Santhanam & Nayantara Movies Together List — 9 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-07-12 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Santhanam and Nayantara appeared together in 9 Tamil films between 2006 and 2016. Their highest-rated collaboration was Raja Rani (2013 — 7.3/10). Films span Vallavan (2006) through Idhu Namma Aalu (2016).
The Santhanam & Nayantara partnership
From Vallavan (2006) to Idhu Namma Aalu (2016). For 10 years, a Santhanam–Nayantara film arrived almost every year. Raja Rani is the one most viewers reach for.
It started with Vallavan (2006).
The shape of the work
The 2010s account for 67% of everything they made together. The 2000s belonged to Billa; the 2010s to Raja Rani. Santhanam acted in every film; Nayantara acted in all of them.
Partnership facts
- Santhanam and Nayantara first shared screen space in Billa (2007), but they barely had a scene together. He played a small comic role while she was the leading lady. Their real pairing started only when director Rajesh cast them as romantic leads in Boss Engira Bhaskaran (2010) — a gamble that paid off big.
- In Boss Engira Bhaskaran (2010), Santhanam’s character was a nervous, stammering lover — and Nayantara’s character had to carry the confidence. She set the pace in every scene, letting him bounce his comic timing off her straight-faced reactions. That push-pull became their signature.
- Their hit pairing in Boss Engira Bhaskaran directly inspired director Rajesh to write Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal (2014) specifically for them. That film then launched a trend of rom-coms where the hero was a bumbling everyman and the heroine was the assertive one — a template many Tamil films copied in the next few years.
- During the shoot of Idhu Namma Aalu (2016), Santhanam and Nayantara developed a running joke: they’d deliberately flub their lines in the most serious romantic scenes to make each other crack up. The director had to do multiple retakes because they couldn’t stop laughing.
- Santhanam once said in an interview: 'Nayantara is the only heroine who never complained about my comedy timing. She actually waited for me to finish my punchlines before reacting. That’s rare.'
- After Idhu Namma Aalu (2016), they never worked together again. No fallout — just schedules never matched. But Santhanam still calls her 'Nayan akka' off-camera, and she once sent him a handwritten note after his solo hero film released, congratulating him.
9 films across 2 decades
The 2000s accounted for 3 films, averaging 6.1/10.
The 2010s brought 6 films together, anchored by Raja Rani (7.3/10).
- Billa
- Vallavan
- Raja Rani
- Boss Engira Bhaskaran
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
9 films across 10 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 2 languages, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
Before Vallavan, Santhanam had starred in 4 films, including Oru Kalluriyin Kathai (2005) and Sachein (2005).
After Idhu Namma Aalu, Santhanam went on to appear in 23 more films, including Server Sundaram (2020) and Kalavaadiya Pozhuthugal (2017).
Before Vallavan, Nayantara had starred in 6 films, including Ayya (2005) and Ghajini (2005).
After Idhu Namma Aalu, Nayantara went on to appear in 37 more films, including Aramm (2017) and Jawan (2023).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Santhanam & Nayantara's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Udhayanidhi Stalin appears alongside them in 3 films — practically a third lead.
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
