Recalling the Tamil films of 2014 that, even if not great in the overall sense, stood out for some reason(s). Here, in alphabetical order.
- Appuchi Gramam: A meteor threatens to annihilate a tiny village in a clever little subversion of the Hollywood disaster epic. Stuffed with a ton of clichés, yet the sci-fi backdrop makes them fun again.
- Arima Nambi: No flashy cutting. No mood-killing romance. No comedy track. Just tense, atmospheric mood in a solidly crafted conspiracy thriller. May not be great art, but a supremely well-engineered machine.
- Burma: A lot of attitude, atmosphere, flavour, good writing and wry comedy in this crazy-noir movie about car thefts. Makes you so high on how crime can entertain that you almost forgot it doesn’t pay.
- Goli Soda: A sequel in spirit to Pasanga, this gloriously inventive masala movie featuring teenagers is a terrific example of how, with a little imagination, you can make a film whose appeal is broad without insulting the audience.
- Inam: As a drama, Santosh Sivan’s latest, about the conflict in Sri Lanka, is middling. But the near-surreal imagery is a powerful representation of the horrors undergone by the citizenry and the resignation with which they regard life.
- Jeeva: The second half is pretty much a disaster, but there’s much to like earlier in this story of a small-time cricketer who yearns for a big break. When he feels like it, Suseenthiran is capable of a casual kind of greatness.
- Jigarthanda: The coolest, cult-est film of the year is a meta movie about moviemaking as well as a gangster epic. The two strands don’t quite cohere, but who’s complaining when the result is so exquisitely written, staged and performed?
- Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam: Another meta movie about making movies – can you believe this? And from Parthiban, who dispenses with a conventional plot where each scene locks into the next one and just dives from moment to uproarious moment.
- Madras: A familiar story about jobless youths (think Sathya meets Subramaniyapuram) is elevated by magnificent filmmaking. The film’s “horror” element is possibly the year’s most under-examined subtext.
- Nedunchalai: A rock-solid B-movie that, thankfully, doesn’t want to elevate our taste, ennoble our souls. All it wants to do is tell a muscular story with craft and confidence. What a bloody relief.
- Nerungi Vaa Muthamidaathey: Whose story is this? Where is it headed? The most interesting aspect of this drama is that it keeps us guessing. What the narrative loses in momentum, it gains in texture, thanks to the sprawl of the characters that results in lovely non sequiturs.
- Oru Kanniyum Moonu Kalavaanigalum: Part sci-fi, part myth, and part one of those what-if movies where we’re invited to wonder how things might turn out had someone set out to do them a minute later. It’s hardly perfect, but there’s always a genuine sense of playful invention.
- Pisaasu: An easy candidate for the film of the year, Mysskin’s latest promises us horror-movie chills and, instead, turns into the year’s most haunting love story. The filmmaking is more than clean. It’s pure.
- Poovarasam Peepee: This coming-of-age story should have been much better, but it can’t be dismissed either. There is a mind at work here, and a voice.
- Poriyaalan: An action-thriller marked by superbly economic storytelling, lingering grace notes, plus texture – you can taste the grit.
- Saivam: A toothsome little fable revolving around a pet rooster and a large, loving, and very loveable family. Wry humour, terrific ensemble acting, wonderfully observant writing – a mainstream entertainer without an iota of cynical calculation.
- Thegidi: A tight paranoia thriller (also featuring a nicely written romance) where the protagonist finds himself deeper and deeper in a conspiracy. The deliberate pacing ensures plenty of tense moments.
- Thirudan Police: The “appa sentiment” served with a twist. After the father dies, we think we’re in for a typical revenge saga, but instead, the hero’s emotions become the target of a running gag. The climax is a riot.
- Vaayai Moodi Pesavum: A disease called Dumb Flu strikes, and everyone falls silent. The terrific conceit isn’t fully exploited, but the film is an example of how a smart filmmaker can imbue even a “light entertainer” with a strong sensibility. The YouTube mashup is an instant classic.
- Velayilla Pattathari: The year’s best star vehicle is a Selvaraghavan movie you can take your mother (and her mother) to. Yes, it gradually becomes cliché-heavy, but complaining is futile when both actor-Dhanush and star-Dhanush are in such fine form.
An edited version of this piece can be found here. Copyright ©2014 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil
burcidibollyreview
December 27, 2014
I watched the Malayalam version of “Vaayai Moodi Pesavum”… “Samsaram Arogyathinu Hanikaram.” It’s a great film, very entertaining. I love the Health minister mashup and I love the silent game played by the two at-odds groups. I can’t believe how successfully the writer weaved in so many different emotions and aspects into this film.
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Priyanka
December 27, 2014
Are you going to do a Hindi version of this as well? Because I think you definitely should, I’m really looking forward to it.
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Srinivas R
December 27, 2014
I almost fell off my chair reading the title “My Top Twenty”. BR , giving his top 20 list? Is everything right with the world? 🙂
A nice list. Generally a good year for Tamil cinema. My personal favorite this year is “Burma” , what a whacky movie? ( haven’t watched Pisasu yet)
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alagappanr
December 27, 2014
Interesting list! Was kind of relieved to see the big star movies missing from your list.
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kumar
December 27, 2014
But why is VIP a selvaraghavan film? Its produced by danush and directed by velraj.
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kumar
December 27, 2014
I also thought yamirukka bayamey was a good effort this year!
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Rajesh
December 27, 2014
Though there cannot be a honorable list, is there any things considered to be in top-20… i expected Kaaviya Thalaivan, Pannaiyaarum Padmminiyum, ..somewhere in 28-30’s Cuckoo, Naan Sigappu Manidhan, Mundaasuppatti, Saturanga vettai.
