Nagesh & Jayalalitha Movies Together List — 26 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-02 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Nagesh and Jayalalitha appeared together in 26 Tamil films between 1965 and 1976. Their highest-rated collaboration was Major Chandrakanth (1966 — 8.5/10). Films span Ayirathil Oruvan (1965) through Chitra Pournami (1976).
The Nagesh & Jayalalitha partnership
1968 was their peak — 7 films in twelve months. For 11 years, a Nagesh–Jayalalitha film arrived almost every year. Remarkably even — every film rates between 7.5 and 8.5.
From Ayirathil Oruvan (1965) to Chitra Pournami (1976). Motor Sundaram Pillai (1966, 7.5/10) is the underseen one in the catalogue.
The shape of the work
The 1960s account for 77% of everything they made together. The 1960s belonged to Major Chandrakanth; the 1970s to Sumathi En Sundari. Nagesh acted in every film; Jayalalitha acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Their first film together, Nee (1965), was a gamble. Director C. V. Sridhar cast Nagesh as the lead opposite Jayalalitha — then a rising star — because he wanted a comedian to play a serious romantic role. Nobody had done that before in Tamil cinema.
- On the set of Kaavalkaaran (1967), Nagesh would deliberately flub his lines to make Jayalalitha break character and laugh. She later said his improvisations forced her to stay sharp — she couldn't rely on rehearsed reactions.
- Jayalalitha called Nagesh 'Anna' (elder brother) off-screen. He was one of the few co-stars she stayed in touch with after she quit films in the early 1980s. She even visited him in the hospital during his final illness in 2009.
- Jayalalitha once said in a 1970s interview: 'Nagesh made me a better actress. He never let me take a scene for granted. If I was lazy, he'd throw in a new expression and I'd have to catch up.'
- Their 1968 hit Kudiyirundha Koyil was remade in Hindi as 'Mere Hamdam Mere Dost' (1970) with Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz. The original Tamil version's success directly led to Nagesh being cast in Hindi films like 'Mere Hamdam Mere Dost' itself.
- In Major Chandrakanth (1966), Nagesh played a comic sidekick while Jayalalitha played the lead. But he rewrote his own dialogue to give her more room for emotional beats — he'd cut his jokes short if he felt the scene needed her to shine.
26 films across 2 decades
The 1960s brought 20 films together, anchored by Major Chandrakanth (8.5/10).
The 1970s accounted for 6 films.
- Major Chandrakanth
- Deiva Magan
- Sumathi En Sundari0
- Thanga Gopuram0
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
26 films across 11 years represents focused partnership.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
81% of Jayalalitha's screen credits are with Nagesh. After Chitra Pournami, Nagesh kept going for 79 more films; Jayalalitha stepped back.
Before Ayirathil Oruvan, Nagesh had starred in 22 films, including Kaadhalikka Neramillai (1964) and Server Sundaram (1964).
After Chitra Pournami, Nagesh went on to appear in 79 more films, including Kadhal Kondein (2003) and Cheran Pandiyan (1991).
Ayirathil Oruvan was Jayalalitha's acting debut.
After Chitra Pournami, Jayalalitha went on to appear in 6 more films, including Unnai Suttrum Ulagam (1977) and Dharmaraja (1980).











Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Nagesh & Jayalalitha's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
M. S. Viswanathan is the through-line — music on 16 of their 26 films. M. S. Viswanathan scored 16 of them. They worked with the same 16 people again and again — a small repertory company.
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