Vijay & Ilayaraja Movies Together List — 7 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-04 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Vijay and Ilayaraja appeared together in 7 Tamil films between 1988 and 2001. Their highest-rated collaboration was Friends (2001 — 6.4/10). Films span Idhu Engal Needhi (1988) through Friends (2001).
The Vijay & Ilayaraja partnership
They saved their best for last — Friends (6.4/10) came 13 years in. Their work runs across 3 decades of Tamil cinema. From Idhu Engal Needhi (1988) to Friends (2001).
The played out closed with Friends in 2001. It started with Idhu Engal Needhi (1988).
The shape of the work
The 1980s belonged to Idhu Engal Needhi; the 2000s to Friends. Vijay acted in every film; Ilayaraja scored all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
7 films across 3 decades
The 1980s accounted for 1 film, averaging 4.5/10.
The 1990s accounted for 4 films, averaging 5.9/10.
The 2000s accounted for 2 films, averaging 6.1/10.
- Idhu Engal Needhi
- Kadhalukku Mariyadhai
- Innisai Mazhai
- Friends
- Kannukkul Nilavu
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
7 films across 13 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
Before Idhu Engal Needhi, Vijay had starred in 1 film, including Vetri (1984).
After Friends, Vijay went on to appear in 43 more films, including Kaththi (2014) and Mersal (2017).
Idhu Engal Needhi was Ilayaraja's acting debut.
After Friends, Ilayaraja went on to appear in 38 more films, including Pithamagan (2003) and Merku Thodarchi Malai (2018).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Vijay & Ilayaraja's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Charlie appears alongside them in 3 films — practically a third lead.
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