Vijayakanth & S. S. Chandran Movies Together List — 16 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-02 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Vijayakanth and S. S. Chandran appeared together in 16 Tamil films between 1981 and 1994. Their highest-rated collaboration was Vetri (1984 — 7.5/10). Films span Sivappu Malli (1981) through Periya Marudhu (1994).
The Vijayakanth & S. S. Chandran partnership
1989 was their peak — 5 films in twelve months. For 13 years, a Vijayakanth–S. film arrived almost every year. The work is uneven: Vetri (7.5) at one end, Nallavan (1.0) at the other.
From Sivappu Malli (1981) to Periya Marudhu (1994). The played out closed with Periya Marudhu in 1994.
The shape of the work
The 1980s account for 81% of everything they made together. The 1980s belonged to Vetri; the 1990s to Sendhoorapandi. Vijayakanth acted in every film; S. S. Chandran acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Their first film together, Sivappu Malli (1981), almost didn't happen. Director R. Sundarrajan originally wanted a different actor for the villain role. Vijayakanth personally requested Chandran be cast, saying he needed a strong opponent to make the film work.
- Chandran was the only co-star Vijayakanth allowed to improvise dialogue on set. In Vetri (1984), Chandran ad-libbed a line during a confrontation scene. Vijayakanth loved it so much he asked the director to keep it. That scene is still a fan favourite.
- Their 1988 disaster Nallavan (1/10) was so bad it directly inspired a parody character in a later comedy film. The villain's over-the-top mannerisms in Nallavan were recreated by a supporting actor in the 1995 spoof Muthu, giving that bit a second life.
- After every film wrap, Vijayakanth and Chandran would share a single cigarette, splitting it in half. They did this for all 15 films, even after both quit smoking in the early 90s. They'd just hold the unlit halves and talk.
- Chandran once said in a 1994 interview: 'Vijayakanth never treated me like a sidekick. He made sure I had a scene that mattered in every film. That's why I never said no to him.'
16 films across 2 decades
The 1980s brought 13 films together, anchored by Vetri (7.5/10).
The 1990s accounted for 3 films, averaging 4.5/10.
- Vetri
- Sivappu Malli
- Sendhoorapandi
- Periya Marudhu
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
16 films across 13 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
64% of S. S. Chandran's screen credits are with Vijayakanth. After Periya Marudhu, Vijayakanth kept going for 40 more films; S. S. Chandran stepped back.
Before Sivappu Malli, Vijayakanth had starred in 5 films, including Dhoorathu Idi Muzhakkam (1980) and Neer Nilam Neruppu (1980).
After Periya Marudhu, Vijayakanth went on to appear in 40 more films, including Karuppu Nila (1995) and Thennavan (2003).
Sivappu Malli was S. S. Chandran's acting debut.
After Periya Marudhu, S. S. Chandran went on to appear in 9 more films, including Thirunelveli (2000) and Vishnu (1995).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Vijayakanth & S. S. Chandran's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Sankar Ganesh scored 6 of them. They worked with the same 7 people again and again — a small repertory company. M. N. Nambiar appears alongside them in 5 films — practically a third lead.
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Other iconic Tamil director-actor duos
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