Manivannan & Murali Movies Together List — 14 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-07-19 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Manivannan and Murali appeared together in 14 Tamil films between 1984 and 2005. Their highest-rated collaboration was Poomani (1996 — 7.3/10). Films span Ingeyum Oru Gangai (1984) through Majaa (2005).
The Manivannan & Murali partnership
Their work runs across 3 decades of Tamil cinema. After 8 years apart, they came back together for Thondan (1995). 1998 was their peak — 6 films in twelve months.
They didn't share a set between 1987 and 1995. From Ingeyum Oru Gangai (1984) to Majaa (2005).
The shape of the work
The 1990s account for 64% of everything they made together. The 1980s belonged to Ingeyum Oru Gangai; the 2000s to Majaa. Manivannan director in some, actor in others. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Manivannan cast Murali as the lead in Ingeyum Oru Gangai (1984) after seeing him in a small role in a different film. Murali was so nervous on the first day that Manivannan had to sit him down and walk him through every single shot for the first week.
- On the set of Puyalpadum Pattu (1987), Manivannan would deliberately give Murali the wrong dialogue just before a take. Murali would catch it, laugh, and then deliver a better version than what was written. They turned this into a running game across all their films.
- Their 1998 film Poonthottam launched the career of actress Devayani. Manivannan spotted her at a dance rehearsal, and Murali insisted she be cast opposite him. She went on to become one of the top heroines of the early 2000s.
- Manivannan and Murali had a standing rule: no matter how badly a film performed, they would have dinner together on the last day of shooting. They kept this up for all 11 films, even the ones that bombed like Kaalamellam Kadhal Vaazhga (1997).
14 films across 3 decades
The 1980s accounted for 2 films, averaging 6.5/10.
The 1990s brought 9 films together, anchored by Poomani (7.3/10).
The 2000s accounted for 3 films, averaging 5.2/10.
- Ingeyum Oru Gangai
- Puyalpadum Pattu0
- Poomani
- Poonthottam
- Majaa
- Raajjiyam
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
14 films across 21 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Tamil being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
67% of Murali's screen credits are with Manivannan. After Majaa, Manivannan kept going for 30 more films; Murali stepped back.
Before Ingeyum Oru Gangai, Manivannan had starred in 5 films, including Nizhalgal (1980) and Ilamai Kalangal (1983).
After Majaa, Manivannan went on to appear in 30 more films, including Sivappathigaram (2006) and Nenjathai Killadhe (2008).
Ingeyum Oru Gangai was Murali's acting debut.
After Majaa, Murali went on to appear in 7 more films, including Baana Kaathadi (2010) and Oru Oorla (2014).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Manivannan & Murali's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Ilayaraja scored 6 of them. They worked with the same 10 people again and again — a small repertory company. Nassar appears alongside them in 4 films — practically a third lead.
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