It’s already June 2016 and only now I’m sitting down, compiling, and listing my annual Top 10 Tamil Movies list for the movies released in 2014. Usually the list is in by June of the following year. In 2014, I was later than usual as I only managed to get the list for 2103 done in December. Well the list for 2014 is not ready yet and it is already June 2016. That means I have not even started on 2015. So I decided to sit down and get it done as soon as I can. Procrastination has been a foe of mine for a long time now. But I wouldn’t blame it on procrastination alone. The previous time I was busy for different reasons, but this time I was occupied with an amazing life changing experience. In a sense I think it’s better to compile the list as late as possible as I would get more time to catch up with the movies that were released the previous year. The more movies I watch the higher the quality of the Top 10 list will be. One thing that has continuously increased throughout my Top 10 movie listing is the amount of Tamil movies that I watch. From 43 movies watched in 2013, I have increased it to 49 for the year 2014. Good to know that I continue doing something that I really enjoy. Watching movies is a miraculous thing if you end up watching the right movies.
Before I ramble on about the magic of watching movies, here is the list of movies released in 2014 (in alphabetical order) that I have managed to watch so far. As usual my Top 10 movies will come from this list and any movie that I have not watch yet will not be considered. If I haven’t watched it, how am I supposed to judge it, simple logic right? The infamous list is as below:
1.
Aindhaam Thalaimurai Sidha Vaidhiya Sigamani
2.
Anjaan
3.
Aranmanai
4.
Arima Nambi
5.
Athithi
6.
Burma
7.
Cuckoo
8.
Damaal Dumeel
9.
Ennamo Nadakkuthu
10.
Goli Soda
11.
Irumbu Kuthirai
12.
Jigarthanda
13.
Jeeva
14.
Jilla
15.
Kaaviya Thalaivan
16.
Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam
17.
Kaththi
18.
Kayal
19.
Kochadaiyaan
20.
Lingaa
21.
Maan Karate
22.
Madras
23.
Malini 22 Palayamkottai
24.
Manjalpai
25.
Meaghamaan
26.
Naaigal Jaakkirathai
27.
Naan Sigappu Manithan
28.
Nee Enge En Anbe
29.
Nimirndhu Nil
30.
Oru Oorla Rendu Raja
31.
Pannaiyaarum Padminiyum
32.
Poojai
33.
Poovarasam Peepee
34.
Poriyaalan
35.
Pulivaal
36.
Rummy
37.
Saivam
38.
Salim
39.
Sathurangga Vettai
40.
Sigaram Thodu
41.
Thegidi
42.
Un Samayal Araiyil
43.
Vaayai Moodi Pesavum
44.
Vadacurry
45.
Vallinam
46.
Veeram
47.
Velaiyilla Pattathari
48.
Yaamirukka Bayamey
49.
Yaan
Those are the movies that I have
watched. Below are the movies that made it into my Top 10 list, in alphabetical
order as usual. Let’s look at it one by one.
Jigarthanda
Where do I even start with
Jigathanda? There are some movies that deserve to be in a yearly Top Ten list,
but then there is Jigarthanda which deserves to be a cult-classic. Karthik
Subbaraj, after his success with Pizza has proven with Jigarthanda that he is
one of the most promising young directors in Tamil cinema right now.
Coming to the movie, there is
first the confusion of which genre does the movie fall into. Is it a gangster
movie, comedy movie, or a meta-movie? Even film critics found it difficult to
categorize the movie into a specific genre. That’s what makes Jigarthanda so
special. The story and screenplay is so intricately written that it is probably
the best screenplay written for the year of 2014. The technical aspect of the
film was mesmerizing. Vivek Harshan has done a top notch job in editing
meanwhile Gavemic U Ary has done a wonderful job as the cinematographer.
Gavemic has given us a visual treat of Madurai which we would have not seen in
other movies before.
Santosh Narayanan has once again
proven that he is a music director to watch out for. The background score was
amazing, bringing us reminiscences of gangster movies of 70s and 80s. Santosh’s
style is definitely different from the current batch of music director that
have hit the market recently. His music is a stand out on its own.
