Full List of Sasi Kumar Movies in Kollywood

Quick Intro About Sasikumar

When we talk about Sasikumar, we are not just talking about an actor. We are talking about a unique emotion in Tamil cinema.

It’s the smell of wet earth in a southern village, the reckless loyalty of friendship, and the heavy silence of a man who will do anything for his family. He exploded onto the scene and completely redefined what a “hero” could look like. No gelled hair, no exotic locales. He's just a man with a beard and heart of gold.

Sasikumar began his career as a director who had to end up acting himself out of necessity. But soon enough, he became ‘minimum guarantee’ star of Kollywood. His filmography is a compelling blend of harsh, violent realism and breezy rural entertainers. 

List of all Sasi Kumar Movies

Subramaniapuram (2008)

This is the Genesis. The film that not only launched a career, but revolutionised Tamil cinema subverbs. Sasikumar stars as Paraman, an unemployed young man in Madurai of the 1980s who inevitably is drawn into jobs given by political henchmen with his friends. It’s a tale of blind loyalty, love and the sort of betrayal that you can almost feel stabbing you. The raw, unvarnished quality of the film removed the sheen from cinema and made you feel like a fly on the wall in those dusty streets.

This movie has had a cultural impact that really can’t be overstated. The song “Kangal Irandal” turned into a love anthem, but it’s actually the contradiction of that melody with the film's gruesome violence that has remained haunting. The climax is legendary and legends are not built on a big fight so much as a quick, shocking betrayal that leaves the audience gasping. The character of a rough guy with a unwaveringly loyal to his master/employer, which Sasikumar played, threw open for him the template on which his career thereafter has been founded by and large.

Naadodigal (2009)

If Subramaniapuram showed the dark side of friendship, Naadodigal celebrated its wild and emotional side. Directed by Samuthirakani, the film follows Karunakaran played by Sasikumar, who believes helping lovers unite is the noblest thing he can do. He and his friends go to extreme lengths and destroy their own lives to get a friend married. They lose limbs, hearing, and family ties in the process. The film moves at a breathless pace with the characters constantly running to show their unstoppable youthful energy.

The film’s hardcore kamica beach song "Sambo Siva Sambo" is a rage on it own. But the gut-punch comes at the end as the hero learns that a couple they laid down their lives for is getting divorced because of bruised egos. One of Sasikumar’s best “mass” moments comes at that final face-off, where he doesn’t hit them so much as puke on their shallowness with his words.

Poraali (2011)

Poraali had Sasikumar moving into the experimental zone to some extent without letting go of his rustic flavor. He portrays Ilankumaran, a fugitive with a dark past who camp at Chennai as petrol bunk worker. The movie makes a pleasing contrast between the capering city life, where he is helping people with his brain, and the heavy flashback soaked in blood that explains why he left. It addresses the stigma of mental illness in a very progressive way for a commercial film.

There was a play for fans in the duality of the role. In the first half, he is this quiet bearded worker with a quirky sense of humor (some scenes with Allari Naresh are genuinely funny). The “sickle-wielding” hero, meanwhile, makes a comeback in the second half. The Yaar Ivan song and the interval block where he gets exposed are the stand-out ones. It even proved that Sasikumar could sustain the screen without Madurai as a backdrop for longer than half its running time.

Sundarapandian (2012)

Arguably, this is Sasikumar’s most complete commercial entertainer. It has romance, humor, action and a twisty screenplay that keeps you hooked.

He plays Sundarapandian, who tries to help his friends win over the girl he loves, but ends up falling for her himself.

The beauty of the movie is in its script, which contains a cheap punch at every character you thought was a friend, and turns its second half into an all-out fight for survival.

Soori comedy is fabulous. But the film is driven by Sasikumar’s strong presence. The climax, in which he meets the betrayal not with violence but by shaming his enemies into silence, pleased family audiences. It was a huge success because it distilled the violence of his earlier films and rewrapped it in a package that could be reasonably consumed by the whole family.

