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All about Tamil Cinema in 2017

It’s the end of a year. This year was filled with a lot surprises. Each film that I went with a huge expectation led to disappointment. The big heroes continue to graze the barren land and new directors/ actors presented us wonderful films. Good content films released at frequent interval quenched our thirst for good film.

Another happy thing about this year films is that they started telling stories with strong women characters. The female characters/performances that I loved are Sshivada (Adhe Kangal), Aditi Rao Haidari (Kaatru Veliyidai), Anushka and Ramya Krishnan (Baahubali 2), Shraddha Srinath (Vikram Vedha), Andrea (Tharamani), Nayanthara ( Aramm), Anisha Victor(Aval) and Aditi Balan (Aruvi).

The best male performance was surprisingly dominated by character artists rather than heroes. My favourite are MS Baskar (8 Thottakal), Raj Kiran (Pa pandi), Anand Sami (Lens), Madhavan & Vijay Sethupathi (Vikram Vedha), Vasanth Ravi (Tharamani), Barathi Raja (Kurangu Bommai), SJ Suriyah (Spyder) and Vivek Prasanna (Meeyadha Maan).

Top 10 films of 2017
8 Thottakal
A story with strong characters will make the film interesting. This movie had strong characters, their back story, their course of action and you feel every character’s action is justified. M.S Bhaskar pulled off a marvellous story telling scene (This year had quite a few brilliant scenes like that)


Baahubali 2: The conclusion
This film had expectations sky high and probably this is the only film that has satisfied everyone in spite of high expectations. The characters, emotional family drama, brilliant performances and grandeur in visuals made everyone dream big. I loved this film had a strong story and did not get away with just visuals.


Maanagaram
There are a few films based on hyperlink structure, but most movies have the stories crossing paths at the end. But Maanagaram has different stories that kept intervening combined with characters without names made this easily one of the best films made in this year.


Lens
A very few films impact you for a long time. Lens is one such film. Jayaprakash (Director & Actor) could pull off a Skype conversation into a hard hitting film. The dialogues are sharp and this is one film that everyone should watch.


Vikram Vedha
What is good? What is bad? With Madhavan as Cop and Vijay Sethupathi as a gangster, the film poses both as bad people and lets the audience decide. The detailing, screenplay, lead’s performances makes this my favorite film of this year.


Taramani
A story of a man and a woman, their past life, love, lifestyle, insecurities is what Taramani is all about. Ram’s brilliant narration of this small story and the way he shows the action of an insecure man by three different characters is the highlight of this film.


Thupparivaalan
Myskkin tries to solve a crime (which he does in every film), but this time with Sherlock type protagonist. When Vishal, who is known for his action, plays the lead who uses a lot of thinking makes the film interesting.


Kurangu Bommai
Tamil cinema has many films about a bag full of cash/ precious item/ drugs and that bag getting misplaced. Kurangu bommai is also about the a bag with precious item in non-linear screenplay with a shocking climax makes this film one of the best films of this year. Bharathi raja was phenomenal and the way he narrates the story of his friendship bought me tears. (This was one scene that I mentioned earlier)


Theeran Adigaram ondru
The film is based on true story, a highway dacoit case, and with a good screenplay and dense factual details the film was treat to watch. The stunts were marvellous and these stunt team deserve a standing ovation. Your respect towards Tamil Nadu Police department increases after the film.


Aruvi
A subject that many shy away from narrating, but the director builds a strong female protagonist and gives us hilarious yet hard hitting film on it. Aditi Balan’s performance is year’s best. This film too has a scene like I mentioned before, a person narration a story in a fixed frame.



Let’s hope 2018 be a year with a lot of good content, different narrative styles and wonderful performances. Happy New Year!
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