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venkatesh
December 27, 2014
Echoing Kumar here , why is VIP a Selvaraghavan film ?
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reviewpuram
December 28, 2014
Okay, there’s more than half a dozen surprises in there. Do you have anything to say regarding the absence of Pannaiyaar and his beloved Padmini?
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cl
December 28, 2014
I guess it’ll be tedious but would be good if you link the names of the films on this list to your reviews of them.
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ram murali
December 28, 2014
Kumar, BR must have meant Selvaraghavan ish film…
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Jyothsna
December 28, 2014
What about pannaiyaarum Padminium?
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Ashwath Ram
December 28, 2014
How could you miss out on Mundasuppatti!? It’s by far the boldest movie of the year where superstitions was the subject of target set in a rustic backdrop.
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Thala is the Superstar
December 28, 2014
no veeram? #thalaroxxx
I will see you outside your residence
#thalada #adhu #thalarocks #thala #rocks
– by thala gang boys
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susil
December 28, 2014
haven”t seen “oru oorla”
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sridharvisu76
December 29, 2014
//– a mainstream entertainer without an iota of cynical calculation.//
This is a very beautiful written review (best one liner)
A simple thing that people -even great film makers – fail to note.
Like the list !
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Rahul
December 29, 2014
I saw the #20 in this list in an international flight – that seems to be the only place where you can get hold of a recent tamil movie with subtitles.
A less creepy Dhanush of the first half reminded me of Anil Kapoor of Saaheb, Woh Saat Din , Chameli ki Shaadi, and Mohabbat .
Regarding the difference in tonality of the second half, notwithstanding it being a star vehicle and all that , the change in his character arc was unconvincing to me. There was a certain loserhood and entitlement in his character – and I don’t buy his justification for not sticking to a job in the first half – that somehow vanished after he got a job in construction?
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Siva NS (@sivans21)
December 29, 2014
Might not really be the relevant place to post this. But I just wanted to point your attention (if you haven’t come across them before) to these videos aired in Adult Swim. Bizzare would be an understatement to describe these videos. I would like to call them ingenious. Looking forward to your comments on them.
Too Many Cooks:
Unedited Footage of a bear:
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M.
December 29, 2014
Off topic – No review of Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly, sir? Was looking forward to your thoughts…
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Pady Srini
December 29, 2014
sathuranga vettai ???
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hari
December 29, 2014
A suggestion – a hyper link to reviews of all these movies will be helpful 🙂
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sudharsanan
December 29, 2014
why kaaviya thalaivan is not there?
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Rajesh
December 29, 2014
May I say that I would agree with the list for a bit more than 60%. However, it is very disappointing to see Pannaiyaarum Pad… and Mundasupetti which I consider as movies that would make Tamil cinema proud, just like Onaayum and Pisaasu..
The likes of Cuckoo, Chaturanga vettai and Meagamann are definitely better than some others in the list.
I remember you writing about how good Malayalam cinema is and all, in your review of Bangalore days. Honestly sir, it will be impossible for Malayalam cinema to make a list of 20 cinemas of 2014, comparable with the kind of movies in this list, with variations from Onaayum to Golisoda to Naan sigappu manithan and all.. Tamil cinema is doing very well, for me.
The miss of Pannaiyaarum baffles me — it was even selected in the recent IFFK.. Keralites love to look down at Tamil movies, you realise this right?for them good Tamil cinema begins and ends with Kamalhassan and may be Mani ratnam , and hence I was surprised to see Pannaiyaarum in IFFK movie list.
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isback
December 29, 2014
No sathuranga vettai?
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jpraveenanand
December 30, 2014
How come VIP is a selvaraghavan film???
This top 20 list doesn’t seem to be real.
I’d like to wait for Sudish’s top 20
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oracle86
December 30, 2014
Would love to see a similar post on Hindi cinema of 2014 from you, BR.
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Anand Sethuraman
January 2, 2015
Love the fact that you felt the same as me about Poriyalan. I have very few supporters in my side for that film. 🙂
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Tamil
January 2, 2015
Did you get to watch Kurai Ondrum Illai? I thought it was a very neat movie for the most part and the fact that it was made with crowd sourced funding made the effort even more laudable.
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donna
January 3, 2015
So many of the films listed that are available on DVD do not have subtitles.
Sad in Rochester,
donna
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brangan
January 3, 2015
I couldn’t watch “Kappal” last week, so caught it yesterday. Everyone kept talking about what a laugh riot it was — I found it completely contrived and overlong and boring.
The “contrived” part I can live with — as long as the laughs as there, you don’t really care about this aspect. But apart from some very funny moments that depict the group of friends as kids, I wasn’t laughing at all. Did anyone else have this reaction to the film?
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MLN
January 9, 2015
Same reaction to kappal, very surprised to see the ‘ultimate comedy’ type comments. Did you see Aranmanai? so cliched, it was awesome.
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udhaysankar
January 10, 2015
Kappal, inspite of being and contrived (and I had expected that, the director being an assistant of Shankar.. 😛 ), was bland throughout and was an utter the waste of time and money, enough said, I took this as an Venkat prabhu clone movie where nothing lest the plot is take seriously……
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Kutty
January 24, 2015
@SivaNS – Those Adult Swim infomercials are some of the best things I have watched in a long while. They are crazy, obnoxious and irreverent fun. Thank you so much for sharing them!
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Kasi
April 22, 2015
VIP is directed and written by Velraj, not Selvaraghavan.
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