2017 year-end roundup of Tamil cinema

Posted on December 31, 2017

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Posted in: Cinema: Tamil

36 Responses “2017 year-end roundup of Tamil cinema” →

MANK

December 31, 2017

That clock, I was glued to the time on that clock ,throughout your narration. It creates a great effect of time or this year running out 😀

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Vivek narain

December 31, 2017

So we start with Maanagaram and end with Aruvi, both of them thrillers. In a sense starting with a ‘garam’ masala dosa and finishing off with a cool ‘mountain dew’.

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Vidhya M

December 31, 2017

Bow this makes me wonder if there were other worthy movies at all as you seem to have covered the best of 2017. Maybe Katru Veliyidai for its craft and Vikram Vedha for its overall effectiveness should make the cut – but that’s about it I guess?!

(Baahubali is more of an experience and a good one at that – still falling short against its own Version 1.0)

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phaneendra201

December 31, 2017

Speaking about debutant directors this year there are two outstanding Telugu movies made. Arjun Reddy by Sandeep and Ghazi by Sankalp. These movies doesn’t seem to be made by first timers but by master of crafts. These two movies are also listed in Imdb top 10 2017 Indian movies

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Srinivas R

December 31, 2017

Here’s wishing more Aruvis and less Mersals for the coming year. Happy New Year everyone

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Thupparivaalan

January 1, 2018

Loved this year in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam cinema. Fresh directors coming in with exposure to variety of cinema has seen a general raise in the quality of both screenwriting and technique. The only thing I could wish more is more writers who only write, and I think we’re getting there too.

And if something could be done about the big Star films. I’m not asking for masterpieces. Just solid writing without flab, good stunt choreography would raise the level of films like vivegam, mersal, etc. It is baffling how such major films fail in even the basic departments.

I’m hyped for 2018. Wish everyone in this blog and BR a happy new year.

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Purple Sky

January 1, 2018

I wish BR sir and all the wonderful people in the blog a happy new year. Last year, all of you have made me laugh, think, write and fill some pretty desolate moments. I am grateful for that and wish you all the best ahead!

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brangan

January 1, 2018

Happy 2018 to all – from those who welcomed my move to FC to those who are still sulking about it 🙂

I miss the regularity of some of the old voices, but glad to know (from the occasional comment) that you’re all still reading.

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JalabulaJugs

January 1, 2018

Wishing BR and all of you here a Very Happy New year!! I miss the long format written round ups you used to do BR. While the video format is good and you have become quite adept at it, nothing beats your writing!

Cheers!

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Vivek narain

January 1, 2018

Vicissitudes of life, people come and go. Some leave a mark, some live on with their vivid writeups. There are those who perceive the depths and shades of humanity and there are those who create the depths and shades, and some do the both jobs simultaneously. Such art is not possible in a movie script, but a blog may contain such prodigal commenters.

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"Original" venkatesh

January 1, 2018

@BR And the Group : Happy New Year to All.

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knittins

January 2, 2018

Happy New Year everyone, and to BR! It’s been another great year of reading this blog and the comments, as well as a spectacular year for Tamil cinema… Here’s hoping for more fresh talent in 2018!

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Ganesan Kandasamy

January 2, 2018

just wanna say I look fwd to your end-of year wrap-ups like this one ☺️ would you consider doing a companion video for best of 2017 tamil movies not done by 1st time directors?

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நவீன்

January 2, 2018

Little disappointed with not the regular year-end top 10 but movies restricted to debutante directors. Ill payed captains a scenario prevalent in present Kollywood business climate.

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vishal yogin

January 2, 2018

If I am not mistaken, many of these did not make it to Bombay, and even if they did, hardly one or two had subtitles. Sad 😦 Hope this changes some day !!! The distribution model or whatever needs to change so that there is at least a show or two with subs for every good movie outside its niche area.

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hari

January 2, 2018

Sir, can you publish the transcript of the video as well, so that it will be searchable? I have always gone back to ur 16, 15 best movie list and watched them. So yeah it will be good to have such a “textual” list. Btw happy new year.

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GODZ

January 2, 2018

2017 is an important year in the Tamil movie industry. For the first time, new movies were made available to people within 50 days in Digital platforms like Prime(Ex: Theeran etc). This will be a game changer. Add to that the advent of new directors. Whats interesting is the narrative style of these directors and different plots.Most of the movies have nothing in common except all of them are by new directors. Add Nalan, Karthick Subburaj, Manikandan, Thiagarajan kumaraja etc and there was never a time we had this many Quality directors. This is Renaissance. in Tamil Cinema.

Personally, I liked Theeran than any other movies. this year. The action sequences are simply breathtaking and gave me a feeling of wow. The directors focus on police procedure sometimes overwhelms the narrative and is the primary reason why it never gave a wholly satisfying experience, But what it lacks in narration, it makes up with so much new content and attention to detail which worked for me really well. There was never a false note or mass moment in a tamil police movie which is quite remarkable.

