Ilayaraja & Nalini Movies Together List — 23 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-03 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Ilayaraja and Nalini appeared together in 23 Tamil films between 1982 and 1987. Their highest-rated collaboration was Gopurangal Saivathillai (1982 — 7.5/10). Films span Gopurangal Saivathillai (1982) through Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu (1987).
The Ilayaraja & Nalini partnership
Between 1982 and 1987, they barely worked apart — 23 films in 5 years. 1985 was their peak — 9 films in twelve months. For 5 years, a Ilayaraja–Nalini film arrived almost every year.
The work is uneven: Gopurangal Saivathillai (7.5) at one end, Eetti (1.0) at the other. From Gopurangal Saivathillai (1982) to Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu (1987).
23 films across 1 decade
- Gopurangal Saivathillai
- Nooravathu Naal
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
23 films across 5 years represents focused partnership.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
52% of Nalini's screen credits are with Ilayaraja. After Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu, Ilayaraja kept going for 300 more films; Nalini stepped back.
Gopurangal Saivathillai was Ilayaraja's acting debut.
After Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu, Ilayaraja went on to appear in 300 more films, including Pithamagan (2003) and Merku Thodarchi Malai (2018).
Before Gopurangal Saivathillai, Nalini had starred in 2 films, including Raghupathi Raghavan Rajaram (1977) and Thanimaram (1980).
After Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu, Nalini went on to appear in 19 more films, including Nagaram Marupakkam (2010) and Seetayya (2003).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Ilayaraja & Nalini's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Sathyaraj appears alongside them in 10 films — practically a third lead. They worked with the same 7 people again and again — a small repertory company.
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Other iconic Tamil director-actor duos
Discover other partnerships with comparable filmographies and ratings
