Kamal Haasan & Ramesh Aravind Movies Together List — 6 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-07-17 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Kamal Haasan and Ramesh Aravind appeared together in 6 Tamil films between 1993 and 2015. Their highest-rated collaboration was Uttama Villain (2015 — 7.3/10). Films span Maharasan (1993) through Uttama Villain (2015).
The Kamal Haasan & Ramesh Aravind partnership
They saved their best for last — Uttama Villain (7.3/10) came 22 years in. Their work runs across 3 decades of Tamil cinema. From Maharasan (1993) to Uttama Villain (2015).
Uttama Villain is the one most viewers reach for. It started with Maharasan (1993).
The shape of the work
The 1990s belonged to Sathi Leelavathi; the 2010s to Uttama Villain. Kamal Haasan acted in every film; Ramesh Aravind acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Kamal Haasan didn't just cast Ramesh Aravind in Sathi Leelavathi (1995) — he personally called him after seeing his work in a Kannada play and told him, 'I want you to play my brother-in-law.' Ramesh was so nervous on set that Kamal had to calm him down before every take.
- In Panchathanthiram (2002), Kamal deliberately slowed down his own delivery to match Ramesh's natural rhythm. He told the crew, 'Let him set the pace — I'll follow.' That's why their back-and-forth in the comedy scenes feels so effortless.
- Ramesh Aravind has said that Kamal Haasan is the only co-star who would call him at 2 AM to discuss a single line reading for the next day's shoot. They'd argue for an hour, then Kamal would say, 'Okay, let's try both versions tomorrow.'
- Mumbai Express (2005) directly inspired the 2010 Hindi comedy 'Tere Bin Laden' — the director of that film admitted in interviews that he watched Mumbai Express multiple times to study how Kamal and Ramesh balanced absurd situations with deadpan reactions.
- Ramesh Aravind once said about Kamal: 'He doesn't treat you like a junior artist. He treats you like a co-writer. He'll ask, 'What would your character do here?' and then actually use your answer.'
- In Uttama Villain (2015), Kamal wrote the role of the loyal friend specifically for Ramesh — but then made him improvise 70% of his dialogue on set. Ramesh later said, 'He gave me the skeleton, but he wanted me to put the flesh on it.'
6 films across 3 decades
The 1990s accounted for 2 films, averaging 4.8/10.
The 2000s accounted for 2 films, averaging 6.3/10.
The 2010s brought 2 films together, anchored by Uttama Villain (7.3/10).
- Sathi Leelavathi
- Maharasan
- Mumbai Express
- Panchathanthiram
- Uttama Villain
- Manmadhan Ambu
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
6 films across 22 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
40% of Ramesh Aravind's screen credits are with Kamal Haasan. When they first worked together, Kamal Haasan had 139 films behind them; Ramesh Aravind had 8.
Before Maharasan, Kamal Haasan had starred in 139 films, including Enakkul Oruvan (1984) and Enakkul Oruvan (1984).
After Uttama Villain, Kamal Haasan went on to appear in 15 more films, including Vikram (2022) and Kalki 2898 AD (2024).
Before Maharasan, Ramesh Aravind had starred in 8 films, including Manathil Uruthi Vendum (1987) and Keladi Kanmani (1990).
After Uttama Villain, Ramesh Aravind went on to appear in 1 more film, including Paris Paris (2018).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Kamal Haasan & Ramesh Aravind's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Urvashi is the through-line — cast on 3 of their 6 films. Urvashi appears alongside them in 3 films — practically a third lead. Ilayaraja scored 3 of them.
3
2
2
2
3
Other iconic Tamil director-actor duos
Discover other partnerships with comparable filmographies and ratings
