Ilayaraja & Charle Movies Together List — 27 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-07-13 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Ilayaraja and Charle appeared together in 27 Tamil films between 1984 and 2009. Their highest-rated collaboration was Enakkul Oruvan (1984 — 8.5/10). Films span Poovilangu (1984) through Mathiya Chennai (2009).
The Ilayaraja & Charle partnership
Their work runs across 3 decades of Tamil cinema. After 8 years apart, they came back together for Mathiya Chennai (2009). 1987 was their peak — 3 films in twelve months.
They didn't share a set between 2001 and 2009. For 25 years, a Ilayaraja–Charle film arrived almost every year.
The shape of the work
The 1980s belonged to Enakkul Oruvan; the 2000s to Friends. Ilayaraja scored every film; Charle acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
27 films across 3 decades
The 1980s brought 9 films together, anchored by Enakkul Oruvan (8.5/10).
The 1990s brought 14 films together, anchored by Maamiyar Veedu (7.0/10).
The 2000s accounted for 4 films, averaging 5.7/10.
- Enakkul Oruvan
- Poovilangu
- Maamiyar Veedu
- Endrum Anbudan
- Friends
- Kannukkul Nilavu
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
27 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
82% of Ilayaraja's screen credits are with Charle. After Mathiya Chennai, Charle kept going for 27 more films; Ilayaraja stepped back.
Poovilangu was Ilayaraja's acting debut.
After Mathiya Chennai, Ilayaraja went on to appear in 6 more films, including Merku Thodarchi Malai (2018) and Shamitabh (2015).
Before Poovilangu, Charle had starred in 2 films, including Thanneer Thanneer (1981) and Poikkal Kudhirai (1983).
After Mathiya Chennai, Charle went on to appear in 27 more films, including Papanasam (2015) and Joe (2023).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Ilayaraja & Charle's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Charlie is the through-line — cast on 24 of their 27 films. They worked with the same 20 people again and again — a small repertory company. Charlie appears alongside them in 24 films — practically a third lead.
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22
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Other iconic Tamil director-actor duos
Discover other partnerships with comparable filmographies and ratings