Kutti Puli (2013)

Sasikumar is a rough-’n’-tough guy who has sworn never to marry because he feels that his life of violence will ruin the life of any wife. The movie is essentially a suite of battles interrupted by bonding scenes between mother and son. Though the film was called repetitive by reviewers, it worked at the box office for it unapologetically played to the B and C centers.

Saranya Ponvannan has almost as much “mass” screen time as Sasikumar, and even she gets her own heroic moments. The Aruva (sickle) is almost a character in its own right in your movie. The climactic fight, set during a temple festival to the heavy thumping of drums, is a meaty piece of visual theater guaranteed not to disappoint those who came for the action.

Bramman (2014)

This was indeed an experiment on trying to make sure that Sasikumar gets a glamour treatment and the result is mixed. He portray a cinema theatre owner who goes to Chennai from Palani to assist his childhood friend, now a leading director. It ventures out of dusty villages into other lands and polished images. It was Sasikumar’s way of saying, “I can do cool in sunglasses and jeans as well.”

The film, though not a barnburner at the box office, still enjoys a dedicated cult following for its first half, which is essentially a love letter to movies themselves. The scenes of him fighting to keep his old theatre alive will strike a chord with movie buffs. The comedy track with Santhanam was slightly better, and the "En Uyirin Uyiraga" song tagline showed a softer and romantic side of Sasikumar (which we don’t get to see very often).

Tharai Thappattai (2016)

The film, directed by Bala, is the most physically and emotionally demanding role of Sasikumar’s career. He appears as Sannasi, head of a Karagattam folk dance troupe. What we have, here, is a raw recording of a dying art form… and the exploitation thereof. Sasikumar sustained a real broken arm while filming the climax yet he still continued to shoot and that painful authenticity is added to the fight sequences.

The climax is excruciating but impossible to turn away from. A blood dripping Sasikumar, holding the Nadaswaram with one hand and brutally fighting against the antagonist with another, is a picture of sheer anger and despair. Its music composed by Ilaiyaraaja is the lift that this otherwise very sad film’s story gets, and elevates what was already an operatic experience. It’s not a particularly easy watch, but it stands as an example of his commitment to acting.

Vetrivel (2016)

Vetrivel is a classic example of how to make a "confusion- comedy" drama film laden with serious sequences. The story is about a confusion of brides that makes Sasikumar to wed a girl who did not wish to, for saving her honour. He is cast as the elder brother who, after all the tantrums thrown by his younger sibling is left to salvage the damage done. It’s a grown-up performance, one that requires him to manage family dynamics as much as the fighting.

The Interval Twist is one of the best in rural dramas of recent times. Fans did not see that bride-swap coming, and Sasikumar staying calm through its aftermath secured him a lot of accolades. The song "Adiye Unna" is a blockbuster hit composed by D. Imman. This film was a landmark to demonstrate Sasikumar's shift from the angry-young man image to the responsible family man persona.

Kidaari (2016)

If Vetrivel was the tender coconut, Kidaari was the rough stone. Sasikumar is the faithful enforcer for a local big shot, and the movie is a whodunit in a violent rustic drama. The narrative describes the events from multiple angles, a relatively new technique in erotica at the time. Sasikumar’s appearance and style made a statement (that towel over the shoulder for good) with his perpetual scowl.

The only thing going for Kidaari is its attitude. It doesn’t excuse its violence. The music, by Darbuka Siva, was a coup, combining folk melodies with rock guitars. One of the mass scene of Sasikumar seated in a nonchalant manner as his goons surround him with silent aggression is worshipped by fans. It also gave new meaning of the aruvaal genre which was now less loud and more stylish and gritty.

Balle Vellaiyathevaa (2016)

This film was kind of light and trivial when Sasikumar decided to take a break from hefty sickle-swirling. In it, he stars as a man who comes to a new village and confronts the local heavyweights not with violence but between-the-lines warfare. The movie revolves more around the comedy track involving Kovai Sarala and Sangili Murugan, attempting to be a village satire.

