[6][7] The success of his two films with the two leading Tamil actors prompted further opportunities in big productions in 1997, notably Vijayakanth's Dharma Chakkaram and the comedy Pistha featuring Karthik.

[9] The shoot of Padayappa began in November 1998 and was subsequently completed in three months, with the film became a blockbuster upon release, as well as earning positive reviews from critics.

[10] He then completed the village action film Paattali (1999) with Sarath Kumar within a month, as well as directing a portion of the record-breaking comedy drama Suyamvaram, bringing his release count for the year to five.

Completing the film swiftly despite avid publicity, Thenali won critical and commercial acclaim, prompting grand felicitations of the director at the success meet.

Telling the story of five friends and a trip to Bangalore which goes awry, the film opened to rave reviews and made profits at the box office.

Ravikumar spent six months on pre-production works and missed out on the opportunity to direct Kamal Haasan in Vasool Raja MBBS during the period, but the film was later shelved after a photo shoot.

Revealing that the film was an action adventure, encompassing mankind's concern for the environment, science and faith, Dasavathaaram became Ravikumar's most expensive and lengthy shoot till date.

[18] Aadhavan (2009) featuring Suriya and Nayantara was his next release, and it saw him return to his standard "commercial packaging" and the film performed well at the box office.

[19] His shelved venture, the family-drama Jaggubhai (2010), re-began shoot with Sarath Kumar and Shriya Saran in mid 2008 but delays meant that the film was only released in January 2010, after a leaked copy had found itself online.

Signing on Anushka Shetty and Sonakshi Sinha in other lead roles, production began in May 2014 and period scenes were shot around sets in Karnataka.

[28] Ravikumar's films are usually in the masala genre,[29] with action, family sentiment, comedy, betrayal, revenge and redemption appearing as key themes.

He has also regularly associated with Erode Soundar in village action films, M. A. Kennedy in romantic comedies and Crazy Mohan in ventures featuring Kamal Haasan.

However, for the production of Lingaa (2014), he revealed that the rush to finish the film by December 2014, meant he was unable to stay solely focused on the script and ventured out to help his assistants scout locations and arrange schedules.

[33] He made an exception for his quick paced schedules with Kamal Haasan's Dasavathaaram (2008), indicating it was significantly more difficult to make than his previous ventures and involved extensive simultaneous CGI work to production.

[33] Ravikumar has also often collaborated with Sarath Kumar, who has since dedicated his success to the director's opportunities, with the pair working on several quickly shot village action films in the 1990s.