Anushka Shetty & Hari Movies Together List — 3 Films

The shape of the work

Anushka Shetty acted in every film; Hari directed all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Anushka was not the first choice for Singam. The makers initially wanted a different actress. But Hari insisted on her after seeing her performance in a Telugu film. He waited for her dates to open up.
• Hari wrote the female lead in Singam specifically to be a strong, independent character — not just a love interest. Anushka’s role as Kavya had her standing up to the hero, which was rare for a commercial cop film in 2010. She pushed back on set if a scene made her character too weak.
• The Singam franchise directly launched the trend of 'mass hero cop films' in Tamil cinema in the 2010s. Before Singam, Suriya was known more for romantic and family roles. After Hari and Anushka’s trilogy, every major star wanted a cop franchise.
• Anushka and Hari share a close, almost sibling-like bond off-screen. She calls him 'Hari sir' even now. He personally called her before the release of every Singam film to check if she was nervous. She once said he is the only director who can make her cry with a single scene.
• Anushka said in a 2017 interview: 'Hari sir knows exactly how to frame a woman in a commercial film. He never made me feel like a prop. In Singam, I was the one who told Suriya’s character to get his act together. That’s because Hari wrote it that way.'