Suhasini Maniratnam & Ilayaraja Movies Together List — 15 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-05 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Suhasini Maniratnam and Ilayaraja appeared together in 15 Tamil films between 1980 and 1996. Their highest-rated collaboration was Nenjathai Killadhe (1980 — 8.5/10). Films span Nenjathai Killadhe (1980) through Irattai Roja (1996).
The Suhasini Maniratnam & Ilayaraja partnership
1982 was their peak — 5 films in twelve months. For 16 years, a Suhasini–Ilayaraja film arrived almost every year. The work is uneven: Nenjathai Killadhe (8.5) at one end, Anand (1.0) at the other.
From Nenjathai Killadhe (1980) to Irattai Roja (1996). Gopurangal Saivathillai (1982, 7.5/10) is the underseen one in the catalogue.
The shape of the work
The 1980s account for 87% of everything they made together. The 1980s belonged to Nenjathai Killadhe; the 1990s to Irattai Roja. Suhasini Maniratnam acted in every film; Ilayaraja scored all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
15 films across 2 decades
The 1980s brought 13 films together, anchored by Nenjathai Killadhe (8.5/10).
The 1990s accounted for 2 films, averaging 4.3/10.
- Nenjathai Killadhe
- Gopurangal Saivathillai
- Irattai Roja
- Chinna Kannamma
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
15 films across 16 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
After Irattai Roja, Ilayaraja kept going for 88 more films; Suhasini Maniratnam stepped back.
Nenjathai Killadhe was Suhasini Maniratnam's acting debut.
After Irattai Roja, Suhasini Maniratnam went on to appear in 55 more films, including Gurtunda Seetakalam (2022) and Minugurulu (2014).
Nenjathai Killadhe was Ilayaraja's acting debut.
After Irattai Roja, Ilayaraja went on to appear in 88 more films, including Pithamagan (2003) and Merku Thodarchi Malai (2018).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Suhasini Maniratnam & Ilayaraja's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
They worked with the same 7 people again and again — a small repertory company. Mohan appears alongside them in 4 films — practically a third lead.
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Other iconic Tamil director-actor duos
Discover other partnerships with comparable filmographies and ratings
