Sivaji Ganesan & A. C. Tirulokchandar Movies Together List — 23 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-07-13 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Sivaji Ganesan and A. C. Tirulokchandar appeared together in 23 Tamil films between 1965 and 1987. Their highest-rated collaboration was Deiva Magan (1969 — 8.3/10). Films span Ennai Pol Oruvan (1965) through Anbulla Appa (1987).
The Sivaji Ganesan & A. C. Tirulokchandar partnership
Their work runs across 3 decades of Tamil cinema. 1969 was their peak — 3 films in twelve months. For 22 years, a Sivaji–A. film arrived almost every year.
The work is uneven: Deiva Magan (8.3) at one end, Anbulla Appa (3.7) at the other. From Ennai Pol Oruvan (1965) to Anbulla Appa (1987).
The shape of the work
The 1960s belonged to Deiva Magan; the 1980s to Anbulla Appa. Sivaji Ganesan acted in every film; A. C. Tirulokchandar directed all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Tirulokchandar didn't just cast Sivaji Ganesan in 'Ennai Pol Oruvan' (1965) — he convinced the actor to play a double role for the first time. Sivaji was hesitant, but the director locked him in by promising a script that would let him show off both his comic and tragic sides in one film.
- On the set of 'Deiva Magan' (1969), Tirulokchandar would deliberately give Sivaji only half the dialogue before a take. The actor would then improvise the rest in his own rhythm. The director later admitted this method gave Sivaji's performances a raw, unpredictable energy that polished scripts never could.
- Their 1971 film 'Babu' directly inspired the 1990 Hindi hit 'Aaj Ka Arjun' — B. Gopal remade it with Chiranjeevi, and the Telugu version became a career-defining blockbuster. None of that happens without Sivaji and Tirulokchandar's original father-son drama.
- Tirulokchandar never called Sivaji by his name. On every single shoot across 23 films, he addressed him as 'Nadigar Thilagam' (The Crown of Actors). Sivaji, in turn, referred to the director as 'Anna' (elder brother) — a sign of respect he rarely gave to anyone in the industry.
- Tirulokchandar once said: 'Sivaji would ask me for a scene breakdown, and I'd tell him just the emotion. He'd then act out three different versions in one take. I just had to pick the best one.' He said this in a 1985 interview with 'Kalki' magazine.
23 films across 3 decades
The 1960s brought 7 films together, anchored by Deiva Magan (8.3/10).
The 1970s brought 12 films together, anchored by Babu (7.5/10).
The 1980s accounted for 4 films, averaging 3.7/10.
- Deiva Magan
- Iru Malargal
- Babu
- Pilot Premnath
- Anbulla Appa
- Viswaroopam0
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
23 films across 22 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
85% of A. C. Tirulokchandar's screen credits are with Sivaji Ganesan. When they first worked together, Sivaji Ganesan had 42 films behind them; A. C. Tirulokchandar had 2.
Before Ennai Pol Oruvan, Sivaji Ganesan had starred in 42 films, including Karnan (1964) and Pasamalar (1961).
After Anbulla Appa, Sivaji Ganesan went on to appear in 14 more films, including Mudhal Kural (1992) and Puthiya Vaanam (1988).
Before Ennai Pol Oruvan, A. C. Tirulokchandar had directed 2 films, including Naanum Oru Pen (1963) and Veerathirumagan (1962).
After Anbulla Appa, A. C. Tirulokchandar went on to direct 2 more films, including Shukriyaa (1988) and Shukriya (1989).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Sivaji Ganesan & A. C. Tirulokchandar's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
M. S. Viswanathan is the through-line — music on 23 of their 23 films. M. S. Viswanathan scored 23 of them. They worked with the same 11 people again and again — a small repertory company.
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23422Other iconic Tamil director-actor duos
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