Review Tales

By the 2010s, Kollywood was already seeing new generation filmmakers making their debuts. It was an interesting transition in the industry which made us witness many great films from new voices. Now half way into the 2020s, we have many such voices making important films that tackle social issues, realistic cinema made their way into the mainstream and on the other hand, mainstream blockbusters became more stylistic and gritty. 

These filmmakers are more aware of foreign cinema and inspired by the old masters of cinema. Beyond the inspirations and socially aware filmmakers, it is their inherent talent in telling the stories in the way they feel honest makes their cinema more powerful. I feel that way towards a lot of tamizh films (Kollywood) that’s released in the 2020s. I had a lot of pleasure and confusion in trying to choose a ten best out of those films I adore. 

10) Tanaakkaran (2021)

A brilliant film about the brutality of the system. The director of this film worked previously in the police force and wanted to tell about his experience at the police training school. The easily comparable film is the first half of Full Metal Jacket. It is a beautifully structured film where the basic screenplay choices are greatly blended into the storytelling. An excellent acting showcase for two great character artists, Lal and M.S Bhasker who are absolutely phenomenal.

9) Maanaadu (2021)

A time travel action flick that’s so entertaining because of the many joys the genre provides. Abdul (Simbhu) after learning that he’s stuck in a time loop discovers that he has a mission to do. But alas, the person who’s up against him is SJ Suryah’s menacing villain Dhanushkodi. For the audience though it became clear that if SJ Suryah is in the film, they’ll have a great time with it. The interesting aspect of this film is that it tackles a serious issue but since it’s directed by Venkat Prabhu and has SJ Suryah, it’s also such a fun movie to watch. I felt very refreshing to see unique and original storytelling in a mainstream movie.

8) Chithha (2023)

Chithha begins with a title ‘unfortunately based on true events’. It’s a hard hitting drama which changed my perspective about the harrowing news that I constantly see in the dailies. For most people, they read it and feel bad but at the end of the day, it’s happened to somebody else. It’s a common but a horrific way of thinking. Films like Chithha eliminates this strangeness. The film makes a few bizarre decisions in its second act but since it just puts them in the shoes of its characters effectively, it feels more personal. I feel the most important thing the film did is through Nimisha Sajayan’s character who breaks the illusions of male violence and revenge mindset that we often see in thrillers and questions about their intent in doing it instead of comforting and actually being there for the victims.

7) Viduthalai: Part I (2022)

The biggest strength of the Vetrimaaran films is that they all feel like reading a novel because of its rich detail regarding its characters and the narrative. Despite sometimes alluding to a mainstream narrative, Vetrimaaran never sacrifices that quality. In the first part of Viduthalai, he does what he’s best at. The use of bangles as a metaphor is so impactful as we see the journey of how it’s related to respective characters. The film established its characters and their conflicts really well while greatly portraying the lead character’s (Soori) loss of innocence and courage while witnessing the injustice that’s happening around him. Watch out for its sequel .

6) Maaveeran (2023)

A superhero film that barely feels like a superhero film because of its quite minimalistic plot compared to the other popular films in the same genre. Really impressed by how interesting it gets because of its innovative narrative, not that the concept wasn’t explored before (the director credits Stranger than Fiction which for example is quite similar to this) but the way it’s told and everything especially the first half feels so fresh. Though it gets a bit generic after that, it still maintains that intrigue and won me over with its great characters. It has an excellent character arc for its superhero. One of my favorites of this year.

5) Ponniyin Selvan 2 (2023)

I know some people who might find suprising that this film is here on this list but I have to come clean and say I am a big Mani ratnam fan. Before delving into the film more, I have to explain about how it’s perceived. When the film duology is announced, majority of the audience were expecting a testosterone bumping film with epic battle scenes like Baahubali. But the fans of the book series know that the film will be focused more on drama. I honestly was not a fan of its first part which was released in 2021. But I absolutely loved it’s second part. It was obvious that Mani ratnam as a filmmaker is operating on a different level here. It felt like a culminating film on the familiar themes in his filmography. There are lots of characters but the soul of the film lies in Aaditha Karikalan (Vikram) & Nandhini (Aishwarya Rai) and the relationship conflicts between them.

Aaditha Karikalan is a typical king. A mad warrior who loves to battle, loves celebrating the victory with his soldiers and protecting his siblings. But Nandhini is a primary force that’s literally eating away his soul who changed him as a person from childhood. Yes the tale goes all the way to childhood and the heartbreak drastically changes the fate of both characters. There comes a situation where they’re meeting again after that ‘incident’ (don’t want to spoil that) and that confrontational scene towards the end is one of my favourites. 

Aishwarya Rai’s performance as Nandhini will be iconic in my heart because her character is very mysterious and doesn’t express her emotions transparently like Aadhitha. Yet her eyes tell everything subtly. There’s also a couple things that I didn’t like. The major flaw was the climax itself which is rushed (an issue majorly with adapting a five part gigantic book ) and the frantically edited war scene. These films did well in box office and have attained accolades from critics but it isn’t viewed greatly among the audience. I think especially Ponniyin Selvan 2 will age well despite its flaws.

