Charlie & S. Ve. Shekher Movies Together List — 5 Films

The shape of the work

The 1980s account for 80% of everything they made together. The 1980s belonged to Kodaimazhai; the 2000s to Enga Raasi Nalla Raasi. Charlie acted in every film; S. Ve. Shekher acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Charlie once said in a 2010 interview: 'Shekher anna gave me my first break, my first salary, and my first scolding. He treated me like a younger brother, not a co-actor.'
• Charlie was a struggling mimicry artist when S. Ve. Shekher spotted him at a stage show. Shekher insisted the director of Kodaimazhai (1986) cast Charlie as his sidekick — that film became Charlie's first ever movie role.
• On the sets of Thangamani Rengamani (1989), S. Ve. Shekher would write dialogue in the morning and hand it to Charlie. Charlie would then improvise the physical comedy on the spot — Shekher never rehearsed with him, he just trusted Charlie to make it funnier.
• After Yogam Rajayogam (1989), the two didn't speak for nearly 15 years. They only reunited for Enga Raasi Nalla Raasi (2009) because a mutual producer locked them in a room and told them to sort it out. They did, and shot the film in 20 days.
• The comedy track in Cinema Cinema (1986) — where Charlie plays a waiter who keeps dropping plates — was directly copied by a popular 1990s TV serial. The serial's writer later admitted he 'borrowed' the bit after watching the film in a theatre.