K. Balachander's romantic drama film Punnagai Mannan (1986) featured Revathi in the lead role as a Sinhala girl in love with a Tamil dancer.
[40] The comedy drama Thenali (2000), directed by K. S. Ravikumar, featured Kamal Haasan in the lead role of a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee, who has come to Chennai for psychiatric treatment.
Other actors who portrayed Sri Lankans included Pasupathy as a LTTE fighter, Sashikumar Subramani as a suicide bomber and Easwari Rao as a woman caught up amid the war.
[47] Directed by A. M. R. Ramesh, the Kannada film Cyanide (2006) had former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination and the Sri Lankan civil war as its backdrop.
[53] The Malayalam political action thriller film Mission 90 Days (2007) by Major Ravi was based on the assassination of Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and the following investigation.
[60] Pugazhendhi Thangaraj's drama film Uchithanai Muharnthaal (2011) told the story of a young girl from Batticaloa moving to India after being sexually abused.
[64] Post-release, following protests from Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TDMK) activists, who had attacked the Balaji Theatre in Puducherry, stating the film projects the Sri Lankan Civil War in bad light, four scenes and one dialogue were removed.
[73] In the horror comedy film Massu Engira Masilamani (2015) directed by Venkat Prabhu, Suriya portrayed a Sri Lankan Tamil police officer in Quebec City, Canada.
"[76] The satirical comedy film Aandavan Kattalai (2016) co-written and directed by M. Manikandan narrated the story of how two men from interior Tamil Nadu struggle to acquire travel documents to fly to London.
A key character, Nesan played by Aravindhan, is a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee who has not been given Indian residency permits, and subsequently dodges the authorities.
In a key scene, the character portrayed by Yogi Babu attempts to fly to London posing as a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee, only to be deported back to Colombo.
[77] Mani Ratnam's Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2017) featured Aishwarya Rajesh as a Sri Lankan Tamil settler in Dubai, who is married to the character portrayed by Arun Vijay.
[79] Set in the UK, Bharathirajaa's Meendum Oru Mariyathai (2020) featured several scenes involving the Sri Lankan Tamil community of London.
[87] The second season of the Hindi web series The Family Man (2021) directed by Raj & DK focused on the separation struggle of Sri Lanka Tamils.
Actors Mime Gopi and Azhagam Perumal played characters loosely based on LTTE Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and Prime Minister of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, Visvanathan Rudrakumaran.
The film's lead actress Aishwarya Lekshmi portrayed a bar singer, who has settled as a refugee in London with her nephew, played by Ashwanth Ashokkumar.
A number of actors including Joju George, Kalaiyarasan and Deepak Paramesh are seen as London-based Sri Lankan Tamil gangsters, who are involved in assisting fellow immigrants and smuggling illegal goods.
[93][94] The segment Peace directed by Karthik Subbaraj in the television series was set in Sri Lanka during the civil war and shows LTTE militants.