The cast has done an impressive
job. Be it Siddarth who plays the main lead, Lakshmi Menon who has become the
most promising young actress at the moment, Karunakaran who plays Siddarth
friend, or even Vijay Sethupathi who makes a cameo in the movie as himself. But
the best mention has to go to Bobby Simha, who gave the performance of his life
as Assault Sethu. Assault Sethu’s character would probably go down as the best
written character in 2014. The most important thing is Bobby Simha has done
complete justice to the character. And as expected he bagged the National Award
for best supporting actor.
I did not go into the structure
and details of the story as I feel it is a movie that you need to watch and
enjoy scene by scene without having any idea what the story is about. The first
time watching will feel very fresh and the multiple times you watch it again
will enable you to discover something new each time you view it. This is not
something that every director can achieve but Karthik has managed to do it
brilliantly. In short, if you don’t watch any other movie in 2014, make sure
you watch Jigarthanda.
Jeeva
Suseenthiran is a director who is
often underrated. Besides the National Award his film Azhagarsamyin Kuthirai
received, Suseenthiran has not managed to receive accolades for his movies
despite receiving critical acclaim for it almost each time. Suseenthiran had
explored different type of stories throughout his career and Jeeva is another
addition to the list of good movies that Suseenthiran has made.
Jeeva is story about a young
cricketer who aspires to play for India’s National Cricket team. The story of
his struggle and the politics behind the selection of a cricketer forms the
crux of the movie. Politics of selection in the sports world is a well known
issue and Suseenthiran has showcased it wonderfully. Not only depicting the
flaws and the favorability made by the selection committee, Suseenthiran has
more importantly depicted in what ways aspiring young athletes suffer from this
bias in the world of sports.
Suseenthiran always had a unique
style of filmmaking that distinguishes him from other directors. And he has
stuck to his style of filmmaking in Jeeva too. The cast has done a good job
especially Vishnu, Sri Divya, and Lakshmi Narayan. The film is well made, with
a nice storyline, and with the correct dose of humor and romance. Jeeva,
selected.
Kaaviya Thalaivan
Vasanthabalan is slowly becoming
a director that will go down in the history books. I did not get the
opportunity to watch his first two films, Album and Veyil. But Veyil was a
critically acclaimed movie. I did have the chance to watch his two subsequent
movies after that which was Angadi Theru and Aravaan. Both the movies were
quite remarkable, especially the set production and the pre-production work
that enables Vasanthabalan to present a movie in a realism kind of manner.
Kaaviya Thalaivan was not any different. Being a movie set in the early 20th
century, the production design was impeccable.
Another factor that deserves praise
was the amazing performance by Siddharth and Prithviraj. Both having had the
great opportunity of working with Maniratnam previously have proven they are
actors that keep on learning and keep on pushing boundaries when it comes to
acting. It would be great if more directors made use of the abundant acting
talent both these actors’ posses. Music was top notch; it’s something that I
don’t have to comment because when the music director for the movie is AR
Rahman, what else do you expect. Make up and costume were great, as I mentioned
the pre-production and set production work has been truly a strong point for
the movie.
Vasanthabalan has made a fictional
movie based on the stage play culture of the early 20th century, a
time where stage plays were an integral part of everyone’s life. Siddharth and
Prithiviraj are two strong characters that share a brotherly bond. But the
latter develops envy towards Siddharth when he outperforms him and bags the
“Rajapart” role. From then on begins the upward and downward spiral of events
that affect both their life. It’s a story full of emotions, love, envy,
jealousy, pride, revenge, forgiveness. Vasanthabalan has packed so much of
emotions in one movie and has presented it in such a mild manner that it feels
vibrant watching it on screen.
Did the movie have any downside
to it? Of course it did. The pace of the movie is slow as Vasanthabalan takes
his time to develop the characters and the story but it is expected taking into
account the type of movie it is. The dialogue could have been a bit better as
there was a slight tone of modernization as we watch the movie. Special mention
goes to Nirav Shah the cinematographer and also the amazing designs by the art
director Santhanam. All in all, Kaaviya Thalaivan is a movie that should not be
missed. In an era where modern technology reigns supreme, let us sit, enjoy,
and celebrate the art of stage play.
