Manivannan & Vijayakanth Movies Together List — 11 Films

The shape of the work

The 1980s belonged to Nooravathu Naal; the 2000s to Engal Anna. Manivannan director in some, actor in others. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Their first film together, Nooravathu Naal (1984), was a thriller where Vijayakanth played a police officer. Manivannan, already a respected character actor, was cast as the villain. The director said he paired them specifically because Vijayakanth's raw intensity needed a calm, calculating opponent — and Manivannan's stillness made the cat-and-mouse game work.
• On set, Manivannan would deliberately slow down his dialogue delivery to throw Vijayakanth off rhythm. Vijayakanth, known for his explosive style, had to match Manivannan's pace — and that tension created the coiled-spring energy you see in films like 24 Mani Neram (1984) and Dharmapuri (2006).
• Manivannan was the only co-star Vijayakanth called 'Anna' (elder brother) off-screen. When Vijayakanth launched his political party in 2006, Manivannan was one of the first to publicly endorse him — and campaigned alongside him in Dharmapuri district, the same name as their last film together.
• Their 1998 film Veeram Velanja Mannu directly inspired the 2000s trend of 'double-hero' village action films in Tamil cinema. Directors like S. A. Chandrasekhar and R. K. Selvamani later admitted they cast pairs specifically to replicate the Manivannan-Vijayakanth dynamic — the calm schemer vs the hot-headed hero.
• Vijayakanth once said in a 2004 interview: 'Manivannan sir is the only actor who can make me forget my lines. He looks at me a certain way, and I start laughing — we had to reshoot so many scenes because of that.'
• Manivannan was initially reluctant to act opposite Vijayakanth in Nooravathu Naal because he thought the younger actor was 'too loud'. After the first day of shooting, he told the director: 'This boy listens. He adjusts. We'll be fine.' They ended up doing 10 more films together.