Sivaji Ganesan & T. R. Ramanna Movies Together List — 4 Films

The shape of the work

The 1960s belonged to Sri Valli; the 1970s to Sorgam. Sivaji Ganesan acted in every film; T. R. Ramanna directed all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Sivaji Ganesan was already a superstar when he agreed to star in T. R. Ramanna's directorial debut 'Sri Valli' (1961). Ramanna had never directed a film before, but Sivaji trusted him because they had worked together as actors in the 1950s. That first film became a hit and launched Ramanna's directing career.
• On the sets of 'Thangachurangam' (1969), Sivaji Ganesan would often rewrite his own dialogues the night before shooting. T. R. Ramanna never objected. Instead, he would adjust the blocking and camera angles the next morning to match Sivaji's new lines. This back-and-forth made their scenes feel more natural than the scripted version.
• Sivaji Ganesan and T. R. Ramanna had a standing ritual: before every film they made together, they would have a simple meal of idli and sambar at a small eatery near AVM Studios. They did this for all four films, from 1961 to 1978. No one else was invited.
• Their 1970 film 'Sorgam' was one of the earliest Tamil films to use a non-linear narrative structure. The story jumped between past and present to reveal a character's backstory. This technique was later borrowed by director K. Balachander for his 1975 hit 'Apoorva Raagangal'.
• T. R. Ramanna once said about Sivaji Ganesan: 'He made my job easy. I just had to point the camera at him. He did the rest.' He said this in a 1979 interview with the magazine 'Kalki'.
• In 'Ennai Pol Oruvan' (1978), their last film together, Sivaji Ganesan played a double role. T. R. Ramanna deliberately shot the scenes with both characters in the same frame without using split-screen tricks. He made Sivaji act opposite a stand-in, then match his own performance later. Sivaji later said it was the most exhausting shoot of his career.