Vadivelu & P. Vasu Movies Together List — 10 Films

The shape of the work

The 2000s account for 70% of everything they made together. The 1990s belonged to Love Birds; the 2020s to Chandramukhi 2. Vadivelu acted in every film; P. Vasu directed all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• P. Vasu first cast Vadivelu in Love Birds (1996) after seeing his stage comedy. But the actor was so nervous on the first day that Vasu had to shoot his scenes in one take — because Vadivelu kept forgetting his lines.
• Vadivelu improvised most of his comedy in Chandramukhi (2005). Vasu let him rewrite his own lines on set. The result? The 'Murugesa' character became a pop culture icon — and the film's biggest laugh lines were never in the script.
• The success of Chandramukhi (2005) directly led to Vasu casting Vadivelu in a dramatic role in Manikanda (2007). It was the first time the comedian played a non-comic lead in a Vasu film — and it bombed. They never tried that again.
• Vadivelu and Vasu had a falling out after Sivalinga (2017). The actor felt Vasu sidelined his comedy in the film. They didn't speak for years — until Vasu called him back for Chandramukhi 2 (2023). That film's failure reportedly strained things again.
• After Sivalinga became a hit, Vasu told a magazine: 'Vadivelu is not just a comedian. He is a director's actor. He will do exactly what you want — but only if you let him add his own salt.'
• In Kakkai Siraginilae (2000), Vasu deliberately gave Vadivelu a straight-man role opposite a younger comedian. The idea was to make Vadivelu's timing sharper by forcing him to react instead of lead. It worked — the film is still a cult favourite for its comedy.