Nassar & Santhana Bharathi Movies Together List — 7 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-04 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Nassar and Santhana Bharathi appeared together in 7 Tamil films between 1987 and 2007. Their highest-rated collaboration was Anbe Sivam (2003 — 8.2/10). Films span Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu (1987) through Marudhamalai (2007).
The Nassar & Santhana Bharathi partnership
One film towers over the rest: Anbe Sivam at 8.2/10. They saved their best for last — Anbe Sivam (8.2/10) came 16 years in. Their work runs across 3 decades of Tamil cinema.
From Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu (1987) to Marudhamalai (2007). The work is uneven: Anbe Sivam (8.2) at one end, Velai (2.9) at the other.
The shape of the work
The 1980s belonged to Poovizhi Raja; the 2000s to Anbe Sivam. Santhana Bharathi director in some, actor in others. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Nassar was already a respected character actor when he cast Santhana Bharathi as the villain in Poovizhi Raja (1988). That film was Santhana Bharathi's first major negative role — and it set the template for his entire career as a go-to antagonist.
- In Velai (1998), Nassar played the hero and Santhana Bharathi played the villain again — but this time they swapped the usual power dynamic. Nassar deliberately let Santhana Bharathi dominate every scene they shared, making the villain more menacing than the lead. It backfired: audiences hated the hero for being weak, and the film bombed.
- After Velai flopped, Nassar and Santhana Bharathi didn't speak for nearly a decade. They only reconciled when director A. Venkatesh insisted they work together again for Marudhamalai (2007). Both have admitted in interviews that the gap was awkward — but they fell back into rhythm on set within a day.
- Marudhamalai (2007) was the only film where they played allies instead of enemies. That shift directly inspired a wave of 'former rivals team up' casting in Tamil action films over the next few years — most notably in Aadhavan (2009) and Singam (2010).
- Santhana Bharathi once said in a 2008 interview: 'Nassar and I never rehearsed. We just looked at each other and knew what the other would do. That's why Velai hurt so much — we lost that trust for a while.'
7 films across 3 decades
The 1980s accounted for 2 films, averaging 5.5/10.
The 1990s accounted for 2 films, averaging 3.8/10.
The 2000s brought 3 films together, anchored by Anbe Sivam (8.2/10).
- Poovizhi Raja
- Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu
- Vietnam Colony
- Velai
- Anbe Sivam
- Paramasivan
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
7 films across 20 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
After Marudhamalai, Nassar kept going for 192 more films; Santhana Bharathi stepped back.
Before Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu, Nassar had starred in 1 film, including Kalyana Agathigal (1985).
After Marudhamalai, Nassar went on to appear in 192 more films, including Baahubali (2015) and 10th Class Diaries (2022).
Before Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu, Santhana Bharathi had starred in 2 films, including Panneer Pushpangal (1981) and Needhiyin Nizhal (1985).
After Marudhamalai, Santhana Bharathi went on to appear in 30 more films, including Vikram (2022) and Unnaipol Oruvan (2009).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Nassar & Santhana Bharathi's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Ilayaraja scored 3 of them.
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