15 Most Popular Father- Son Duos in Kollywood

The legendary veteran actor Sivakumar was one among the successful actors of his time. His elder son Suriya Sivakumar is known for his versatile roles in Tamil films. The actor’s career was stalled during the initial days as he did not have any big hits that could give him a good break. It was only with the director Bala’s Nandha that Suriya was able to enjoy success and it certainly laid a definite career path for the actor. After a series of hits like Kaakaa Kaakaa, Pithamagan, and Perazhgan, Suriya’s profile raised tremendously making him a huge star in Kollywood. It should also be noted that Karthi, the younger son of Sivakumar is an is also one of the star heroes in Kollywood made his debut with Paruthiveeran. 

S.A. Chandrasekar, who has directed over 70 films in Tamil is the father of the most popular actor VijayVijay. Though Chandrasekar would not be known much by this generation, it was mainly with his help that actor Vijay was able to reach his peak. Chandrasekar introduced Vijay in most of his films during the initial days of his career and it should be said that Vijay has made his father proud by exceeding him in the film industry and went on to achieve unlimited stardom. 

T.R. Rajendar is a multi-faceted personality and a successful film director of Kollywood. His one-of-a -kind style of acting gained him popularity and brought him many fans. His son Silambarasan, inherited the passion towards film industry from his father. After acting in few films, Silambarasan debuted as a director with the film Manmadhan which was declared a box office hit.

Ilaiyaraaja is a film music composer, instrumentalist, lyricist and a singer who has composed music for over 5000 songs. He is considered as an asset to the film industry and is still in very much demand. His son Yuvan Shakar Raja started composing music at the age of 16 and has worked in around 100 films. Like his father, Yuvan is a famous music director and in great demand.

Gangai Amaran is a successful music composer and a multi-talented personality. He has directed several films, written lyrics for a number of songs and is a successful artist in the Tamil film industry. But as his son Venkat Prabhu could not shine much as a composer and as an actor, he diverted his attention towards film making. He has directed around 6 films and all his films were block buster hits. Watch Gangai Amaran talk about his son and family.

Sathyaraj is one of the most successful and versatile actors of his period who has acted in around 150 films. He had his own style of rendering dialogues that was liked by everyone. But his son Sibiraj, who has acted in very less number of films was not as successful as him. His latest film Naaigal Jaakirathai did well at the box office which was produced by Sathyaraj himself. Sibiraj would be seen next in Jackson Durai where Sathyaraj plays a ghost. Enjoy a comedy scene by Sathyaraj and Sibiraj.

Though Thiagarajan and Prashanth were successful in their respective careers, they were not able to reach the peak in the film industry. They have acted together in a number of films. When there was a drop in Prashanth’s career, his father took over and started producing his films including his latest Mambittiyan. It should be noted that Prashanth’s upcoming film Saahasam is being produced by his father Thiagarajan. The biggest hit in their combination is Ponnar Shankar. 

Prabhu, an actor cum producer was one of the leading actors of his period. Though most of his films were blockbusters and silver jubilee hits, there was a drop in his career due to tough competition from other young heroes. His son Vikram Prabhu, has done a fair job till now but has to go a long way to reach his father’s place.

Vairamuthu is a Tamil poet who started his career as a lyricist in 1980. He has more than 6000 songs to his credit and has received the honorary Padmashri and Padmabhushan awards. His son Madhan Karky took up his career as a lyricist in 2010 and debuted with the film ‘Enthiran’. He has penned around 80 songs in Tamil films, so far.

Karthik, a three time recipient of Filmfare award for best actor was introduced by Bharathiraja in the film Alaigal Oivadhillai. He enjoyed great success and was one among the leading actors. His son, Gautham Karthik is an upcoming actor in the industry. He was introduced by Mani Ratnam for his film Kadal which fetched him a Filmfare Award for best debut actor. 

Vijaykumar, one of the respected actors in Kollywood, has tried his hand in varied roles starting from acting as a hero and trying negative roles too. He was a successful character artist while his son Arun Vijay was not able to establish himself as a successful actor. He has enjoyed only very few hits right through his career including Yennai Arindhal where he played a negative role. 

Bhagyaraj, an actor cum director was one of the successful actors of his period. But his son, Shanthanu could not establish himself as an actor as most of his films failed drastically at the box office. 

Murali who has appeared in leading and supporting roles right through his career was not able to attain the kind of success that other actors achieved. His second son, Atharva choose to pursue a career in the film industry and debuted with Baana Kathadi. He has done a decent job till now and has to go a long way to make his father proud of him. 

Sivaji Ganesan who is well known for his versatility and acting skills, has received the highest honorary award in India, Dadasaheb Phalke Award. His son Prabhu, an actor cum producer was one of the leading actors of his period. He has acted in around 13 films with his father. Though most of his films were blockbusters and silver jubilee hits, there was a drop in his career due to tough competition from other young heroes. After this, the actor started to choose good roles rather than to accept all the offers. He has received the Tamil Nadu state award for the best actor in 1991. 

Vijayakanth was one of the leading actors of his period and has acted only in Tamil films through out his career. He is the founder of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam and is now a member of the legislative assembly. His son, Shanmuga Pandian debuted with ‘Sagaptham’ that failed at the box office. Watch the interview of Vijayakanth and his son ShanmugaPandian.