List of Tamil films of 1981

Post-amendment to the Tamil Nadu Entertainments Tax Act 1939 on 1 April 1958, Gross jumped to 140 per cent of Nett ^[1] Commercial Taxes Department disclosed ₹32 crore in entertainment tax revenue for the year.^[2]

The following is a list of films produced in the Tamil film industry in India in 1981, in alphabetical order.

1981[]

Title	Director	Producer	Music	Cast
47 Natkal	K. Balachander		M. S. Viswanathan	Chiranjeevi, Jaya Prada, Sarath Babu, Rama Prabha
Aani Ver	K. Vijayan	Vivekanandha Pictures	Shankar–Ganesh	Sivakumar, Saritha, Sathyaraj
			Ilaiyaraaja	,
	P. Madhavan		Chandrabose	, Roopa
Alaigal Oivathillai	Bharathiraja		Ilaiyaraaja	Karthik, Radha, Thiagarajan, Silk Smitha
Amara Kaaviyam	Amirtham		M. S. Viswanathan	Sivaji Ganesan, Sripriya, Madhavi, Jai Ganesh, Nagesh
			M. S. Viswanathan	Shoba,
Andhi Mayakkam			Shyam	Vanitha, Manoj, Ganthimathi, ,
		Modern Theatres	Shankar–Ganesh	Sivakumar, Roopa, G. Srinivasan, Jayamala, Kalaranjini
			Shankar–Ganesh	, , Suruli Rajan, Manorama, Ganthimathi
Andha 7 Naatkal	K. Bhagyaraj		M. S. Viswanathan	K. Bhagyaraj, Ambika, Rajesh
Anjatha Nenjangal	R. Thyagarajan	Devar Films	Shankar–Ganesh	K. R. Vijaya, Suman, Saritha, Vanitha
			Ilaiyaraaja	Suman, Sumalatha, Nizhalgal Ravi
			Shankar–Ganesh	Parthiban, Bhuvaneswari
			M. S. Viswanathan	Sarath Babu, Sridevi
				,
			Shankar–Ganesh	Mohan Kumar, Roopa
Bala Nagamma	K. Shankar		Ilaiyaraaja	K. R. Vijaya, Sarath Babu, Sridevi
Chinna Mul Peria Mul			Shankar–Ganesh	Raja, Sreenath, Shanthi Krishna, Sumanjali, 'Baby' Anju
	P. Neelakantan K. Shankar K. Kameswara Rao		K. V. Mahadevan M. S. Viswanathan G. K. Venkatesh	Seerkazhi Govindarajan, S. Varalakshmi, Chandra Mohan, Latha, Srividya, Moorthy
Devi Dharisanam	K. Shankar		M. S. Viswanathan	K. R. Vijaya, Latha, Sarath Babu,
Ellam Inba Mayyam	G. N. Rangarajan	P. A. Art Productions	Ilaiyaraaja	Kamal Haasan, Jaishankar, Madhavi, Suman, Surekha, Y. G. Mahendra, K. S. Jayalakshmi, Thengai Srinivasan, Manorama
Enakkaga Kaathiru	P. S. Nivas		Ilaiyaraaja	Suman, Bhanu Chander, Sumalatha, Nisha
Enga Ooru Kannagi	K. Balachander		M. S. Viswanathan	Saritha, Seema, Madhavi, Srikanth, Major Sundarrajan
Engamma Maharani			Shankar–Ganesh	Delhi Ganesh, Sumithra, Roopa, Suruli Rajan
Garjanai	C. V. Rajendran		Ilaiyaraaja	Rajinikanth, Madhavi, Jaishankar, Geetha
Indru Poi Naalai Vaa	K. Bhagyaraj		Gangai Amaran	K. Bhagyaraj, Raadhika, ,
Jadhikkoru Needi	S. A. Chandrasekhar		Shankar–Ganesh	Vijayakanth, Swapna
Kaalam			Shankar–Ganesh	K. R. Vijaya, Raveendran, Menaka
Kadal Meengal	G. N. Rangarajan	K. R. G. Art Productions	Ilaiyaraaja	Kamal Haasan, Sujatha, Swapna, Suman, Ambika, Nagesh, Thengai Srinivasan
			R. Govardhanam	Vijay Babu, Sangeetha, Major Sundarrajan, C. R. Vijayakumari, Srikanth, Cho, Suruli Rajan
