Gautham Menon’s courage
to explore the dark side of human relationships
with Nadunissi Naaygal, after a super hit
in Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya, earns him a special
mention in Behindwoods 2011 ranking. The film
was noted for its bold portrayal of what happens
behind closed doors and became the most controversial
film of the year too.
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Vengayam
Maidhanam
Uchidhanai Mugarndhal
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Yes it was a year of hits
and misses, like every other year, but what
made this year special was a few attempts
that defied the rules of movie making basics
in Tamil. Hard-hitting yet unpretentious,
these movies were talked about widely although
they had not fetched enough money at the box
office. They touched upon social issues, relevant
in our times, one way or other.
Maidhanam, released in mid 2011 sort of
had a Nadodigal hangover but debut director
Sakthivel's conscious attempt to avoid cliches
brought the movie to the fore.
Vengayam, directed by Sankagiri Rajkumar,
is a delectable village movie that asks
you an important question. How significant
is religion in your everyday life?
Uchidhanai Mugarndhal is probably the most
heartbreaking films of all. It's about a
13 year old rape victim and how her family
deals with the tragedy. Sathyaraj, Seeman
and Sangeetha played the characters revolving
around the life of the girl played by Neenika.
The movie is directed by Pugazendhi Thangaraj.
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20.
Thoonga Nagaram
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Starring:
Vimal, Bharani, Nishanth, Gaurav, Anjali
Direction:
Gaurav
Music:
Sundar C Babu
Production:
Cloud Nine Movies (Dhayanidhi Azhagiri) |
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This was the year of small
timers making it big. At least noticeably
so. Directed by Gaurav (who also plays a part
in it), this gangster drama film has everything
movies based on Madurai had in them. With
up and coming actors Vimal, Bharani, Nishanth
and Anjali in pivotal roles Thoonga Nagaram
proved to be a whiff of fresh air.
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19.
Payanam
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Starring:
Nagarjuna, Prakash Raj, Poonam Kaur, Sana Khan
Direction:
Radha Mohan
Music:
Praveen Mani
Production:
Prakash Raj, Dil Raju |
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Who would have thought Radha
Mohan has an eye for comedy in the oddest
of places? He proved so with Payanam, the
hijack thriller, loosely based on the Kandahar
hijacking incident of the Indian Airlines
Flight 814. Nagarjuna's Major Raveendra and
Prakash Raj's Viswanath made the movie worth
every penny you spent on it.
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18.
Kaavalan
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Starring:
Vijay, Asin, Rajkiran, Vadivelu
Direction:
Siddique
Music:
Vidyasagar
Production:
C. Ramesh Babu |
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Siddique remade his Malayalam
hit Bodyguard as Kaavalan and brought Vijay’s
career back to life. He took Bodyguard to
Hindi as well and made Salman Khan a top grossing
star of the year. Kaavalan had typical Siddique
style narrative with a twist in the climax.
It’s Asin’s only Tamil film of
the year.
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17.
Kanchana
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Starring:
Raghava Lawrence, Sarath Kumar, Lakshmi Rai
Direction:
Raghava Lawrence
Music:
Thaman
Production:
N Radha
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Kanchana is this year’s
true surprise hit. Nobody thought Lawrence’s
sequel to Muni would garner so much attention
and money when it was released. But there
you go. It did. It became one of the huge
commercial successes of the year.
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16.
Yudham Sei
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Starring:
Cheran Dipa Shah
Direction:
Mysskin
Music:
Krishna Kumar @ K
Production:
Kalpathi S Agoram, Kalpathi S Ganesh, Kalpathi
S Suresh |
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Thrillers became a tad too
popular this year and Mysskin’s Yudham
Sei blended family horror with thriller and
produced an interesting output. The gritty
film about a family’s revenge over atrocities
committed to their daughter is every bit gripping
and made you hold onto your seats.
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15.
Avan Ivan
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We thought Bala returned
to light hearted comedy. Avan Ivan was largely
that but also had a hangover of Bala’s
previous intense dramas. Bala unleashed Vishal’s
performance side and the actor topped coffee
table conversations in the industry when Avan
Ivan was released.
