5 essential films of Sivakumar

Veteran actor Sivakumar turned 80 today. The actor, called Kollywood's Markandeyan, celebrated the day with his family — including sons Suriya and Karthi — and friends from the industry. We take a look at five movies that make for essential viewing to understand Sivakumar as an actor.

In what is perhaps his career-defining film, Sivakumar teamed up with K Balachander to give us one of the most memorable characters in Tamil cinema. Playing JKB, a gifted Carantic musician who gets attracted to Sindhu, an intelligent young woman, played by Suhasini, Sivakumar lent dignity to a tricky role. According to Kollywood legend, the actor missed out on a National Award for this incredible performance by a whisker.

With this film, Sivakumar joined the small list of stars have managed to deliver a hit with their 100th film. Playing a naive villager who loves and trusts his wife despite being told that she's having an extramarital affair, the actor won over audiences with a sensitive portrayal. It also landed him his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

In what could be called his breakthrough role, Sivakumar plays Lord Murugan in this mythological film that saw him pairing up with Jayalalithaa and KR Vijaya. Despite the presence of heavyweights like Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan and Savitri, Sivakumar managed to impress and soon became a sought-after actor.

In this heroine-centric film that marked the debut a phenomenon like Ilaiyaraaja, Sivakumar managed to shine in a role that needed him to play the second fiddle to Sujatha's titular character.

In this K Balachander film, Sivakumar plays a hapless husband who has to take care of his schizophrenic wife, played by Saritha. While this is a film that had more scope for the heroine to perform, Sivakumar sportingly plays a character who is the emotional anchor for the audience.