			V. Kumar	Vijayakumar, Saritha
Kalthoon	Major Sundarrajan		M. S. Viswanathan	Sivaji Ganesan, K. R. Vijaya, Major Sundarrajan, Nagesh
			V. Kumar	Vijayan, Deepa
Kanneer Pookkal	Rajasekhar		Shankar–Ganesh	Vijayan, Sripriya, Roopa
			Shyam
			K. V. Mahadevan	Suruli Rajan
Kanni Theevu	T. R. Ramanna		Ilaiyaraaja	Jaishankar, Raadhika, Seema
Karaiyellam Shenbagapoo	G. N. Rangarajan		Ilaiyaraaja	Pratap K. Pothen, Sripriya, Sumalatha, Sundar
Kazhugu	S. P. Muthuraman	P. A. Art Productions	Ilaiyaraaja	Rajinikanth, Rathi, Sumalatha, Cho, Thengai Srinivasan, Y. G. Mahendra, Vanitha
Keezh Vaanam Sivakkum	V. Srinivasan		M. S. Viswanathan	Sivaji Ganesan, Jaishankar, Saritha, Sarath Babu, Menaka, Y. G. Mahendra
Kilinjalgal	Durai		T. Rajendar	Mohan, Poornima, Dileep
	A. Kodandarami Reddy		K. Chakravarthy	Sivakumar, Rajyalakshmi, Thengai Srinivasan, Sowcar Janaki, V. K. Ramasamy, Manorama
Koyil Puraa	K. Vijayan		Ilaiyaraaja	Saritha, Shankar, K. Murugaiyan, , Silk Smitha
Kudumbam Oru Kadambam	S. P. Muthuraman		M. S. Viswanathan	Pratap K. Pothen, Suhasini, Sumalatha, S. Ve. Shekher, Visu, Kamala Kamesh, Nithya
	T. R. Ramanna		M. S. Viswanathan	Jaishankar, Sripriya
Lorry Driver Rajakannu	A. C. Tirulokchandar		M. S. Viswanathan	Sivaji Ganesan, Sripriya, Suruli Rajan
Maadi Veettu Ezhai	Amirtham		M. S. Viswanathan	Sivaji Ganesan, Sujatha, Sripriya
	Bharathi-Vasu		Gangai Amaran	Pratap K. Pothen, Suhasini, Dileep, Ratheesh, Vanitha
	K. S. Gopalakrishnan		Shankar–Ganesh	Mohan Ram, Raadhika, Aruna
				Srikanth, Sangeetha
	Durai		Shankar–Ganesh	Vijayan, Shoba, Shankar, Roopa, Suruli Rajan
Meendum Kokila	G. N. Rangarajan		Ilaiyaraaja	Kamal Haasan, Sridevi, Deepa
			Shankar–Ganesh	Vijay Babu,
Mohana Punnagai	C. V. Sridhar		M. S. Viswanathan	Sivaji Ganesan, Jayabharathi, Geetha, Padmapriya, Anuradha, Nagesh
Mouna Geethangal	K. Bhagyaraj		Gangai Amaran	K. Bhagyaraj, Saritha,
			K. V. Mahadevan Shankar–Ganesh	Raveendran, Roopa, Shankar
	M. A. Thirumugam		M. S. Viswanathan	Sudhakar, Mohan Sharma, Illavarasan, Raadhika
	K. Narayanan		Ilaiyaraaja	Suman, Surekha
Nandu	Mahendran		Ilaiyaraaja	Ashwini, Sundar, Vanitha
Needhi Pizhaithathu	S. A. Chandrasekhar		Shankar–Ganesh	Vijayakanth, Jaishankar, Aruna, Silk Smitha
	Kalaignanam		Shankar–Ganesh	Sivakumar, Sivachandran, Sumithra, Swapna
			G. K. Venkatesh	Pratap K. Pothen, Poornima Bhagyaraj, Sivachandran,
Nenjile Thunivirunthal	S. A. Chandrasekhar		Shankar–Ganesh	Vijayakanth, Swapna, Vijayashanti, Goundamani, Manorama
Nerupile Pootha Malar			K. V. Mahadevan	Sivakumar, Poornima
Netrikkan	S. P. Muthuraman	Kavithalayaa Productions	Ilaiyaraaja	Rajinikanth, Lakshmi, Saritha, Menaka, Vijayashanti
			Ilaiyaraaja	Sarath Babu, Latha, Vijaykumar, Ravinder, Sankar
