According to Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen in the book "Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema", the success of Ramachandran's 1961 film "Thirudathe," marked a beginning of transition to roles that had "a contemporary setting". He often played "a saintly member of an oppressed class". The act of showering love and affection for his family members was a recurring theme in his films during this period. The films he appeared in during the 1960s played a crucial part in his subsequent career as a politician. The 1963 comedy-drama film "Periya Idathu Penn" had him play a farmer who seeks revenge from his village's zamindar. The following year, he appeared in "Thozhilali" as a bus conductor who exposes the fraudulent methods of a rival bus company, and in "Padagotti" as a fisherman who resolves to end the dispute between two fishing communities. In 1965, he collaborated with Tapi Chanakya in "Enga Veettu Pillai", where he featured as twins of opposite natures, one a coward and the other courageous. He also featured in B. R. Panthulu's "Aayirathil Oruvan" the same year as a doctor who joins, and later becomes the leader of, a rebellion against a dictator. Both the films were major commercial successes. The romantic comedy "Anbe Vaa" (1966), where Ramachandran played an industrialist and was his only film under AVM Productions, is considered an antithesis of the roles he was doing during this period and was also commercially successful. He continued to achieve success at the box-office with films like "Arasa Kattalai" and "Kaavalkaaran" (both released in 1967), also garnering acclaim for the latter. Ramachandran's portrayal of twins, a club dancer and a criminal, who are separated as children in "Kudiyirundha Koyil" (1968) garnered him the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. In 1969, he appeared as a prince who brings down a tyrant who usurps his throne and mistreats his people in K. Shankar's historical fiction film "Adimaippenn", and as a government clerk who masquerades as a billionaire to defeat the corrupt trio of a doctor, a builder and a merchant in "Nam Naadu" (1969). The former won him the Best Film at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.