Manobala & Senthamarai Movies Together List — 3 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-07-12 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Manobala and Senthamarai appeared together in 3 Tamil films between 1985 and 1989. Their highest-rated collaboration was Oorkavalan (1987 — 4.4/10). Films span Naan Ungal Rasigan (1985) through Moodu Manthiram (1989).
The Manobala & Senthamarai partnership
From Naan Ungal Rasigan (1985) to Moodu Manthiram (1989). The played out closed with Moodu Manthiram in 1989. It started with Naan Ungal Rasigan (1985).
The shape of the work
Manobala directed every film; Senthamarai acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Manobala was already a busy character actor when Senthamarai was still finding his footing. Senthamarai got his big break in 'Naan Ungal Rasigan' (1985) because Manobala personally recommended him to the director — a gamble that paid off.
- In 'Oorkavalan' (1987), Manobala played the comic sidekick while Senthamarai played the villain. Their scenes crackled because Manobala would deliberately slow his delivery to let Senthamarai's menacing pauses land harder — a rhythm they perfected over three films.
- Off-screen, Manobala and Senthamarai were close friends who often shared a room during outdoor shoots. Senthamarai once said Manobala was the only co-star who would wake him up at 5 AM to rehearse lines before the crew even arrived.
- Their third film together, 'Moodu Manthiram' (1989), was a sleeper hit that directly inspired a wave of small-budget psychological thrillers in Tamil cinema over the next two years — a genre that barely existed before this pair's collaboration.
3 films across 1 decade
- Oorkavalan
- Naan Ungal Rasigan
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
3 films across 4 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
After Moodu Manthiram, Manobala kept going for 215 more films; Senthamarai stepped back.
Before Naan Ungal Rasigan, Manobala had directed 3 films, including Gopurangal Saivathillai (1982) and Puthiya Vaarpugal (1979).
After Moodu Manthiram, Manobala went on to direct 215 more films, including 10 Enradhukulla (2015) and Kaatrin Mozhi (2018).
Before Naan Ungal Rasigan, Senthamarai had starred in 30 films, including Arangetram (1973) and Shanti Nilayam (1969).
After Moodu Manthiram, Senthamarai went on to appear in 2 more films, including Panakkaran (1990) and Rudhra (1991).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Manobala & Senthamarai's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Raadhika Sarathkumar is the through-line — cast on 2 of their 3 films.
2
2Other iconic Tamil director-actor duos
Discover other partnerships with comparable filmographies and ratings
