He made his cinematic debut with K. Balachander's 1975 Tamil drama "Apoorva Raagangal", in which he played a minor role of an abusive husband. He had his first major role in Balachander's Telugu drama film "Anthuleni Katha" (1976), and got his breakthrough in Tamil with "Moondru Mudichu" (1976)—also directed by Balachander. His style and mannerisms in the latter earned recognition from the audience. In 1977, he acted in 15 films, playing negative characters in most of them, including "Avargal", "16 Vayathinile", "Aadu Puli Attam" and "Gaayathri". He had positive roles in "Kavikkuyil", the Kannada film "Sahodarara Savaal", and the Telugu film "Chilakamma Cheppindi", in which he played the protagonist for the first time in his career. His role as a failed lover in S. P. Muthuraman's "Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri" (1977) won him critical acclaim. In 1978, he was cast as the main lead in the Tamil film "Bairavi". The same year, he received critical acclaim for his roles in "Mullum Malarum" and "Aval Appadithan"; the former earned him a Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize for Best Actor. He made his Malayalam cinema debut with I. V. Sasi's fantasy drama "Allauddinum Albhutha Vilakkum" (1979), an adaptation of a story from "One Thousand and One Nights". By the end of the decade, he had worked in all South Indian languages and established a career in Tamil cinema.