			Gangai Amaran	Sudhakar, Rajesh, Saritha
			Malaysia Vasudevan	Rajesh, Sumithra
			Shankar–Ganesh	Raveendran, , Madhavi
Palaivana Solai			Shankar–Ganesh	Suhasini, Chandrasekhar, Rajeev
Panneer Pushpangal	Bharathi-Vasu		Ilaiyaraaja	Pratap K. Pothen, Suresh, Shanthi Krishna, Archana
			M. S. Viswanathan	K. A. Thangavelu, Manorama, Delhi Ganesh, Sumithra, Y. G. Mahendra, , Rani Padmini
	A. Jagannathan		Shankar–Ganesh	Sudhakar, Sumalatha
	K. Vijayan		G. K. Venkatesh	Sudhakar, Rathi, Aruna, Sumathi
			Shankar–Ganesh	, Sumathi, , , Jamila,
			Pendyala Nageswara Rao	Child Artist aged between 10 - 14
Rail Payanangalil	T. Rajendar		T. Rajendar	Sreenath, Rajeev, Jyothi, Sivaranjani
Raja Paarvai	Singeetam Srinivasa Rao		Ilaiyaraaja	Kamal Haasan, Madhavi, L. V. Prasad, Y. G. Mahendra
	R. C. Sakthi		Shankar–Ganesh	Chandrasekhar, Vijayashanti, Charuhasan, Delhi Ganesh, Manorama, P. R. Varalakshmi
Ram Lakshman	R. Thyagarajan	Devar Films	Ilaiyaraaja	Kamal Haasan, Sripriya, Raveendran
	Bharathan		G. Devarajan	Pratap K. Pothen, Nithya
Ranuva Veeran	S. P. Muthuraman	Sathya Movies	M. S. Viswanathan	Rajinikanth, Sridevi, Chiranjeevi
			Shankar–Ganesh
Sankarlal	T. N. Balu		Ilaiyaraaja Gangai Amaran	Kamal Haasan, Sridevi, Seema
Sathya Sundharam	K. S. Prakash Rao		M. S. Viswanathan	Sivaji Ganesan, K. R. Vijaya, Vijayakumar, Sripriya, Madhavi
Sattam Oru Iruttarai	S. A. Chandrasekhar		Shankar–Ganesh	Vijayakanth, Poornima,
Savaal	R. Krishnamurthy	Sujatha Cine Arts	M. S. Viswanathan	Kamal Haasan, Jaishankar, Sripriya, Vijayakumar, Manorama, Y. G. Mahendra
Sivappu Malli	Rama Narayanan	AVM Productions	Shankar–Ganesh	Vijayakanth, Chandrasekhar, Shanthi Krishna, Aruna
			Shankar–Ganesh	Pratap K. Pothen, Sumalatha
	Nimai Ghosh		Vijaya Bhaskar	Vijay, Lavanya
	A. Jagannathan		Shankar–Ganesh	Jai Ganesh, Jayachitra
	Rama Narayanan	Sri Thenandal Films	Gangai Amaran	Vijayan, Chandrasekhar, , Vijayashanti
Thanneer Thanneer	K. Balachander		M. S. Viswanathan	Saritha, , , Radha Ravi
			Chandrabose	Sudhakar, Ambika
Thee	R. Krishnamurthy	Suresh Arts	M. S. Viswanathan	Rajinikanth, Suman, Shobha, Sowcar Janaki
Thillu Mullu	K. Balachander		M. S. Viswanathan	Rajinikanth, Madhavi, Thengai Srinivasan, Sowcar Janaki
			M. S. Viswanathan	Jai Ganesh, Sumithra, Fatafat Jayalaxmi, Raadhika
Tik Tik Tik	Bharathiraja		Ilaiyaraaja	Kamal Haasan, Madhavi, Swapna, Radha, Thengai Srinivasan
	Moulee		Shyam	Pratap K. Pothen, Deepa
	Durai		Shankar–Ganesh	Vijayan, Suman, Shoba, Sathyakala, Suruli Rajan
			Shankar–Ganesh	Sumithra, Suruli Rajan
			Gangai Amaran	Rajesh, Urmila,
Vidiyum Varai Kaathiru	K. Bhagyaraj		Ilaiyaraaja	K. Bhagyaraj, Sathyakala

References[]

[1] Government raised entertainment tax to 40% (from 33%) in 1958

[2] CTD reports ₹32 crore ET collection in 1981-82

[1]

[2]