It didn’t exactly rock the house, but it remains a low-stakes ball of fun. Here too, the ‘selfie’ frenzy in the village and the humour that is generated through Sasikumar’s small talk with aged men are of a unique kind. It proved he was prepared to let the supporting cast share some of the spotlight and to present a scaled-down, “boy-next-door” version of his rural persona.

Kodiveeran (2017)

A brother-sister sentiment film to the power of 10 in which Sasikumar collaborated with director Muthaiah. Sasikumar enacts that man who exist for his sister and is dedicated to make her happy. The adversary is just as much the villain’s sister, and it becomes a clash of families. It is loud, pacy and full of punch dialogues.

It’s a movie strictly for addicts of the rural mass genre. The action scenes are choreographed to satisfy the masses, and there’s slow-mo galore of Sasikumar hurling goons around. The “Ayyoadi” song that happens is a beautiful melody amidst continuous cacophony. It was not innovative in anyway but it had everything that the hardcore B and C centre audience would expect from a Sasikumar movie.

Asuravadham (2018)

In Asuravadham, minimalism is experimented with in a stylish way. The plot is a basic revenge tale, but the approach is fresh and Sasikumar hardly talks. He’s a man on the hunt for a criminal, and the film is one relentless chase after another. It is shot to make the best use of shadows and silences which makes Sasikumar seem like a frightening force of nature rather than a hero.

Fans loved the "suspense" element. For the majority of the movie, you don’t understand why he is pursuing the villain, and it keeps you stuck. The one where he stakes out the bad guy’s house in the middle of the night, just watching? Chilling. It was a cool action drama that proved Sasikumar could do a “John Wick-style” silent assassin in rustic terrain.

Kennedy Club (2019)

Moving on to sports, Sasikumar is a Kabaddi coach for a women’s team. Suseenthiran’s directorial discusses about politics in sports and the hardships of rural female athletes.

The focus here is the matches. The film manages to capture the unbridled energy of Kabaddi and Sasikumar quite fits the bill as a former player now turned coach. His chemistry with the veteran poet turned director Bharathiraja as his mentor adds emotional weight. It’s invigorating to watch, particularly for the manner in which it celebrates the toughness of the women players. Sasikumar takes a backseat to allow the girls to shine in its climax.

Naadodigal 2 (2020)

A spiritual successor to his hit 2009 film, this one deals with caste killing and social rifts. Sasikumar reappears as a man who wages war to bring lovers together against the wishes of their caste-obsessed families. It sets out to replicate the hyperkinetic energy of the first part, but with a weightier social message.

The movie has no qualms about making noise in its politics. The highpoints are when Sasikumar assembles a group for a mission, which reminisces the first film. Conversations around caste pride versus humanity are pointed and straight on. Though it failed to scale the cult status of the original, it again drove home the social values that characters played by Sasikumar often exemplify.

Udanpirappe (2021)

This was a huge tear-jerker and premiered directly on OTT. Jyothika takes the central role, with Sasikumar as her brother Vairavan, who is prone to violence but at odds with her husband (Samuthirakani), a man of law. The entire protagonist of the movie revolves around Sasikumar and his yearning for his sister.

Its performance is calm and steady. He is playing a man who is misunderstood as a thug by the world but as protector by his people. And the emotional peak, when the siblings finally make up, got them wiping away tears. It demonstrated he could share the screen with other powerhouses and still provide a powerful emotional kick.

MGR Magan (2021)

This is a rural entertainer that teams up Sasikumar and Sathyaraj. Sasikumar portrays a happy go lucky son who falls out with his father (Sathyaraj). The story is about the ego clashes of these two gentlemen & how they unite to save the village Hill from a Quarry Owner.

The USP is the repartee between Sasikumar and Sathyaraj. Sasikumar is a rare sight in films that need him to be the fall guy, but he takes it on the chin. The musical numbers, by “Anthony Daasan,” convey a quirky folk feeling. It’s a breezy watch that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and makes for an effective festival programmer.

