R. S. Manohar & P. Neelakantan Movies Together List — 4 Films

The shape of the work

The 1960s belonged to Kaavalkaaran; the 1970s to Neerum Neruppum. R. S. Manohar acted in every film; P. Neelakantan directed all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Manohar was a stunt hero. Neelakantan was a director known for mythologicals. Nobody expected them to work together. But after Kaavalkaaran (1967) became a massive hit, Neelakantan told a magazine: 'I needed a hero who could fight and act. Manohar was the only one who could do both without a double.'
• On the sets of Kanavan (1968), Neelakantan would block every fight scene first with his assistant. Then Manohar would step in and re-choreograph the entire thing on the fly. Neelakantan never stopped him. He said Manohar's instinct for camera angles during a punch was better than his own.
• Because of their success, Neelakantan launched a new stunt hero trend in Tamil cinema. Before Kaavalkaaran, heroes mostly danced. After it, every major studio wanted a 'Manohar type' — a lead who could do his own stunts. That directly opened the door for actors like Jaishankar and later Rajinikanth.
• Manohar and Neelakantan never socialised outside work. Not once. Manohar was a loner who went home straight after pack-up. Neelakantan was a family man who didn't drink or smoke. Their entire bond existed inside the studio. When Neelakantan died in 1975, Manohar didn't attend the funeral. He told a friend: 'I can't see him like that. I'll remember him shouting 'Action!' instead.'
• Manohar once said in a 1972 interview: 'Neelakantan sir never told me how to act. He just said, 'Be angry here, be sad there.' I did the rest. He trusted me like a director trusts his camera.'