Anandaraj & K. S. Ravikumar Movies Together List — 4 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-04 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Anandaraj and K. S. Ravikumar appeared together in 4 Tamil films between 1999 and 2024. Their highest-rated collaboration was 80's Buildup (2023 — 7.1/10). Films span Paattali (1999) through Vasco Da Gama (2024).
The Anandaraj & K. S. Ravikumar partnership
After 23 years apart, they came back together for Cobra (2022). They didn't share a set between 1999 and 2022. They saved their best for last — 80's Buildup (7.1/10) came 24 years in.
The work is uneven: 80's Buildup (7.1) at one end, Paattali (1.0) at the other. From Paattali (1999) to Vasco Da Gama (2024).
The shape of the work
The 2020s account for 75% of everything they made together. The 1990s belonged to Paattali; the 2020s to 80's Buildup. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Anandaraj was already a veteran villain when K. S. Ravikumar cast him as the lead hero in Paattali (1999). It was Ravikumar who convinced Anandaraj to play a full-length comedy role — something he had never done before. The gamble paid off: Paattali became a hit and gave Anandaraj a second career as a comic actor.
- On the sets of Paattali, K. S. Ravikumar would let Anandaraj improvise his comic lines freely. Ravikumar later said that Anandaraj's natural timing was so sharp that he often just let the camera roll and told the other actors to react live. That raw, unscripted energy became the film's biggest selling point.
- After Paattali, Anandaraj and K. S. Ravikumar stayed close friends for over two decades. When Ravikumar was working on Cobra (2022), he specifically wrote a cameo for Anandaraj — a small but memorable role as a police officer. Anandaraj agreed immediately, no questions asked, just because it was Ravikumar.
- The success of Paattali directly led to a wave of villain-turned-comedian roles in Tamil cinema. Actors like Radha Ravi and Mansoor Ali Khan soon followed Anandaraj's path, trying to replicate his comic pivot. That trend — the scary guy making you laugh — started with this pair's first film.
- K. S. Ravikumar once told a magazine: 'Anandaraj is the only actor who can make me laugh even when I'm angry on set. I'd be shouting at someone, and he'd do one line, and I'd forget why I was angry.'
- In Vasco Da Gama (2024), K. S. Ravikumar gave Anandaraj a rare dramatic scene — a serious confrontation with the hero. Anandaraj later admitted in an interview that he was nervous because he hadn't done pure drama in years. Ravikumar rehearsed the scene with him for two hours before the shoot, something he rarely does for any actor.
4 films across 2 decades
The 1990s accounted for 1 film, averaging 1.0/10.
The 2020s brought 3 films together, anchored by 80's Buildup (7.1/10).
- Paattali
- 80's Buildup
- Cobra
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
4 films across 25 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
When they first worked together, Anandaraj had 51 films behind them; K. S. Ravikumar had 21.
Before Paattali, Anandaraj had starred in 51 films, including Nandhavana Theru (1995) and Pattukku Naan Adimai (1990).
After Vasco Da Gama, Anandaraj went on to appear in 6 more films, including Chennai City Gangsters (2025) and Vaa Vaathiyaar (2026).
Before Paattali, K. S. Ravikumar had starred in 21 films, including Cheran Pandiyan (1991) and Muthu (1995).
After Vasco Da Gama, K. S. Ravikumar went on to appear in 4 more films, including Dragon (2025) and School (2025).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Anandaraj & K. S. Ravikumar's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Mansoor Ali Khan is the through-line — cast on 2 of their 4 films.
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