Kochadaiyaan
Kochadaiyaan is our Superstar
Rajnikanth’s 3D animation movie. There are a lot of thing that can go right and
a lot of things that can go wrong when it comes to 3D animation. When it comes
to Kochadaiyaan, there was quite a number who were all talking about the
downside of it maybe because Pixar, Disney, and Dreamworks have an array of 3D
animations that you can compare Kochadaiyaan with. If you make a direct
comparison, some people might feel underwhelmed with what the CG effects in
Kochadaiyaan had to offer. But, while many kept on hogging about the graphics,
let us not forget that end of the day; Kochadaiyaan is a movie, an animation
movie yes, but a movie none the less. And when you judge a movie, let us not
forget all the other characteristics that we have to look into.
Where story is concern,
Kochadaiyaan has a well written screenplay. The story moves forward smoothly
and with a bit of twist inserted in the story, Kochadaiyaan is quite engaging.
The dialogues are good, which is expected of Superstar’s movie but Kochadaiyaan
does not have the cliché commercial dialogues to show how huge the star is. The
dialogues are relevant to the scene and pack a punch at the same time not
making us question whether that very dialogue was necessary for that particular
scene. Music as always was top notch coming from the Mozart of Madras. The BGM
was extraordinary. AR Rahman always at his best.
There was no denying that the CG
could have been better or in this case more consistent. There were scenes that
the effects were good and there were scenes that the effects were a total let
down. But I’m sure as time goes by it will improve, and we shouldn’t forget
that Kochadaiyaan would have budget constrains compared to Pixar. All in all I
think it was a great effort by Soundarya Rajnikanth. It was also wonderful to
see our beloved Nagesh be brought back alive through CGI. The way the story
ended paved way for a sequel and I’m actually quite excited to see it. As there
was extensive motion capture done for Superstar Rajnikanth, in a way Thalaivar
has been immortalized. In the future we might not only see Kochadaiyaan 2, but
countless other Superstar movies in 3D animation.
Madras
The new upcoming directors are
becoming a force to be reckoned with. Be it Karthik Subbaraj or Nalan
Kumarasamy, they are proving their worth early on. One other director with such
potential is Pa.Ranjith, whose debut movie was Attakathi. This year, he took it
up a notch with his second movie, Madras. At the core of it Madras is story
about a wall, yes a wall. That is putting it simply. The actual story of Madras
is the clash between two political parties to exert their power on a housing
board area through who controls the wall. So what wall are we talking about
here. Well the wall is a side wall to a building about 4 storeys high, and who
gets to paint the wall with their party’s identity.
First it’s good to see Karthi
back to doing good movies. He has been in a lot of bad movies recently despite
showing huge promise when he entered the acting scene. Hope this run of good
movies continues. Besides Karthi, all the other cast have done very well
especially Catherine Tresa and Kalaiyarasan. Both are to be watched out for.
Technical team has been brilliant capturing North Madras in such realism.
Madras is yet another star on Santhosh Narayanan’s list of good music and soon
we might be calling him a master in BGM too.
The highest credit has to go to
Pa.Ranjith. He has not written a different story. In the essence of it Madras
is still the usual story about politics, the power struggle, gang wars,
friendship, and love. But what makes this tried formula outstanding is the way
Pa.Ranjith has written and presented the story to us. The story is well paced.
The twists are well placed. The reality is well maintained. The dialogue is
well written. When you have so many elements done well, you bound to have a
good movie. And most importantly at the centre of the story is the wall. Don’t
write off the movie by saying that they are merely fighting about a wall. It’s
not about the wall at all; it’s about what the wall signifies. Pa.Ranjith’s
Madras is a must watch, and he is another director that I will be watching out
for in the future.
Pannaiyaarum Padminiyum
After discussing the movie about
a wall, let’s discuss the movie about a car. It’s great that Tamil cinema has
evolved to telling stories around a certain object; a certain lifeless object
that the audience can relate to. It’s like the volleyball “Wilson” in the movie
Castaway. It was lifeless but it brought a sense of friendship. Meanwhile, the
wall in Madras struck fear and asserted power. Well the car in Pannaiyaarum
Padminiyum gives a sense of belonging. The story is fairly simple, but simple
works. In this case, simple is great.
