He has received several state and Filmfare Awards for his performances in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. He began his career as a supporting actor in a number of films in Tamil including Mani Rathnam's "Anjali" as the father of an autistic child. He later played villains in "Baasha" as Mark Anthony, "Mudhalvan" as Aranganathan (corrupt Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu), "Shiva" and "Muthu" as Ilaimaran. He later returned to supporting roles – sometimes as a father or as a mentor in films such as "Alai", "Yaaradi Nee Mohini", "Thirumalai" and "Bala".