Chinni Jayanth & S. S. Chandran Movies Together List — 12 Films

The shape of the work

The 1980s belonged to Raja Chinna Roja; the 1990s to My Dear Marthandan. Chinni Jayanth acted in every film; S. S. Chandran acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Chinni Jayanth was a popular mimicry artist before he turned actor. S. S. Chandran, already an established comedian, personally recommended him to director Mani Ratnam for Mounam Kalaikirathu (1986). That film became Jayanth's acting debut.
• In Nallavan (1988), Chandran played the hero's sidekick while Jayanth played the villain's henchman. They had zero scenes together — the only film in their 10-movie run where they never shared screen space.
• On the sets of Ennai Vittu Pogaathe (1988), Chandran would make Jayanth rehearse his lines in front of the entire crew before every take. Jayanth later said it was Chandran's way of curing his stage fright — by embarrassing him into confidence.
• "Chandran sir never let me forget I was a mimicry artist. He'd say, 'You're funny only when you're not trying to be funny.' That one line changed my entire approach to comedy." — Chinni Jayanth, in a 2017 interview with Ananda Vikatan.
• Their double-act in My Dear Marthandan (1990) — where Jayanth plays a nervous groom and Chandran his overconfident friend — directly inspired the comedy track in the 1996 hit Poove Unakkaga. Director Vikraman admitted he rewatched that film to study their timing.
• In Killadi Maappillai (1994), Chandran deliberately flubbed his lines during a key comedy scene to make Jayanth break character. The take where Jayanth laughs uncontrollably was kept in the final cut — it's the scene Tamil audiences still quote.