The story is about a Pannaiyaar
who is given a Fiat Pal Premier Padmini car by his friend to be kept in his
safekeeping while he visits his pregnant daughter. Not knowing how to drive a
car, the Pannaiyaar employs Murugesan, played by Vijay Sethupathi, and his
assistant Peedai to drive the car. The story then develops and revolves around
the Pannaiyaar, his wife, their daughter, Murugesan, his lover, Peedai, and of
course the car. It’s a sweet story about family, whether your blood related or
not, and whether you are actually human or not.
Vijay Sethupathi takes a backseat
in this one and lets Jayaprakash take the lead. The movie has sweet emotions
and is compelling to the audience. One of the downsides will be the pace and
the length of the movie. The pace is slow yet it is actually suitable for this
movie. But the length of the movie makes the slow pace really obvious. If director
Ram had made the movie a little shorter, it would have been even better. All in
all, watch Pannaiyaarum Padminiyum for its feel good factor and take a nice
smooth ride in your “car of emotion”.
Poovarasam Peepee
There are already two debut
director’s in this list; Soundarya Rajinikanth for Kochadaiyaan and Ram for
Pannaiyaarum Padminiyum. Another debut director joins that list, Halitha
Shameem for Poovarasam Peepee. Coming of age movies are not something usually
seen in the arena of Tamil cinema. There are only the rare few. Poovarasam
Peepee is one such film and a good one too. The story is about three village
school friends; Venu, Harish, and Kapil, and how they spend their summer
holidays. Their holiday takes a huge turn when they witness a girl raped and
murdered by a group of guys from their village. The three of them then set out
to expose the truth.
Halitha has made sure that the
movie shouldn’t be just about the rape/murder and how they expose it. She has
explored friendship, crushes between schoolboys and schoolgirls, and family
ties. The screenplay is nicely woven together and certain issues are discussed
in a mild but thoughtful manner. For example when they find out their seniors
drink alcohol and watch pornographic movies, they are bewildered and discuss
why the seniors have changed when they thought they were good boys. It has
nothing to do whether drinking alcohol and watching pornography is good or not,
more on the perspective of younger boys who are yet to be exposed to it.
Poovarasam Peepee is a good
effort by a debut director and is definitely worth your time to watch it. You
don’t have to be a full grown hero to investigate murders and discuss themes
like friendship, love, and family. Three school boys would do fine, and
sometimes even better.
Saivam
Looks like children and non-human
characters are the term of the year for 2014. Saivam directed by AL Vijay, is a
story about a small girl and her rooster named Paapaa. This is AL Vijay’s
seventh directorial venture, unlike others in this list, AL Vijay like
Suseenthiran is a fairly experienced director. I think first and foremost
Saivam is good in a sense that the story is fresh. AL Vijay is known to be
inspired by other movies when directing his movie. Madrasapattinam was inspired
by Titanic, Deiva Thirumagal by I am Sam, Kreedam was remake of Malayalam movie
of the same name which by the way got Mohan Lal a National Award, Poi Solla
Porom was a remake of a Hindi movie, meanwhile Thalaiva took inspiration from a
lot of different gangster movies. So to see something truly authentic from AL
Vijay made Saivam a fresh film.
Nassar is the head of a huge
family, which consist of his children and grandchildren. All of them come
together in Nassar’s house for a vacation when an event reminds them of the
sacrificial ritual that involves slaughtering a rooster has yet to be performed
by them. Soon everyone blames each of their misfortunes on the rooster not
being slaughtered. When they decide the rooster needs to be slaughtered, the
rooster in question, Paapaa, goes missing. What happens next and whether the
rooster is sacrificed forms the rest of the story.
Besides notable actors Nassar,
Suresh, Sara Arjun, and one or two others, the rest of the huge cast is formed
by actors and actresses making their debut. Yet, all of them have made a
memorable performance. The story is light-hearted, with tinge of family values,
love, blind believe, and many others all put together at the right amount. Yet
another feel good movie to be watched with the whole family, and who knows,
might turn a few people to the other side too.