4) Vaazhai (2024)

This is a personal tale of the director Mari Selvaraj’s childhood. It’s a breath of fresh air to watch a heartfelt drama like this. Vaazhai focuses on different characters in the village of Puliyangulam but we see the story primarily through Sivananthan’s eyes. Sivanananthan loves to go to school and hates the weekends because whenever the school is on holiday, he has to go to carry the banana plantain along with the rest of the people in the village who survives on this job. The struggles that come between his desires and that terrible weekend job forms the narrative which builds and builds into a riveting film. 

The casting is especially great which majorly consists of people who are living in the village. Theni Eshwar’s naturalistic cinematography makes the film very beautiful to look at. Vaazhai gracefully made me enter into the film’s world and feel the many joys and pains of the people. It’s not often that you see a film that moves you so much and makes you tear.  Vaazhai did this to me and it’s an experience I’ll never forget.

3) Jigarthanda Double X (2023)

When I talked about stylish filmmaking in the intro, I mainly meant Karthik Subbaraj, the director of Jigarthanda Double X. He is certainly a bold storyteller who is always changing the tone and genres of his film throughout the runtime. What I loved so much about this is the scope the screenplay gives its leads, Ray Das and Allius Caesar. Felt really great to watch a film that’s trying to do so much in terms of characters and its theme in general. It’s made with a great passion and a film as poigant as this is also very playful.

For such a film, casting Sj Suryah is always a great decision. I love how he consistently gives a performance that elevates what’s written in the paper. Though in this film, he’s not the only one who does that. Raghava Lawrence is great as Allius Caesar who undergoes a journey where he becomes the ‘hero’ whom he only sees in the image of Clint Eastwood. It’s an exciting film where the character’s conflicts, twists and emotions play a major role in forming a crazy film that’s not only entertaining but also thematically interesting to the core.

2) Karnan (2021)

Karnan is a name that Indian cinema loves. He’s quite a tragic character from Mahabharata but he’s also very heroic because he’s great both as a warrior and as a human being. In Mari Selvaraj’s Karnan, the people of Podiyangulam faces many injustice and they try to live…love blossoms between people, they dance gloriously in festivals, a boy gets an horse as his pet, a donkey suffers to walk because of the knot tied to its leg making it unable to escape. Despite their patience and many efforts, the injustice breaks their lifestyle and all they are left with is remembrances of their closed ones who lost their lives and a village without any basic needs.

Karnan lives this life with the Kodiyangulam people. Unlike the rest of the village who fears what might happen, it is Karnan who fights back against the oppression they face. I like the journey of how he becomes a ‘hero’ akin to the heroes that we see in westerns and Kurosawa’s samurai films. Theni Eshwar’s camera effectively brings the life of Podiyangulam and Mari Selvaraj’s metaphors on screen. The shot of Karnan riding on the horse is one of the greatest hero moments ever. Such a powerful film where there’s pain and huge tragedy but despite all that, it’s a great tale of bravery and resistance which helps the people of Podiyangulam to dance again amidst their friends and family with the hope to live and courage to fight back. 

1) Kadaisi Vivasayi (2021)

It is a rare blessing that films like Kadaisi Vivasayi exist. The emotions and events it unfolds doesn’t feel forced but something that comes so naturally within the narrative which reminded me of Kiarostami’s films. It tells the tale of a traditional farmer ‘Maayandi’ who avoids pesticides and chemicals to be used in his farmland. The relatives who are visiting his house find it surprising that his house has no electricity. Because people like him who are one with nature are the last of its generation  and very old.  Maayandi, despite his senile age doesn’t shy away from working in his farmland and is very active. 

Vijay Sethupathi plays a side character who becomes lost after his partner’s death. Still, he believes that she’s with him. There comes a point in the narrative where both characters face an important event. It challenges Maayandi and the people surrounding him. For Vijay Sethupathi, it enlightens him and gives him eternal peace.  There is a beautiful sequence that would make Gabriel Garcia Márquez extremely proud. Through many conversational scenes and plot points, it talks about the futility of the laws, human’s greed and also our relationship with the nature that surrounds the place we live in. 

The English title of the movie  is “The Last Farmer”. It made me entertain the idea that whether Clint Eastwood being in the hollywood remake of this would go hard. The rumours are that initially the filmmaker Manikandan approached Rajini to be the lead but it didn’t happen. It’s also a good thing it didn’t happen because seeing a common man play Maayandi adds to the charm of the film and celebrates his character along with the people in the village when he dedicates the crop to the local gods. I will forever be grateful to the cinema gods for films like Kadaisi Vivasayi. It’s simple in terms of its filmmaking and performances, both of which makes the film so naturally poignant and poetic. This is cinema in its most glorious form!