Manivannan & Sivakumar Movies Together List — 4 Films

The shape of the work

The 1980s account for 75% of everything they made together. The 1980s belonged to Ini Oru Sudanthiram; the 1990s to Deva. Never on the same side of the camera — Manivannan director, Sivakumar actor, across all 4 films. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Manivannan was a writer before he turned director. He wrote the dialogues for Sivakumar's 1982 film 'Metti'. That's how they first met. Sivakumar liked his writing so much that he agreed to star in Manivannan's directorial debut 'Veetiley Raman Veliyeley Krishnan' (1983) without even reading the full script.
• In 'Kuva Kuva Vaathugal' (1984), Manivannan deliberately wrote Sivakumar's character as a loud, aggressive auto driver — the exact opposite of Sivakumar's usual soft, family-man image. Sivakumar later said Manivannan was the only director who made him shout on screen.
• Manivannan and Sivakumar were close friends off-screen. During the shoot of 'Ini Oru Sudanthiram' (1987), Sivakumar would cook biryani at his home and bring it to the set for the entire crew. Manivannan once joked that he cast Sivakumar just to get free biryani.
• Sivakumar once said about Manivannan: 'He didn't direct actors. He directed the scene. He'd tell me the emotion, then let me find my own way. That trust made me give my best.'
• Their 1995 film 'Deva' was the last time they worked together. But it directly led to Manivannan casting Sivakumar's son Suriya in his next film 'Nerukku Ner' (1997). That film launched Suriya's career. So this pair accidentally kick-started a whole new star.