Ilayaraja & Sumithra Movies Together List — 14 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-07-13 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Ilayaraja and Sumithra appeared together in 14 Tamil films between 1977 and 1992. Their highest-rated collaboration was Anney Anney (1983 — 6.5/10). Films span Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri (1977) through Singaravelan (1992).
The Ilayaraja & Sumithra partnership
Their work runs across 3 decades of Tamil cinema. 1978 was their peak — 4 films in twelve months. For 15 years, a Ilayaraja–Sumithra film arrived almost every year.
From Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri (1977) to Singaravelan (1992). The spanned closed with Singaravelan in 1992.
The shape of the work
The 1970s belonged to Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri; the 1990s to Pillai Paasam. Ilayaraja scored every film; Sumithra acted in all of them.
14 films across 3 decades
The 1970s accounted for 8 films.
The 1980s accounted for 3 films, averaging 6.5/10.
The 1990s accounted for 3 films, averaging 5.1/10.
- Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri0
- Chittu Kuruvi0
- Anney Anney
- Kanni Rasi
- Pillai Paasam
- Singaravelan
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
14 films across 15 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 2 languages, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
44% of Sumithra's screen credits are with Ilayaraja. After Singaravelan, Ilayaraja kept going for 182 more films; Sumithra stepped back.
Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri was Ilayaraja's acting debut.
After Singaravelan, Ilayaraja went on to appear in 182 more films, including Pithamagan (2003) and Merku Thodarchi Malai (2018).
Before Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri, Sumithra had starred in 2 films, including Mogam Muppadhu Varusham (1976) and Kanmani Raja (1974).
After Singaravelan, Sumithra went on to appear in 16 more films, including Entha Manchivaadavuraa (2020) and Saamy (2003).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Ilayaraja & Sumithra's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Sivakumar appears alongside them in 6 films — practically a third lead.
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Other iconic Tamil director-actor duos
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