Manivannan & Ranjith Movies Together List — 4 Films

The shape of the work

The 1990s account for 75% of everything they made together. The 1990s belonged to Hello; the 2000s to Aandan Adimai. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Manivannan was already a veteran character actor when he cast newcomer Ranjith as the lead in Desiya Geetham (1998). Ranjith had just one film before that — and it flopped. Manivannan took a risk on him because he liked Ranjith's intensity in a stage play.
• On the sets of Hello (1999), Manivannan would deliberately mess up his own lines to make Ranjith laugh. He said it loosened Ranjith up for emotional scenes. Ranjith later admitted those bloopers were the only times he forgot his own anxiety.
• After Aandan Adimai (2001) flopped, Manivannan quietly paid the dubbing studio's pending bill out of his own pocket. Ranjith found out only years later from a sound engineer. He never got to thank him — Manivannan passed away in 2013.
• Ranjith once said in a 2010 interview: 'Manivannan sir never treated me like a hero. He treated me like a co-actor. That's why I gave my best in those three films.'
• The song 'Kadhal Vaithu' from Desiya Geetham (1998) was later sampled by a Chennai indie band in 2015. The band credited Manivannan's original composition — but nobody remembers the film itself.