Ramki started as an actor in 1987 with the film,
Chinna Poove Mella Pesu. He appeared alongside
Prabhu. The film was a commercial success. Ramki appeared in eight films during the year 1988, including
Senthoora Poove where he co-starred with
Vijayakanth and his future wife
Nirosha. The film ran for over 200 days in theatres and was one of the highest-grossing Tamil films.
Poovizhi Raja and
Paravaigal Palavitham have received positive reviews. In 1989, he worked in movies such as
Oru Thottil Sabadham,
Ellame En Thangachi,
Penn Buthi Mun Buthi,
Yogam Rajayogam and
En Kanavar. After the success of
Maruthu Pandi (1990), in the same year, he acted in the action-adventure,
Inaindha Kaigal directed by
N. K. Viswanathan and featured him in the second leading role alongside
Arun Pandian and lead actress Nirosha. The film was released to positive reviews and became a Blockbuster. In 1991, he played in
Vetri Padigal directed by
Manobala while
R. Sarathkumar acted in negative role. He starred in the
horror films genre that are successful as
Athma (1993),
Thanga Pappa (1993),
Mayabazar (1995) and
Karuppu Roja (1996). In 1997, Ramki has acted in the movies such
Thaali Pudhusu,
Kalyana Vaibhogam,
Samrat,
Thadayam and
Pudhalvan. He was known for his onscreen chemistry with
Nirosha,
Khushbu and
Urvashi. In 1999, he acted in second role in
Nilave Mugam Kaattu starring with
Karthik and
Devayani. He appears in a few sequences in the movies such as
Poovellam Kettuppar (1999) and
Kadhal Rojavae (2000). During the 2000s, Ramki acted in second roles in devotional films such as
Palayathu Amman (2000),
Sri Raja Rajeshwari (2001) and
Padai Veetu Amman (2002). His 1991 film, he acted in a movie
Kuttrapathirikai of
R. K. Selvamani's. After 15 long years, this movie finally got released in 2007; deleting some scenes. In 2013, he made his come back with films such as
Maasani and
Biriyani. In 2016, he acted in
Vaaimai and
Atti. In 2017, he acted in Telugu movie,
Aakatayi, where he played a pivotal role, followed by Tamil horror comedy film,
Aangila Padam in the lead role. He acted in a Telugu film,
RX 100 (2018) with which he won Best Character Actor. He also appeared in the
Sundar C's
Action (2019) starring
Vishal. In 2020, he appeared in Telegu movie,
Disco Raja. He plays one of the main roles in
Vettai Naai (2021) and
Gurumoorthi (2022). In 2023, Ramki played an important role in
Venkat Prabhu's Tamil-Telugu bilingual,
Custody. and played a supporting role in
Lucky Baskhar (2024). ==Personal life==