Raajavamsam (2021)

Raajavamsam is a film in the mould of 90s family melodramas where the hero comes from a joint family that has more than 40 members in it. Sasikumar is an IT professional who returns to his village and is sucked into family emotions. The movie attempts to merge corporate world and rural values.

The movie is famous for its humongous cast, that there at times it seems like half of the available actors in Kollywood are in it! Even when the entire family sits down for a meal or to solve a problem, it inherently invokes memories of the joint family era. It’s a feel-good movie for anyone who pines for the days of old-school dramas where coming together as a family cures what ails you.

Kombu Vatcha Singamda (2022)

This film with the Sundarapandian director is expected to bring him back on track. Sasikumar portrays a man who attempts to be law abiding but is pulled into the middle of caste-related war and friend-enemy revenge sequence. It’s the old, familiar story of friendship turning to betrayal and back again.

The interval block in which the friendship breaks apart is a powerful moment. Sundarapandian fans enjoyed the village politics and backstabbing kind of vibe. Sasikumar's combination with Soori offers that element of laughter in an otherwise serious drama. It’s a comfort watch for those who enjoy the kind of specific “Sasikumar genre” that always involves village politics.

Naan Mirugamaai Maara (2022)

This is a gritty, violent thriller set entirely in this city. Sasikumar isa sound engineer in this film, a relatively unique profession in his films and his brother is killed. The movie’s plot revolves around how an everyday man becomes a “beast” to save his family from the ruthless hitman.

One of the film’s distinctions is that, except for a few phone conversations during which one person sings a tune to another on piano accompaniment, there are no songs in it. And as much a character is the sound design, which Sasikumar brings his murder detective skills to trace. The violence is unprocessed and graphic. A climax confrontation is brutal even by this year’s high standards. It was a brave attempt to move away from the villager stereotype and do a genuine genre thriller.

Kaari (2022)

Kaari crosses the universe of horse racing with Jallikattu. Sasikumar is a horse jockey in Chennai who comes to his village and eventually tames a bull to save the village traditions. It’s a visual feast which cuts away from the racecourse to the dusty Jallikattu arena.

The USP of the film is said to be the Jallikattu portions. They are captured with great vigour and the bull taming looks real and dangerous. Sasikumar does an apt job as well. He is fine physically for the action episodes and also has the emotional touch to handle village sentiments. The exciting climax  when the villagers unite against greedy capitalism is a classic “mass” moment.

Ayothi (2023)

Ayothi is widely considered one of Sasikumar's best films in the last ten years. It is an intense human drama in which he portrays man, who leaves no stone unturned to help a North Indian family stuck in Rameswaram post the tragedy. There are no villains, no slow-mo fights, just the battle against time and bureaucracy.

The movie resonated for its humanity. Sasikumar was widely praised for his performance, which has subtle expressions where frustration, empathy and determination are shown through the eyes. The moment he wordlessly drives the ambulance, carrying a stranger’s sorrow, is searing. It ousted him forever from leading-man status and reclassified him as a character actor who didn’t have to carry a sickle to play a hero.

Garudan (2024)

Though Soori is the main lead, Sasikumar’s presence as Aadhi comes in handy as an emotional angle for Garudan. He is the valiant, just friend whose betrayal sends the entire story spinning.

Sasikumar’s action block in the first half is one of the best hero introduction fights we have seen off-late. The manner in which he acts out the unwavering confidence and subsequent unmaking of it is heartbreaking. It’s a strong role, one that tells us that Sasikumar doesn’t need to be in every frame to own the film. His stature and presence make for heavy lifting.

Nandhan (2024)

In Nandhan, Sasikumar sported a stunning look. He plays a suppressed, subservient man from a marginalised caste who is turned into a puppet Panchayat head by the ruling caste. Blackened teeth, humpbacked and acting weak kneed he’s barely recognisable from his regular ‘no fear’ demeanour.

The film is a searing examination of caste politics. The climax, when his sublimated rage finally erupts from its bonds of servility, is an emotional outburst. It’s a bold film that reveals Sasikumar is still eager to try and push the envelope as an artist.