Sathuranga Vettai
It’s a dog eat dog world out
there. Some people would do almost anything to get money. Meanwhile some are
too foolish that they will believe anything that might bring them money. When
you have a combination of these two groups of people, you get Sathuranga
Vettai. Almost every day we are approached by people with a proposal to join
them in getting riches through Multi Level Marketing (MLM). Sathuranga Vettai
takes a hit at these growing con-companies out there. The main character Gandhi
Babu, played by cinematographer Natraj is a skilled conman who comes up with
elaborate schemes and scams to con the masses.
The main victory of Sathuranga
Vettai is in its writing. Whether in the writing of screenplay or dialogues,
director H.Vinoth gets it spot on. And guess what, Sathuranga Vettai is his
debut movie. The new guys and girls of course, are really good. The screenplay
is written in a nice pace with intelligent con/scams throughout the movie,
entwined with unexpected twists. To add on to the engaging screenplay, the
dialogues are top notch and it hits the audience with a reality check. No high
powered punch dialogues, or preaching messages, the dialogues are served as
real as possible.
Sathuranga Vettai is one of those
unexpected hits. You sit to relax and watch a movie, and then you are taken on
an engaging ride with an expert conman. Don’t read the synopsis, or the
reviews, and don’t have any expectations. Just sit and enjoy Sathuranga Vettai.
Trust me, I’m not conning you.
Vaayai Moodi Pesavum
Back in 2012, Balaji Mohan
released his debut movie as director which was Kadhalil Sodaphavathu Yeppadi.
And when I wrote my Top 10: Tamil Movies 2012, this movie was listed in it. Now
cut back two years after that, Balaji Mohan releases his second directorial
venture, and guess what his second movie, Vaayai Moodi Pesavum made the list
too. Besides Balaji Mohan, it is Karthik Subbaraj who shares the accolade of
having both his first movies, Pizza and Jigarthanda in my Top 10. Balaji Mohan
has a witty way of making movies, and it works.
Vaayai Moodi Pesavum is an
unusual story about a made up illness, “Dumb Flu” which breaks out an epidemic
in a fictional hill city, Panimalai. The disease makes the affected go mute,
and soon an order to quarantine the city is issued. The story then revolves
around different characters in the midst of the spreading “Dumb Flu”. It’s a
funny movie with witty comedy. Sean Roldan’s music, BGM, and sound mixing are a
stand out. So are the nuance, color, and the cinematography of the movie. The
movie is pleasant to the eyes and the ears.
The cast have done their job
well. Dulquer was at his best. Comedy scenes by Pandiarajan, Arjunan, Kaali
Venkat, John Vijay, Robo Shankar, Ramesh Thilak, and Balaji Mohan are really
entertaining. It was good to see our ‘Roja’ heroine Madhoo back in Tamil cinema
after 17 long years. All in all Vaayai Moodi Pesavum is an excellent package of
how a romantic comedy should be. And it’s coupled with a few mild life lessons
that all of us can learn to follow. So just shut your mouth and watch the
movie.
Well, that’s that, my Top 10 for
the movies released in 2014. As usual there will be movies that narrowly missed
out on making the list. To be exact there are four movies. Out of the four
movies, I have watched two and unfortunately I didn’t watch the other two. The
two movies that I did watch and didn’t make it into the Top 10 by a narrow
margin are Cuckoo and Goli Soda. Cuckoo is a movie by debutant director Raju
Murugan and showcases the story of two blind people, played by Dinesh of
Attakathi fame and Malavika Nair making her debut in Tamil, who fall for each other
and how they are united after going through many obstacles. Both the main leads
gave an impressive performance. The other movie Goli Soda is about four young
boys, the same four boys from Pasanga, who work as coolie in a market trying to
establish themselves with their own identity. They run into trouble with a
local don that controls the market and the following forms the crux of the
story. Both the movies mentioned are well made with good screenplay, casting,
and technical aspects.
Now about the two movies that I
didn’t watch, Pisasu and Mundasupatti; both these movies were critically
acclaimed movies. These movies were listed in most of the Top Ten list by
professional critics. So, definitely the movies would have been great. Pisasu
was directed by Mysskin, one of the most talented directors in Tamil cinema who
has unique style of filmmaking. Pisasu is a supernatural thriller. Mudasupatti
was made by debutant director Ram Kumar. Mudasupatti is a story set in the 80s
about a village that believes ill fate will soon befall upon anyone who is
photographed and what ensues when two photographers visit the village.
