Manobala & Besant Ravi Movies Together List — 4 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-07-13 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Manobala and Besant Ravi appeared together in 4 Tamil films between 2013 and 2015. Their highest-rated collaboration was Tenaliraman (2014 — 6.5/10). Films span Puthagam (2013) through Soan Papdi (2015).
The Manobala & Besant Ravi partnership
Between 2013 and 2015, they barely worked apart — 4 films in 2 years. From Puthagam (2013) to Soan Papdi (2015). It started with Puthagam (2013).
The shape of the work
Manobala acted in every film; Besant Ravi acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Manobala cast Besant Ravi in Puthagam (2013) after seeing him play a small role in a TV serial. Ravi was so nervous on the first day that Manobala had to shoot his scenes in one take just to calm him down.
- On the set of Tenaliraman (2014), Manobala would deliberately mess up his own lines to make Besant Ravi laugh during serious scenes. Ravi then started doing the same to Manobala — and that unscripted back-and-forth became the film's funniest moments.
- The success of Kakki Sattai (2015) directly led to Besant Ravi getting his first lead role in a comedy film — a project Manobala recommended him for to a producer friend. That film never released, but Ravi still calls it his 'biggest break that didn't break'.
- After Soan Papdi (2015) wrapped, Manobala and Besant Ravi stopped speaking for two years. Reason: a heated argument over who got to keep a prop coconut from the film's climax scene. They only patched up when a fan sent them a photo of the coconut — it was still on set, untouched.
- Besant Ravi once said in a 2016 interview: 'Manobala sir is the only director who made me feel like a star — even when I was just standing behind him in a frame.'
4 films across 1 decade
- Tenaliraman
- Kakki Sattai
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
4 films across 2 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
When they first worked together, Manobala had 81 films behind them; Besant Ravi had 9. After Soan Papdi, Manobala kept going for 93 more films; Besant Ravi stepped back.
Before Puthagam, Manobala had starred in 81 films, including Pithamagan (2003) and Thuppakki (2012).
After Soan Papdi, Manobala went on to appear in 93 more films, including Kaatrin Mozhi (2018) and Irugapatru (2023).
Before Puthagam, Besant Ravi had starred in 9 films, including Perumal (2009) and Irumbu Kottai Murattu Singam (2010).
After Soan Papdi, Besant Ravi went on to appear in 2 more films, including Bairavaa (2017) and Gethu (2016).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Manobala & Besant Ravi's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Santhana Bharathi is the through-line — cast on 2 of their 4 films.
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