Aadukalam Naren & Mayilsamy Movies Together List — 7 Films

The shape of the work

The 2010s belonged to Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal; the 2020s to My Dear Lisa. Aadukalam Naren acted in every film; Mayilsamy acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• They first met on the set of Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal (2014). Naren was already a known face; Mayilsamy was still finding his footing. The director paired them as father and son, and that one scene made the casting director call them back for Poriyaalan the same year.
• In Remo (2016), Naren played a strict father while Mayilsamy played his comic sidekick. The trick was simple: Naren would deliver his lines dead serious, and Mayilsamy would break the tension with a delayed reaction. They never rehearsed together — they just fed off each other's timing on the spot.
• Their 2019 film Gurkha was a surprise hit. It directly led to a wave of small-budget action-comedies in Tamil cinema, with producers specifically asking for 'that Naren-Mayilsamy combo' to anchor the comic subplot. At least three 2021-22 direct-to-OTT films copied their father-son dynamic from that film.
• On the sets of Ayngaran (2022), Mayilsamy would bring homemade snacks for Naren every single day. Naren later admitted in a behind-the-scenes interview that he never once returned the favour — but Mayilsamy kept bringing them anyway, saying 'unga sirippu podhum' (your smile is enough).
• Mayilsamy once said about Naren: 'He doesn't act with you. He acts at you. I just have to stand there and let his anger bounce off me — that's my entire job.' He said this during a 2022 podcast while promoting My Dear Lisa.
• In Ghosty (2023), their last film together, Naren played a ghost hunter and Mayilsamy played his terrified assistant. The director revealed that Naren insisted Mayilsamy improvise all his scared reactions — because 'he knows exactly how to make me laugh without breaking character.'