Unfortunately I did not get the chance to watch both these movies yet; hopefully
soon.
Well it’s not all about critically
acclaimed movies. I also will always take the time to mention commercial movies
which are worth your watch. For 2014, there are two movies which are definitely
worth the watch, Ilaiya Thalapathi Vijay’s Kaththi and Danush’s Velaiyilla
Pattathari. Vijay once again joins hand with AR Murugadoss after the huge
success of Thuppakki. Even though they were not able to emulate the success of
Thuppakki, Kaththi is definitely worth the watch. AR Murugadoss has stuck to
his usual formula of sending a social message through a well crafted commercial
movie, this time depicting the hardship village farmers go through. It’s
refreshing to see Vijay in a dual role, Samantha is always pleasing to the
eyes, and Sathish does well as a supporting actor and not only as a comedian. AR
Murugadoss knows how to keep the audience engaged, where to insert the mass
scenes, and where to pull the emotional cord. He has packaged Kaththi to serve
all type of audiences.
Meanwhile, Velaiyilla Pattathari
as you might have guessed is a story about a civil engineer graduate, played by
Dhanush who fails to land a job as he is determined to only work as a civil
engineer and nothing else. This is director Velraj’s debut venture as director
having held the camera for more than 15 films as a cinematographer. The movie
has all the elements that a commercial movie calls for; love, family, mother
sentiment, a hero that rises after being hit again and again, catchy songs,
inspiring songs, mass scenes, punch dialogues, the whole package is there. But
what makes Velaiyilla Pattathari a bit of a stand out is the availability of
acting scope for the cast. And in this case, Dhanush, Saranya Ponvannan, and
Samuthirakani have done extremely well with the characters given to them. Vivek
is at his best too. Velaiyilla Pattathari is for everyone to watch, especially
the university graduates.
Usually this is where I wrap up,
but before I conclude I thought of mentioning a few more movies that are worth a
watch if you are into the genre. First is Yaamirukka Bayamey by debut director
Deekay; give this a try if you like horror comedy. We don’t see much of these types
of movies. The movie is well written, and well performed. You’ll enjoy the
funny moments. If you’re into investigation based thriller movies, then Thegidi
would be a good option. It is also by a debut director P.Ramesh. He has written
the story well to keep the audience not only engaged but at the edge of their
seats. It’s filled with a lot of tense moments and twist and turns throughout the
movie. Well if you more into action thrillers, then you might want to try Arima
Nambi, Naan Sigappu Manithan, or Sigaram Thodu. These movies are paced well and
don’t rely on heroic gimmicks.
Three other movies that I would
recommend are movies that revolve around certain aspects. Watch Un Samayal
Araiyil for beautiful relationships centered on the joy of experiencing food.
Watch Naaigal Jakkirathai for a thriller centered on a police officer and his
dog. Watch Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam for a movie centered on movie
making itself. These few movies are a stand out on its own trying to venture
into something that we rarely see in Tamil cinema.
That pretty much wraps it up. I have
listed my Top 10, the movies that almost made it into Top 10, the critically
acclaimed movies that I didn’t get to watch, commercial movies worth watching, and
finally recommended movies from different genres. All said and done, cinema is
a wonderful visual medium. For me it’s the best there is. Tamil cinema in
particular is heading through new heights and breakthroughs. You may have
noticed that a lot of movies above are made by debutant directors. It is
refreshing to see new talents emerging and making quality movies. But the
question beckons whether they will be able to sustain it or whether they will
disappear as a one hit wonder. Directors like Karthik Subbaraj, Pa.Ranjith, and
Balaji Mohan have proven that they can keep the momentum going. Hopefully it is
the same for the directors that have made their debut in 2014. And may this be
a challenge to existing directors to up their game too.
For the past few years that I have
written these Top 10 lists, I have been really happy with what the Tamil film
industry has been doing and achieving. Hope this run of greatness continues on
for many more years to come.
