Nizhalgal Ravi & Charle Movies Together List — 9 Films

The shape of the work

The 1980s belonged to Ore Oru Gramathiley; the 2020s to Finder. Nizhalgal Ravi acted in every film; Charle acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Their first film together, Ore Oru Gramathiley (1987), almost didn't happen. Director K. Bhagyaraj was casting for a village drama and wanted a fresh face for the lead. Nizhalgal Ravi was already a known name, but Charle was a stage actor with zero film experience. Bhagyaraj took a chance on Charle after seeing him in a play — and paired him opposite Ravi, who was 10 years his senior. That gamble gave Tamil cinema one of its most underrated duos.
• In Idhaya Thamarai (1990), Charle played a comic sidekick while Ravi played the romantic lead. But here's the trick: Charle's timing was so sharp that he kept pulling the scene's energy toward him. Ravi, instead of fighting it, slowed his own delivery to let Charle's punchlines land. That push-and-pull — Ravi setting the rhythm, Charle breaking it — became their signature. Watch the bus-stop scene: Ravi waits, Charle pounces.
• Pooveli (1998) was a box-office dud, but it directly inspired a cult trend. The film's climax — where Ravi's character sacrifices his love for Charle's friend — was later lifted beat-for-beat by a popular 2005 TV serial on Sun TV. The serial's writer admitted in a 2010 interview that he 'borrowed the emotional arc' from Pooveli. So a whole generation of Tamil TV viewers unknowingly watched a Nizhalgal Ravi-Charle plot every night.
• Off-screen, Ravi and Charle had a running joke: whoever finished their lines first on set had to buy the other a cup of filter coffee. Charle, a fast talker, usually won. But on the sets of Oru Kalluriyin Kathai (2005), Ravi deliberately slowed his dialogue to force a tie. They ended up buying coffee for the entire crew. The unit still calls it 'the coffee ceasefire day.'
• Charle once said about Ravi: 'He is the only actor who can make me look good even when I'm overacting. He gives me space like a director, not a co-star.' — Charle, in a 2006 interview with Ananda Vikatan.
• In Finder (2024), their fifth film together after a 19-year gap, they swapped roles. Ravi played the comic relief, Charle played the brooding lead. The director said they rehearsed for two weeks just to unlearn their old dynamic. The result: a scene where Charle slaps Ravi — and the audience gasped because they'd never seen Charle hit Ravi before. That shock was the point.