Vijay Sethupathi & Aadukalam Murugadoss Movies Together List — 4 Films

The shape of the work

The 2000s belonged to Pudhupettai; the 2010s to 96. Vijay Sethupathi acted in every film; Aadukalam Murugadoss acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• For Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu (2009), director Susi Ganesan was struggling to find a coach who could train the cast in real kabaddi. He brought in Aadukalam Murugadoss — then a little-known kabaddi player from Madurai — to train the actors. Murugadoss ended up so good on screen that Vijay Sethupathi insisted he be cast as a player, not just a trainer. That's how Murugadoss got his first acting break.
• In Jigarthanda (2014), Sethupathi played a gangster who mentors a wannabe filmmaker. Murugadoss played his loyal sidekick. The real dynamic was reversed: on set, Murugadoss — a trained athlete — would physically rehearse fight sequences with Sethupathi for hours, teaching him how to move like a real thug. Sethupathi then used those movements to improvise his dialogue delivery mid-scene, which threw Murugadoss off guard and made their exchanges feel raw and unpredictable.
• 96 (2018) was the first Tamil film where both actors played characters their real age — no hero posturing, no fight scenes. Its quiet, melancholic tone directly inspired a wave of 'slice-of-life' Tamil films in 2019-2020, including 'Pariyerum Perumal' and 'Super Deluxe'. Without this pairing choosing to underplay, that trend might not have hit mainstream.
• After Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu wrapped, Murugadoss had no acting offers. Sethupathi personally called director Karthik Subbaraj and said, 'Give this guy a role in Jigarthanda, or I won't do the film.' Subbaraj later admitted he only wrote the sidekick character because Sethupathi refused to budge.
• Murugadoss once said in a 2018 interview: 'Vijay Sethupathi is the only actor who made me forget I was acting. When he looks at me in a scene, I stop acting. I just become the character.'