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December 26, 2023 01:41 pm | Updated 01:52 pm IST
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Stills from ‘Good Night’, ‘Koozhangal’, ‘ Chithha’, ‘Viduthalai: Part 1’, ‘Thalaikoothal’, and ‘Jigarthanda: Double X’ (clockwise from top left)
Thalaikoothal:
“When is one considered alive and who are we to decide that?” Examining this question would take more than a lifetime, and those oblivious spaces in our existence as thinking beings are where artists love to cook their magic potions; that’s what Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan pulled off with his wonderful film, Thalaikoothal. The spectacular surreal imagery of viewing the life of a comatose patient through their memories and subconsciousness told the merit of the filmmaker in Jayaprakash. If social media reactions were to be taken as a parameter, Thalaikoothal would end up an underrated gem from Tamil cinema this year. Starring a terrific Samuthirakani as a son who stands up against the world to save his father from senicide, this is an unmissable film which is currently streaming on Netflix.
A still from ‘Thalaikoothal’ | Photo Credit: Netflix
Dada:
What a terrific year it has been for debutant filmmakers! We had Ayothi, Good Night, Por Thozhil, Parking, Bommai Nayagi and of course, Ganesh K Babu’s emotional romance drama Dada. Starring Kavin and Aparna Das — who were both terrific in their roles — the film showed the rupturing of a relationship due to an unplanned pregnancy with a lot of heart. While you wish the second half of the film turned the lens more towards the single father and the child, the superbly-staged scenes surely made up for any missteps.
Watch | Actor Kavin on ‘DaDa’ and the road to success
Ayothi:
While casually re-watching Sasikumar’s fantastic film Ayothi, the thought I couldn’t shake away is what it takes for a director to convince his producer, actors and team to believe in what he saw in this story. Especially at a time when films were keen on getting bigger and prioritised telling even political ideas in a larger-than-life fashion, Ayothi was a simple, straightforward film that reminded us of what cinema can do. Apart from telling a tearjerker of a story, R Manthira Moorthy’s film questioned patriarchy within a family system, pointed at the cracks in the sanctimonious norms and philosophical structures people are conditioned to lean on, and told that all religions should first ask you to pray to this god — the fellow human being. Forgive the introduction fight meant to appease Sasikumar fans, and Ayothi gives you more than you ask from it.
Viduthalai - Part 1:
It seems as if all the behind-the-scenes events and production trivia have gotten more attention than necessary, but what Vetri Maaran pulled off with an ambitious project of this scale is surely an achievement. In telling a story about the injustice and inhuman torture that innocent folk were subjected to by power structures, what stood out was Vetri’s choice to have a good-hearted cop in the centre of it all to expose the decay from within. Viduthalai: Part 1 takes this place on our list for its grounded storytelling of a powerful tale, the vision in mounting it on an actor known for comedy (Soori), the technical prowess on display (we are still not over that single-take shot) and Vetri’s relentless pursuit to tell stories against oppression. It also reminds us that Vetri is also terrific at writing (and filming) romance as well.
A still from ‘Viduthalai - Part 1’ | Photo Credit: ZEE5
Good Night:
Next time you eat a bun-butter-jam, think of all the ways you could make it seem romantic and delectable. In comes Vinayak Chandrasekaran’s Good Night to say that when you’re hungry and craving a bite, just take a good friend to the bakery and the snack will look god-sent. That matter-of-fact display of mundane everyday life and tender frames filled with real, imperfect people are what most of us will remember this film with. In a year filled with stories that lose themselves in using the ‘concept’ as the anchor (Adiyae, Theera Kadhal to name a few), Good Night uses something as common as sleep apnea to talk about the many crevices that can come up between a husband and a wife.
Por Thozhil:
If you’ve watched the many serial killer investigative thrillers of Hollywood, you might wonder what the allure of this film is. Even serial killer films in Tamil cinema have dabbled with several ideas that are explored in this film. But with Por Thozhil, Vignesh Raja managed to put a deft little touch to each of those tropes and brought together capable actors and technicians who give their all to the craft. The result was a mainstream thriller that kept it simple and real, not rushing to become something bigger and commercial, and telling an honest story that didn’t make a fool of the audience. The bonus was how it left us with a subtle yet important nugget on parenting.
A still from ‘Por Thozhil’ | Photo Credit: SonyLIV
Maaveeran:
Madonne Ashwin’s delightful superhero film was the most creative of entertainers this year. Sivakarthikeyan, for long, has been doing a balancing act of sorts between doing masala films like Don, and the occasional experiments like Doctor. With Maaveeran, the star turns himself into a director’s tool, and in Madonne, he finds a filmmaker who can tell a refreshing superhero story while also ensuring the screenplay organically builds towards crowd-pleasing moments. Of the many films that attempted to tell a socially relevant story to discuss what heroism at its core is all about, Maaveeran stood apart and stood tall.
Chithha:
“Fish buns. Cerelac. Thaenmittai. Horse carriages. Lollipops. Magic Pencils. Coloured chicklings. Ponds powder. Clothesline clips. Carousel rides.” All those little fascinations that populate a child’s world should remind you of the wide-eyed joys from your childhood. And yet, if arranged in an order and uttered as such, it sends a chill down your spine; this speaks volumes about the impact SU Arunkumar’s Chithhacreated. Settai and Chithha charmed their way into our list the minute we stepped out of the screens and very few films from recent years have managed to make us all unanimously root for its success. Arunkumar and music composer Santhosh Narayanan deserve all the plaudits coming their way, and the much-discussed ‘good-touch-bad-touch’ scene highlighted the performer in Siddharth like never before. More importantly, Chithha has set a new benchmark when it comes to the sensitive portrayals in stories concerning a child.
Koozhangal:
PS Vinothraj’s stellar debut was the talk of the tinsel town due to its historical festival run in 2021, and after two long years, the film came out for public viewing on SonyLIV in October. For little more than an hour, we follow a young boy’s vexing routine with his alcoholic father on a journey that brings along unexpected guests and a piece of mirror that transcends us to the dreams of a child. Rooted deep into its milieu and unrestrained in its telling, this art-house film with mainstream textual sensibilities catapulted Vinothraj as an Indian filmmaker to look out for. Most would remember it for viscerally capturing the feeling of walking barefoot in scorching heat with a chest simmering with rage, or helplessness, depending on perspective.
A still from ‘Koozhangal’ | Photo Credit: SonyLIV
Jigarthanda Double X:
It was just the right time for the inevitable comeback from Karthik Subbaraj, and did he do that in style. Jigarthanda Double X will always be regarded as one of the most heartfelt tributes to the art form and nature. Karthik’s ‘political masala western’ won as both a spiritual sequel to Jigarthanda and as a standalone spectacle that seamlessly bridges two distinct worlds — of a filmmaker and a gangster, of bloodied streets and a lively forest, of a Godfather and a messiah — and is this year’s most wholesome entertainer. If not for all of that, just the performances of SJ Suryah and Raghava Lawrence, along with Santhosh’s background scores, were enough to tug at our heartstrings.
Watch | Karthik Subbaraj: ‘Jigarthanda DoubleX’ is my tribute to Clint Eastwood and Satyajit Ray
Special Mentions: (In order of release)
Bommai Nayagi
Burqa
Yaathisai
Farhana
Maalai Nera Mallipoo
Parking
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Tamil cinema / Indian cinema
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