Manorama & Jaishankar Movies Together List — 28 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-03 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Manorama and Jaishankar appeared together in 28 Tamil films between 1966 and 1998. Their highest-rated collaboration was Vazhvey Maayam (1982 — 7.5/10). Films span Yaar Nee (1966) through Dharma (1998).
The Manorama & Jaishankar partnership
Their work runs across 4 decades of Tamil cinema. 1978 was their peak — 4 films in twelve months. For 32 years, a Manorama–Jaishankar film arrived almost every year.
From Yaar Nee (1966) to Dharma (1998). Theerpu (1982, 7.5/10) is the underseen one in the catalogue.
The shape of the work
The 1960s belonged to Yaar Nee; the 1990s to Singaravelan. Manorama acted in every film; Jaishankar acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Their first film together, Bommalattam (1968), was a puppet-themed drama. Jaishankar was already a star, but Manorama was still finding her footing. He personally asked the director to cast her after seeing her stage work — he said she had 'eyes that could act without moving.'
- In Pandhattam (1974), Manorama played a loud, street-smart woman while Jaishankar was the straight-laced hero. She improvised most of her comebacks on set, and Jaishankar would deliberately pause mid-dialogue to let her land the punchline. He called it 'passing the ball to a better player.'
- Their 1978 film Aval Oru Adhisayam was a sleeper hit that directly inspired the 1980s trend of 'supernatural wife' stories in Tamil cinema. Without this film, you probably wouldn't have had the 1988 blockbuster Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal — same producer, same template.
- Off-screen, they had a running bet: whoever flubbed a line first on set had to buy the entire crew lunch. Manorama lost only twice in 30 years. Jaishankar lost so often that he once joked, 'I'm funding her retirement through biryani.'
- Manorama once said in a 1999 interview: 'Jaishankar never treated me like a comedienne. He treated me like a co-star. That's why I did 20 films with him — he made me feel like I belonged in every frame.'
28 films across 4 decades
The 1960s accounted for 2 films.
The 1970s accounted for 11 films.
The 1980s brought 12 films together, anchored by Vazhvey Maayam (7.5/10).
The 1990s accounted for 3 films, averaging 5.0/10.
- Yaar Nee0
- Bommalattam0
- Thanga Gopuram0
- Karundhel Kannayiram0
- Vazhvey Maayam
- Theerpu
- Singaravelan
- Dharma
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
28 films across 32 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
35% of Manorama's screen credits are with Jaishankar. After Dharma, Manorama kept going for 35 more films; Jaishankar stepped back.
Before Yaar Nee, Manorama had starred in 18 films, including Server Sundaram (1964) and Kalathur Kannamma (1960).
After Dharma, Manorama went on to appear in 35 more films, including Piriyadha Varam Vendum (2001) and Periyar (2007).
Before Yaar Nee, Jaishankar had starred in 8 films, including Kuzhandaiyum Daivamum (1965) and Enga Veettu Penn (1965).
After Dharma, Jaishankar went on to appear in 1 more film, including Chinna Raja (1999).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Manorama & Jaishankar's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
M. S. Viswanathan scored 12 of them. They worked with the same 14 people again and again — a small repertory company. Kamal Haasan appears alongside them in 6 films — practically a third lead.
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