Chithra Lakshmanan also served as a press relations officer for Tamil films during the 1980s, and later reprised that role as an actor through Uttama Villain (2015). His first directorial venture was Soora Samhaaram (1988) with Kamal Hassan and later he directed Periya Thambi (1997) with Prabhu and Chinna Raja (1999) with Karthik in the lead role. He turned actor in Japanil Kalyanaraman (1985) and began to prioritise acting commitments in the 2000s, winning acclaim for his comedy roles in Boss Engira Bhaskaran (2010) and Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru (2013).