Nagesh & C. V. Rajendran Movies Together List — 7 Films

The shape of the work

The 1970s account for 71% of everything they made together. The 1960s belonged to Galatta Kalyanam; the 1970s to Vani Rani. Nagesh acted in every film; C. V. Rajendran directed all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Rajendran was a first-time director when he cast Nagesh in Galatta Kalyanam (1968). Nagesh was already a star. He took a chance on a newcomer because he liked the script's comedy track.
• On the sets of Nil Gavani Kathali (1969), Nagesh would rewrite his own lines in the morning. Rajendran let him. The director's job became editing Nagesh's improvisations into the final cut.
• Veettuku Veedu (1970) was the first Tamil film to use a split-screen technique for a comedy sequence. Rajendran and Nagesh cooked it up together after watching a French film at a Madras screening.
• After Vani Rani (1974) flopped, Rajendran stopped calling Nagesh for new projects. Nagesh later told a magazine that he felt 'ghosted' by his own director. They never worked together again.
• "He was the only director who let me be the writer on set. I'd say 'this line won't work' and he'd say 'fix it.' That trust is rare." — Nagesh, in a 1985 interview about C. V. Rajendran.