Sampath Raj & Santhana Bharathi Movies Together List — 4 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-05 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Sampath Raj and Santhana Bharathi appeared together in 4 Tamil films between 2010 and 2020. Their highest-rated collaboration was Chennai 600028 II: Second Innings (2016 — 6.8/10). Films span Porkkalam (2010) through RK Nagar (2020).
The Sampath Raj & Santhana Bharathi partnership
From Porkkalam (2010) to RK Nagar (2020). It started with Porkkalam (2010).
The shape of the work
The 2010s account for 75% of everything they made together. The 2010s belonged to Chennai 600028 II: Second Innings; the 2020s to RK Nagar. Sampath Raj acted in every film; Santhana Bharathi acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Santhana Bharathi didn't plan to cast Sampath Raj in Porkkalam (2010). He wanted a different actor for the antagonist role. Sampath heard about the script through a mutual friend, called Bharathi directly, and convinced him over a single coffee meeting. That meeting turned into their first film together.
- On the sets of Chennai 600028 II: Second Innings (2016), Sampath Raj would deliberately slow down his dialogue delivery in the climax scene. He told Santhana Bharathi it made the villain feel more menacing. Bharathi let him keep it — and that pause became the scene audiences still talk about.
- Their third film together, RK Nagar (2020), directly launched a new trend in Tamil cinema: the small-town political thriller with a single-location setup. At least three low-budget films in 2021–2022 openly cited RK Nagar as their inspiration in interviews.
- Sampath Raj and Santhana Bharathi share a running joke: every time they finish a film, they bet a box of filter coffee on whether the next one will be a hit. After Porkkalam (2010) and Chennai 600028 II (2016) both landed average reviews, Bharathi owed Sampath two coffees. RK Nagar (2020) finally made it three wins for Sampath — but Bharathi still hasn't paid up.
- Santhana Bharathi once said in a 2021 interview: 'Sampath is the only actor who can make a villain feel like the hero of his own story. I wrote RK Nagar's antagonist with his voice in my head.'
4 films across 2 decades
The 2010s accounted for 3 films, averaging 6.6/10.
The 2020s accounted for 1 film.
- Chennai 600028 II: Second Innings
- Porkkalam
- RK Nagar0
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
4 films across 10 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
By the time of Porkkalam, both already had careers — Sampath Raj with 15 films, Santhana Bharathi with 35.
Before Porkkalam, Sampath Raj had starred in 15 films, including Kanchivaram (2009) and Chennai 600028 (2007).
After RK Nagar, Sampath Raj went on to appear in 18 more films, including Drushyam 2 (2021) and Itlu Maredumilli Prajaneekam (2022).
Before Porkkalam, Santhana Bharathi had starred in 35 films, including Anbe Sivam (2003) and Unnaipol Oruvan (2009).
After RK Nagar, Santhana Bharathi went on to appear in 7 more films, including Vikram (2022) and Aaromaley (2025).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Sampath Raj & Santhana Bharathi's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Anjena Kirti is the through-line — cast on 2 of their 4 films.
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