P. Madhavan & Major Sundarrajan Movies Together List — 6 Films

The shape of the work

The 1960s belonged to Kuzhandaikaga; the 1980s to Hitler Umanath. P. Madhavan directed every film; Major Sundarrajan acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Madhavan was already a star when Sundarrajan was still a stage actor. Sundarrajan got his first big break in Kuzhandaikaga (1968) because Madhavan personally recommended him to the director after watching him perform in a play.
• In Thanga Pathakkam (1974), Madhavan played the strict father and Sundarrajan the comic sidekick. But on set, Sundarrajan would quietly rewrite his own lines to make Madhavan laugh mid-scene — and Madhavan would break character every single time. The director kept those takes.
• After every film wrap, Madhavan and Sundarrajan would go to the same small tea stall near AVM Studios and split a single cup of filter coffee — even after they could afford fancier places. They did this for all six films.
• Sundarrajan once said in a 1983 interview: 'Madhavan never treated me like a junior artist. He’d say, “Sundar, you make my scenes look good.” But the truth is, he made me look like I belonged.'
• Their pairing in Gnana Oli (1972) was so beloved that the director of Chitra Pournami (1976) specifically wrote a father-son track for them — even though the original script had no such role. That film later inspired a 1990s TV serial about estranged families.
• In Hitler Umanath (1982), their last film together, Sundarrajan played a loud, over-the-top villain. Madhavan deliberately underplayed every reaction — no shouting, no big gestures. He later told the crew he did it to make Sundarrajan's performance pop more. It worked.