Priyadarshan & Anil Kapoor Movies Together List — 3 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-07-13 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Priyadarshan and Anil Kapoor appeared together in 3 Hindi films between 1997 and 2012. Their highest-rated collaboration was Virasat (1997 — 5.9/10). Films span Virasat (1997) through Tezz (2012).
The Priyadarshan & Anil Kapoor partnership
After 14 years apart, they came back together for Tezz (2012). They didn't share a set between 1998 and 2012. From Virasat (1997) to Tezz (2012).
It started with Virasat (1997).
The shape of the work
The 1990s belonged to Virasat; the 2010s to Tezz. Priyadarshan directed every film; Anil Kapoor acted in all of them. Strictly Hindi cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Priyadarshan cast Anil Kapoor in 'Virasat' (1997) only after Kamal Haasan, who starred in the original Tamil film 'Thevar Magan', refused to reprise his role in Hindi. Anil stepped in and made the part his own.
- On 'Virasat', Priyadarshan pushed Anil Kapoor to drop his usual urban energy and speak in a thick Awadhi dialect. Anil later said the director made him 'unlearn' everything he knew about acting.
- After 'Kabhi Na Kabhi' (1998) flopped hard, Priyadarshan and Anil Kapoor didn't speak for nearly a decade. They only patched up when Priyadarshan called Anil out of the blue in 2011 to offer him the villain role in 'Tezz'.
- Anil Kapoor said about Priyadarshan: 'He is the only director who made me cry on set. In 'Virasat', he told me a story from his own life before a scene, and I couldn't stop sobbing.'
- The success of 'Virasat' (1997) directly led to Priyadarshan being hired for 'Doli Saja Ke Rakhna' (1998) and later his entire Hindi film career. Anil Kapoor's performance in that film also convinced him to produce his own home production 'Pukar' (2000).
3 films across 2 decades
The 1990s accounted for 2 films, averaging 4.9/10.
The 2010s accounted for 1 film, averaging 4.3/10.
- Virasat
- Kabhi Na Kabhi
- Tezz
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
3 films across 15 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Hindi being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
When they first worked together, Priyadarshan had 6 films behind them; Anil Kapoor had 66. After Tezz, Anil Kapoor kept going for 23 more films; Priyadarshan stepped back.
Before Virasat, Priyadarshan had directed 6 films, including Muskurahat (1992) and Gardish (1993).
After Tezz, Priyadarshan went on to direct 6 more films, including Nimir (2018) and Appatha (2023).
Before Virasat, Anil Kapoor had starred in 66 films, including Shakti (1982) and Mashaal (1984).
After Tezz, Anil Kapoor went on to appear in 23 more films, including Animal (2023) and Jugjugg Jeeyo (2022).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Priyadarshan & Anil Kapoor's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Ravi K. Chandran is the through-line — cinematography on 2 of their 3 films.
2Other iconic Hindi director-actor duos
Discover other partnerships with comparable filmographies and ratings
Manoj Joshi
Mallika Sherawat
Rajpal YadavTabu
Anupam Kher
R. Madhavan
Shahrukh Khan