M. N. Nambiar & Major Sundarrajan Movies Together List — 15 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-04 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
M. N. Nambiar and Major Sundarrajan appeared together in 15 Tamil films between 1968 and 1995. Their highest-rated collaboration was Deiva Magan (1969 — 8.3/10). Films span Kudiyirundha Koyil (1968) through Raja Muthirai (1995).
The M. N. Nambiar & Major Sundarrajan partnership
After 10 years apart, they came back together for Raja Muthirai (1995). They didn't share a set between 1985 and 1995. 1969 was their peak — 4 films in twelve months.
Their work runs across 4 decades of Tamil cinema. Remarkably even — every film rates between 6.5 and 8.3.
The shape of the work
The 1960s belonged to Deiva Magan; the 1990s to Raja Muthirai. M. N. Nambiar acted in every film; Major Sundarrajan acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Their first film together, Kudiyirundha Koyil (1968), almost didn't happen. Director K. Shankar wanted a bigger star for Nambiar's role. Nambiar personally convinced him to cast Sundarrajan as the villain — and that pairing became the film's biggest talking point.
- In Thirisoolam (1979), Nambiar played the calm, calculating patriarch while Sundarrajan played the hot-headed enforcer. Sundarrajan once said in an interview that Nambiar would deliberately slow down his dialogue delivery to make Sundarrajan's outbursts land harder.
- Their 1981 film Garjanai directly inspired the 1985 Hindi hit Meraa Dharam. The producer saw the Tamil original in a single-screen theatre in Chennai and bought the remake rights the next morning.
- On the sets of Jeevanaadi (1970), Nambiar discovered that Sundarrajan was struggling financially. Without telling anyone, Nambiar paid Sundarrajan's son's school fees for two years. Sundarrajan only found out when the school principal thanked him.
- Sundarrajan once told a fan magazine: 'Nambiar sir never raised his voice on set. But when he looked at me during a scene, I felt like I was actually facing my father's disappointment. That's why our fights worked.'
- In Raja Rishi (1985), they played mentor and disciple. Nambiar insisted on rehearsing every single hand gesture with Sundarrajan for the climactic confrontation. The scene was shot in one take — a rarity for a film with that many extras.
15 films across 4 decades
The 1960s brought 5 films together, anchored by Deiva Magan (8.3/10).
The 1970s brought 4 films together, anchored by Thirisoolam (7.5/10).
The 1980s brought 5 films together, anchored by Garjanai (7.5/10).
The 1990s accounted for 1 film.
- Deiva Magan
- Kudiyirundha Koyil
- Thirisoolam
- Vetrikku Oruvan
- Garjanai
- Raja Rishi
- Raja Muthirai0
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
15 films across 27 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
44% of Major Sundarrajan's screen credits are with M. N. Nambiar. By the time of Kudiyirundha Koyil, both already had careers — M. N. Nambiar with 30 films, Major Sundarrajan with 13.
Before Kudiyirundha Koyil, M. N. Nambiar had starred in 30 films, including Pasamalar (1961) and Ayirathil Oruvan (1965).
After Raja Muthirai, M. N. Nambiar went on to appear in 12 more films, including Poonthottam (1998) and Baba (2002).
Before Kudiyirundha Koyil, Major Sundarrajan had starred in 13 films, including Major Chandrakanth (1966) and Server Sundaram (1964).
After Raja Muthirai, Major Sundarrajan went on to appear in 6 more films, including Iruvar (1997) and Marumalarchi (1998).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of M. N. Nambiar & Major Sundarrajan's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Sivaji Ganesan is the through-line — cast on 9 of their 15 films. M. S. Viswanathan scored 8 of them. Sivaji Ganesan appears alongside them in 9 films — practically a third lead.
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