Selva who pursued cinematography in film institute received acting opportunities. In 1991, he made his acting debut in the village drama
Aatha Un Koyilile co-starring with
Kasthuri and directed by
Kasthuri Raja. The film completed a 100-day run at the box-office. He then acted in R. Umashankar's
Thambi Oorukku Pudhusa. In 1992, he appeared in
Manobala's
Senbaga Thottam and in
Kizhakku Veedhi. In 1993, he appeared in the double hero subject
Maamiyar Veedu starring
Saravanan, in
Rakkayi Koyil and in his first city-based film
Madurai Meenakshi. In the beginning of 1994, he acted in the village drama
Sakthivel co-starring with
Kanaka, the film was directed by
K. S. Ravikumar and produced by
AVM Productions. In mid-1994, he played the role of a student in the Telugu film
Gangmaster, in which his brother
Rajasekhar played the lead role. Then, he played the role of an angry young man in the village drama
Maindhan; the critic Malini Mannath of
The New Indian Express said: "Selva has acquitted himself quite well". In late 1994, he acted in
Gangai Amaran's
Atha Maga Rathiname. In 1995, he teamed up for the second with director R. Umashankar in
Mannai Thottu Kumbidanum. In 1996, he acted as a folk dancer in the successful
Nattupura Pattu, directed by Kasthuri Raja. He then appeared in
Puthiya Parasakthi, co-starring
Sukanya and
Napoleon. In 1997, he acted in
Rama Narayanan's
Nattupura Nayagan. In 1998, he directed and acted in the comedy entertainer
Golmaal. The film was declared as a below average venture at the box office and it became his final project before leaving the film industry. After being away from the industry for almost 14 years, he worked as a dialogue writer for the Tamil dubbed versions of the Telugu films of his brother Rajasekhar. Director
Mysskin called him to appear in a negative role in the crime thriller
Yuddham Sei (2011), which marked his comeback. Mysskin then signed him on to work on his next film, the superhero film
Mugamoodi (2012), portraying a Kung Fu master to
Jiiva's character. In order to get ready for the film, he practised Kung Fu for six months under the supervision of the Mansuria Kung Fu teacher R. Shekhar, and read books on the martial art. The film, however, opened to negative reviews and became a box office disaster. Later, he continued to play supporting roles in films such as
Sivappu (2015),
Eetti (2015) and
Mo (2016). Then, Selva has scripted, directed and performed in the film
12-12-1950 (2017). He is part of the casting in the horror web series
Live Telecast (2021) directed by
Venkat Prabhu. Then, he appeared successively in actions thriller films
Valimai (2022),
Raid (2023) and
Thanal (2025). == Filmography ==