Arjun & Venniradai Moorthy Movies Together List — 4 Films

The shape of the work

The 1990s belonged to Sevagan; the 2010s to Vallakottai. Arjun director in some, actor in others. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Arjun personally requested Moorthy for the role of the villain in Sevagan (1992). Moorthy was a veteran character actor, but Arjun insisted he play the antagonist — a move that surprised the director, who had planned to cast a younger actor.
• In Vedham (2001), Moorthy played a blind father. Arjun, who also directed the film, deliberately shot their confrontation scene in one long take — forcing Moorthy to stay in character without cuts. Moorthy later said that pressure made him deliver his best performance.
• Moorthy was a strict vegetarian. On the sets of Thaayin Manikodi (1998), Arjun personally ensured the catering had a separate vegetarian menu for him every single day — even when shooting in remote locations.
• Arjun once said in an interview: 'Moorthy sir doesn't act — he becomes the character. When he cried in Vedham, I forgot my lines because I was watching him.'
• Their pairing in Sevagan (1992) set a template for the 'hero vs. older, cunning villain' dynamic that Tamil action films copied for the next decade — most notably in Baasha (1995), where Rajinikanth faced a similar older antagonist.
• In Vallakottai (2010), Moorthy played a comedic sidekick — a complete shift from their earlier intense roles. Arjun deliberately wrote the character to give Moorthy lighter scenes, because he felt the actor had never been allowed to show his comic timing before.