes, not my throat.'
16 films across 3 decades
The 1960s brought 6 films together, anchored by Pattanathil Bhootham (7.8/10).
The 1970s brought 7 films together, anchored by Nootrukku Nooru (7.5/10).
The 1980s accounted for 3 films, averaging 6.5/10.
- Pattanathil Bhootham
- Vallavanukku Vallavan0
- Nootrukku Nooru
- CID Shankar0
- Thanikattu Raja
- Thanga Magan
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
16 films across 19 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
59% of R. S. Manohar's screen credits are with Jaishankar. After Sarithira Nayagan, Jaishankar kept going for 47 more films; R. S. Manohar stepped back.
Vallavanukku Vallavan was Jaishankar's acting debut.
After Sarithira Nayagan, Jaishankar went on to appear in 47 more films, including Vilangu (1987) and Gokulam (1993).
Before Vallavanukku Vallavan, R. S. Manohar had starred in 7 films, including Konjum Salangai (1962) and Chitrangi (1964).
After Sarithira Nayagan, R. S. Manohar went on to appear in 4 more films, including Raja Rishi (1985) and Manaivi Ready (1987).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Jaishankar & R. S. Manohar's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Vedha scored 4 of them. They worked with the same 8 people again and again — a small repertory company. Thengai Srinivasan appears alongside them in 5 films — practically a third lead.
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