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Rahini David

January 2, 2018

Awww. It feels great to know you miss the jibber-jabber that used to happen here too. To me it feels like a whole era has ended.

I have watched a grand total of 4 movies this year and it though that never stopped me from commenting before, I am increasingly getting the feeling that I don’t have anything relevant to contribute.

I recently watched the Rajini Intro Scenes video essay and the Top Debutant movies roundup. It is nice to see that you are completely at home in front of the camera now. The topic of the Rajini video itself was very interesting.

Happy new year BR and readers and viewers. Have a fun-filled year ahead.

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MANK

January 2, 2018

Happy new year , I miss those year end blog statistics that WordPress used to publish. Anyway , may our community and cinema continue to prosper in the new year and years to come

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"Original" venkatesh

January 2, 2018

@Rahini David: “It feels great to know you miss the jibber-jabber that used to happen here too” – Its weird how such a small change as moving the primary location has essentially scattered the community over here.

I just find that fascinating.

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An Jo

January 3, 2018

There are a few reasons why I have been left a little under-whelmed by this movie: One, the movie bears a stark resemblance to Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra’s brilliant ‘AKS’ starring Amitabh and Manoj. This Tom and Jerry game of a cop-crook story has been explored far more ‘aesthetically’ and way before in July 2000, with stunning performances by Bachchan followed by Manoj Bajpayee. In the first encounter between Vikram and Vedhaa, I was struck by the similarities between AKS and VV, by that goose-bumps inducing exchange shot in close-up by a revolving camera between Bachchan and Bajpai: Look at how Bachchan’s Manu Verma dismisses off Bajpayee’s Raghavan as a ‘Raakshas’ [what/who is Betaal but a raakshas] and then, very cleverly, just as Vedhaa has Vikram’s wife appointed as his lawyer, Raghavan in AKS uses Bachchan’s wife, Supriya [Nandita Das] as a bait, emotionally, to further ‘complicate’ that ‘unwanted’ relationship between a cop and a criminal. Raghavan tries to convince Manu Verma that Manu Verma has a percentage of Raghavan in him, but is subdued thanks to societal and legal laws and diktats:

‘समाज को अपना यह चेरा देखना गवारा ही नही है| सारे क़ायदे क़ानून हटा दो, पूरी आज़ादी दे दो, तो हर मनु वर्मा राघवन बन सकता है| क्योंको हर मनु वर्मा राघवन बनना चाहता है|

Here, Vedhaa is trying to convince Vikram of the blurring lines between legality and illegality, morality and immorality, and there, Raghavan is trying to tell the same to Manu Verma about the ‘façade’ of righteousness: Take all the laws out and every so-called ‘clean’ Manu Verma has a hidden Raghavan in him ready to unleash all evil for the sake of survival. Interestingly, it’s the same concept that’s used in Nolan’s THE DARK KNIGHT of 2008! Joker wants to conduct a ‘social’ experiment

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An Jo

January 3, 2018

Here’s the link for the above – forgot to paste..

An Jo on Vikram Vedha

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Rahini David

January 3, 2018

venkatesh: I think it does not have much to do with the primary location.

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Srinivas R

January 3, 2018

Agree with Rahini that the reduced activity in the comments section is probably not due to change in location. In my case it’s due to the switch to video content and reduction in written content. I am more comfortable reading the blog and revisiting the same post multiple times as opposed to watching a video. Feel a little weird to say this, but the communication seems one way in a video content whereas there is a sense of interaction in a written post. I am not explaining this well…anyway, digital content is the in thing and wish the best for BR

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brangan

January 3, 2018

Okay, let’s take the video out for a second.

I still write the same number of reviews. Actually, more, given that I write reviews of Malayalam films etc.

I still cover Hindi films for this blog.

I still write columns (like I used to for the Hindu).

So it’s not like the video has compromised the quantity of writing. It’s just something extra. So I can understand if you don’t want to interact with the video posts, but even with the written posts, the interaction has dropped.

That’s why I think (like Venkatesh does) that the change of location may have played a part.

When I was putting up full-length content here, it was still a homey gathering spot, hosted by me. Now you have to go to FC, which is a more impersonal and “corporate” site.

Bangs gavel and leaves.

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Kay

January 3, 2018

I don’t mind the change in location. Initially, I hated it but later I, sort of, got used to it. I was not a very regular commentor even earlier, however, now I just lurk. Like Rahini says I don’t feel I have anything relevant I can add to the discussion. Even after typing a comment, when I check it once before posting I feel there’s nothing new in what I’m saying that has not been said by people who commented before me.

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MANK

January 3, 2018

change of location may have played a part.

