Karan & Ilayaraja Movies Together List — 5 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-04 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Karan and Ilayaraja appeared together in 5 Tamil films between 1995 and 2000. Their highest-rated collaboration was Thirunelveli (2000 — 6.8/10). Films span Chandralekha (1995) through Ilayavan (2000).
The Karan & Ilayaraja partnership
Between 1995 and 2000, they barely worked apart — 5 films in 5 years. For 5 years, a Karan–Ilayaraja film arrived almost every year. They saved their best for last — Thirunelveli (6.8/10) came 5 years in.
From Chandralekha (1995) to Ilayavan (2000). The spanned closed with Ilayavan in 2000.
The shape of the work
The 1990s account for 60% of everything they made together. The 1990s belonged to Raman Abdullah; the 2000s to Thirunelveli. Karan acted in every film; Ilayaraja scored all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
5 films across 2 decades
The 1990s accounted for 3 films, averaging 6.5/10.
The 2000s accounted for 2 films, averaging 6.8/10.
- Raman Abdullah
- Chandralekha0
- Thirunelveli
- Ilayavan0
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
5 films across 5 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
When they first worked together, Karan had 2 films behind them; Ilayaraja had 182. After Ilayavan, Ilayaraja kept going for 44 more films; Karan stepped back.
Before Chandralekha, Karan had starred in 2 films, including Nammavar (1994) and Rakshana (1993).
After Ilayavan, Karan went on to appear in 20 more films, including Arasatchi (2004) and Kunguma Pottu Gounder (2001).
Before Chandralekha, Ilayaraja had starred in 182 films, including Nadigan (1990) and Seeman (1994).
After Ilayavan, Ilayaraja went on to appear in 44 more films, including Pithamagan (2003) and Merku Thodarchi Malai (2018).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Karan & Ilayaraja's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
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