Mansoor Ali Khan & Vijayakanth Movies Together List — 11 Films

The shape of the work

The 1990s belonged to Sendhoorapandi; the 2000s to Thennavan. Mansoor Ali Khan acted in every film; Vijayakanth acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Their first film together, Ezhai Jaathi (1993), was a low-budget drama that almost didn't happen. Vijayakanth was already a star; Mansoor Ali Khan was a newcomer. The director, R. K. Selvamani, paired them because he wanted a raw, contrasting energy — Vijayakanth's stoic heroism against Mansoor's volatile villainy. Mansoor later said he was terrified of sharing screen space with a star that big.
• In Sendhoorapandi (1993), their second film, Mansoor Ali Khan played the antagonist who constantly outsmarts Vijayakanth's hero. The trick? Mansoor improvised most of his dialogue on set, catching Vijayakanth off-guard. Vijayakanth reportedly loved it — he told the director to let Mansoor run wild because it made his own reactions more genuine.
• Their 2003 film Thennavan (6.5/10) was a turning point for both — it revived Vijayakanth's fading box office pull and gave Mansoor Ali Khan his first major commercial hit as a lead villain. The film's success directly inspired a wave of 'village hero vs. cunning landlord' movies in Tamil cinema over the next two years.
• Despite playing bitter enemies on screen, Mansoor Ali Khan and Vijayakanth were close off-screen. Mansoor has said in interviews that Vijayakanth personally recommended him to other directors after their first few films together. They also shared a ritual: before every fight scene, Vijayakanth would pull Mansoor aside and say, 'Don't hold back — hit me for real if it looks better.'
• Mansoor Ali Khan once said about Vijayakanth: 'He is the only hero who never treated me like a villain. On set, he was my co-star, not my senior. That's why our fights looked so real — because we trusted each other completely.'
• In Dharma (1998), their fourth film together, the director deliberately shot all their confrontation scenes in single takes. The reason: both actors had such intense, unpredictable energy that cutting between shots would ruin the tension. The final face-off scene runs nearly 8 minutes without a single cut — a rarity in Tamil cinema at the time.