Vijay & A. Venkatesh Movies Together List — 3 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-04 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Vijay and A. Venkatesh appeared together in 3 Tamil films between 1996 and 2002. Their highest-rated collaboration was Nilaave Vaa (1998 — 5.5/10). Films span Selva (1996) through Bagavathi (2002).
The Vijay & A. Venkatesh partnership
From Selva (1996) to Bagavathi (2002). The played out closed with Bagavathi in 2002. It started with Selva (1996).
The shape of the work
The 1990s belonged to Nilaave Vaa; the 2000s to Bagavathi. Vijay acted in every film; A. Venkatesh directed all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Venkatesh was an assistant director before he turned hero. Vijay, already a rising star, personally asked him to play the lead in Selva (1996) after seeing his work behind the camera. That film became Venkatesh's acting debut.
- On the sets of Nilaave Vaa (1998), Vijay would deliberately flub his lines in the first take just to make Venkatesh laugh and loosen up. Venkatesh later said that Vijay's playful energy helped him shed his nervousness as a newcomer.
- During the shoot of Bagavathi (2002), Vijay and Venkatesh shared a room in a small lodge in Kumbakonam for three weeks. They'd order the same biryani every night and rehearse the next day's fight scenes in the corridor after dinner.
- Venkatesh once told a magazine: 'Vijay never treated me like a co-star. He treated me like a friend who was also acting in the same scene. That made me forget the camera.'
- The success of Selva (1996) directly led to Venkatesh getting his first solo lead role in the film Kaalamellam Kadhal Vaazhga (1997). Vijay had recommended him to the producer.
3 films across 2 decades
The 1990s accounted for 2 films, averaging 5.5/10.
The 2000s accounted for 1 film, averaging 4.6/10.
- Nilaave Vaa
- Selva
- Bagavathi
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
Before Selva, Vijay had starred in 10 films, including Vetri (1984) and Rasigan (1994).
After Bagavathi, Vijay went on to appear in 39 more films, including Kaththi (2014) and Mersal (2017).
Selva was A. Venkatesh's directorial debut.
After Bagavathi, A. Venkatesh went on to direct 42 more films, including Vattaram (2006) and Vasool Raja MBBS (2004).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Vijay & A. Venkatesh's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Raghuvaran is the through-line — cast on 2 of their 3 films.
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