Kumar debuted in films by directing
Sivaji Productions'
Aruvadai Naal (1986) with
Prabhu in the lead role. The film won good reviews and fetched Kumar several offers to make more films. His next two directorial ventures, Pickpocket and Uruvam, were disasters. The film Irumbu Pookal's music did well as two songs were composed by M.S.Viswanathan, however the film failed at the box office. Thus his market value significantly diminished and he only went to make three more films despite his initial success. His decision to produce and direct
Uruvam became a financial failure and put him into bankruptcy. He ended up making his acting debut as a villain in
Bharathiraja's
Captain Magal (1992), before disappearing to make documentaries and to study anthropology. In the early 2000s, he was once again on the verge of bankruptcy and chose to act in minor roles offered by his protege
Raj Kapoor, in films including
Ramchandra and the unreleased
Sivalingam IPS. He expressed his surprise at being given an offer by
Shankar's production house and took up the role in
Veyil (2006) to make ends meet, winning acclaim for his role. Bala approached him to star in
Avan Ivan as a character called Highness, with his performance winning him a nomination for the
Vijay Award for Best Supporting Actor. Critics labelled his performance as "riveting", though the film only received average reviews. ==Filmography==