Vijay & A. R. Murugadoss Movies Together List — 3 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-04 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Vijay and A. R. Murugadoss appeared together in 3 Tamil films between 2012 and 2018. Their highest-rated collaboration was Kaththi (2014 — 7.7/10). Films span Thuppakki (2012) through Sarkar (2018).
The Vijay & A. R. Murugadoss partnership
From Thuppakki (2012) to Sarkar (2018). Thuppakki (2012, 7.6/10) is the underseen one in the catalogue. Kaththi is the one most viewers reach for.
It started with Thuppakki (2012).
The shape of the work
Vijay acted in every film; A. R. Murugadoss directed all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Thuppakki (2012) was Vijay's first film to cross ₹100 crore worldwide, and it set the template for his 'mass hero with a message' phase — Murugadoss gave him that career reset.
- The 'Pakkam Vanthu' song from Thuppakki (2012) became a meme template for 'awkward third wheel' moments — Tamil audiences still tag friends in it on WhatsApp.
- Murugadoss once said in an interview: 'Vijay is the only actor who can make a mass scene look like a family scene and a family scene look like a mass scene.' He said that after Kaththi (2014).
- Their third film Sarkar (2018) was the first time Vijay worked with a director who had already given him two blockbusters — and it still opened to ₹50+ crore worldwide, proving their brand was bigger than any single film's quality.
- Kaththi (2014) introduced the 'Vijay with a beard' look that fans still call 'Kaththi beard' — it became a grooming trend in Tamil Nadu salons for months after release.
- Thuppakki (2012) was the first Tamil film to use the 'sleeper cell' terrorism plot in a mainstream masala movie — Murugadoss pitched it to Vijay after reading a news article, and they locked the script in 3 weeks.
3 films across 1 decade
- Kaththi
- Thuppakki
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
3 films across 6 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
When they first worked together, Vijay had 60 films behind them; A. R. Murugadoss had 7.
Before Thuppakki, Vijay had starred in 60 films, including Vetri (1984) and Ghilli (2004).
After Sarkar, Vijay went on to appear in 5 more films, including Master (2020) and Leo (2023).
Before Thuppakki, A. R. Murugadoss had directed 7 films, including Ghajini (2005) and Ghajini (2008).
After Sarkar, A. R. Murugadoss went on to direct 4 more films, including Madharaasi (2025) and Darbar (2020).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Vijay & A. R. Murugadoss's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
People who worked on Vijay & A. R. Murugadoss's films together