But i think its just a case of stagnation and decline that happens during the course of a blog. just like your reviews have become shorter and shorter as you dont want to keep repeating the same criticisms or keep harping on the same problems , the commenters have also followed. the same path

Speaking for myself (and perhaps for a lot of us old timers) , i have been here for a long time now and have pretty much burnt out or exhausted my views. i dont want to keep repeating myself on every thread. And there is also a lack of time in engaging in lengthy conversations or debates.

And i think there hasn’t been an influx of new voices that could rejuvenate the blog with a new POV except for a a few trolls here and there which is not going to do any good

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bart

January 3, 2018

Aging 🙂

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brangan

January 3, 2018

FWIW, these are the posts with the most comments 🙂

A king and his times (444)
“Remo” (376)
“Kabali” (371)
“Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” (335)
“Bajirao Mastani” (321)
“Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam” (276)
“Uttama Villain” (271)
“Kaatru Veliyidai” (245)
“O Kadhal Kanmani” (237)
“Tharamani” (236)
“Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” (232)

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Rahini David

January 3, 2018

I have to agree with MANK though BR and Srinivas have good points. When the Padmavati issue came up, I felt that I have already had my say in some similar threads like Vishwaroopam. The movie may be very different. But the

idea of some people not wanting other people to watch a certain movie was a bit similar. Anu’s defense of Tharoor’s vocabulary could have been a defense of BR’s vocabulary, for 5 years back for some people had similar things to say about difficult words in BR’s reviews. I ‘like’ the comments that I like and that is how I mostly interact with the blog these days.

This whole thing about clicking a link and going to another site and hitting the back button is no big deal. Ok, it was like you were in a F.R.I.E.N.D.S-type coffee shop but suddenly you are pushed into Dumbledore’s pensieve. But after a couple of days you are as at home in Dumbledore’s office as you are at the coffee shop. New columns like AskBR are very interesting that I find renewed interest but only when it is a known Tamil movie like MMKR or Aruvi. I can see that the experience will be richer if I knew more about non-Tamil Indian movies. Overall, FC is great for those who want to sample movies in languages that they are not fully familiar with.

I some times wish that the videos are a bit shorter. So I can watch 3 videos of 10 mins each rather than a 30 min video. I don’t know why I prefer so and if it is a common preference. There is something intimidating about a 40 minute video.

And BR, though I can see you recently waxed eloquent about subtitled musicals, we need to watch the videos you attach to the article before actually forming an opinion and by the time I do that, the article is sometimes quite old. Mobile data is a lot cheaper than it used to be a few years back and I should convince the Kanjoos(miser) who resides inside me to accept that streaming videos with mobile data (rather than wait for wifi) is completely okay.

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Vivek narain

January 3, 2018

We don’t have Clarke Gable or Julie Andrews or Vyjayanthimala or Guru dutt, to write a post on. Likewise we don’t have commenters with an Irish wit and guts like Jack london or John’O’Hara.

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Anu Warrier

January 3, 2018

I think, to a large extent, it is having to hop over to the new site, then come back and comment here. Somehow, it isn’t the same. I know I hated the move and BR (rightly) pulled me up for that, but now I do go over to FC to read – but a lot of times, I don’t then come back here to comment. I wager that’s what is happening to others as well.

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tonks

January 3, 2018

Happy new year, everyone.

It’s nice to hear some old voices, and glad to know that it wasn’t just me who missed the old comments and commentators.

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Vivek narain

January 3, 2018

If Mr.BR arrived on the podium riding a Harley Davidson, a la Aimee Semple McPherson, his fans won’t be shocked. After all Foursquare Church has same initials as FC.

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"Original" venkatesh

January 6, 2018

@Anu:”I think, to a large extent, it is having to hop over to the new site, then come back and comment here. ”

Anu is right.

This is a very small technical change however it is a very effective roadblock to the immediacy of the comments. You read the blog and comment, thats the flow.

Now you read the blog, follow the link to another location and come back to the blog to comment. No, that doesnt happen as much. The third step effectively removes the immediacy and as a result the participation has dropped.

That one step of moving to a corporate site and coming back is magnifying the other changes like introduction of the video, new format Q/A etc.

I follow the blog the same way i used to before , i just dont participate cause i dont see the other regulars. Its no more a Coffee Shop for us all. Its a wierd amalgam of corporate and personal.

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Noufal

January 28, 2018

I really can’t believe that the shorter comments section these days maybe caused by an extra back click…. It’s just seems too silly…. For what it’s worth I have been reading your blog for years and I am really thankful of your switch to FC as a result of which you watch more mallu movies…. And the interviews you do like the one you just did with Maddy are awesome….so I am more than happy to bear the burden of the extra click…. Shout out to the regulars here, miss your verbal jousting….hope it’s just a phase…. And Vivek, what the hell are you smoking man….

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