Manjula Vijayakumar & Major Sundarrajan Movies Together List — 7 Films

The shape of the work

The 1970s account for 86% of everything they made together. The 1970s belonged to Rickshawkaran; the 1980s to Nenjangal. Manjula Vijayakumar acted in every film; Major Sundarrajan acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Their first film together, En Magan (1973), almost didn't happen. Major Sundarrajan was initially hesitant to play the father role opposite Manjula, fearing the age gap would look awkward on screen. Manjula personally convinced him to take it, telling him his gravitas would make the family drama work.
• In Anbe Aaruyire (1975), Manjula and Sundarrajan developed a silent shorthand for emotional scenes. She would slow her dialogue delivery by half a beat, and he would fill that pause with a subtle eye movement — making their arguments feel like real, lived-in fights. Directors noticed and started writing longer confrontation scenes just for them.
• Their 1976 film Avan Oru Sarithiram directly inspired the 1980s trend of 'father-daughter conflict' dramas in Tamil cinema. After its success, at least four other production houses rushed to cast older male leads with younger actresses in similar family feud plots — including the hit Nenjil Oru Raagam (1978).
• Off-screen, Manjula called Sundarrajan 'Anna' (elder brother) and he called her 'Kutty' (little one). On the sets of Maalai Sooda Vaa (1975), he would bring her homemade snacks because he noticed she skipped lunch during long shoots. She later said he was the only co-star who treated her like family, not a colleague.
• Manjula once told a magazine: 'Sundarrajan anna never acted with me — he reacted to me. That’s why our scenes felt real. He gave me the space to cry, laugh, or even mess up a line without judgment.'