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14.
Siruthai
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Starring:
Karthi, Tamannah, Santhanam
Direction:
Siva
Music:
Vidyasagar
Production:
KE Gnanavel Raja |
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Sometimes, entertainment
is all it matters and Siruthai had all of
that and much more in it. Karthi shouldered
the responsibilities of a mass hero with characteristic
panache. Santhanam was like salt for any dish.
His character complements his co-actor’s
character and brings the roof down. Siruthai’s
commercial success is proof to that.
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13.
Azhagar Saamiyin Kudhirai
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Starring:
Appukutty, Saranya Mohan
Direction:
Suseenthiran
Music:
Ilaiyaraja
Production:
P. Madhan |
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Suseenthiran’s Azhagar
Saamiyin Kudhirai is a gem you often won’t
see in Tamil movies. Completely unconventional,
the movie shattered all stereotypes about
good looking heroes. Appukkuti and his horse
became the talk of the town and the movie
was declared as an indie gem.
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12.
Engeyum Eppodhum
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Starring:
Jai, Anjali, Sharwanand, Ananya
Direction:
Saravanan
Music:
Sathya
Production:
A R Murugadoss, Fox Star Studios |
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Sometimes, debut directors
will surprise you. But Saravanan swept us
off our feet with an earnest and often heartbreaking
tale of two couples whose lives intertwine
in the wake of a terrible accident. There
was a message and the director knew how to
drive it home. And the movie was a critical
and commercial success.
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11.
Vaagai Sooda Vaa
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Starring:
Vimal, Iniya, K Bhagyaraj, Ponvannan
Direction:
A Sarkunam
Music:
M Ghibran
Production:
S Muruganandham, N Puranna |
When director Sarkunam,
who earlier gave the charming sleeper hit
Kalavani, takes a subject there is no stopping
him. Vaagai Sooda Vaa was replete with dry
humor in the most cynical way directed at
the flawed government schemes of the sixties.
Sarkunam’s second won him critical acclaim
but not box office collections.
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10.
Velayudham
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Starring:
Vijay, Genelia, Hansika Motwani, Saranya Mohan,
Santhanam
Direction:
Jeyam Raja
Music:
Vijay Antony
Production:
Aascar Films |
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Vijay was treated with two
surprises this year. Velayudham’s success
turned out to be one. Velayudham, although
formulaic, broke the initial apprehensions
and was released extensively after the initial
response it received at the box office. Needless
to say, it proved to be a money spinner.
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9.
Vaanam
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Starring:
STR, Anushka, Bharath, Vega, Santhanam
Direction:
Krish
Music:
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Production:
Cloud Nine Movies (Dhayanidhi Azhagiri) |
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Vaanam signals the arrival
of anthology films to Tamil. It revolved around
five people, five lives and how their destinies
and fates are intertwined. Krish, who directed
it in Telugu, came back for the Tamil version
and the movie brought out the performer in
everyone, thanks to the director’s expertise.
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8.
Mouna Guru
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Starring:
Arulnidhi, Iniya
Direction:
Santha Kumar
Music:
Thaman
Production:
M. K. Thamizharasu |
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Damn the clichés,
Mouna Guru is the dark horse of the year.
Directed by a relatively unknown Santha Kumar,
the Arulnidhi starrer shows him as a reticent
young man dealing with a tough society. This
thriller further unfolds mysteries after mysteries
in a deftly paced screenplay making the movie
totally worth the time and money you spend
on it.
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7.
7aum Arivu
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Starring:
Suriya, Shruthi Hassan
Direction:
A.R.Murugadoss
Music:
Harris Jeyaraj
Production:
Udhayanidhi Stalin (Red Giant Movies) |
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A whole lot of expectations
were riding on 7aum Arivu, Tamil’s science
fiction thriller, written and directed by
A R Murugadoss. Suriya’s Bodhidharma
avatar and the Vietnamese actor Johnny Tri
Nguyen’s Dong Lee made the movie memorable.
And Shruti finally made her Tamil debut.
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6.
Ko
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Starring:
Jiiva, Ajmal Ameer, Karthika Nair, Piaa Bajpai,
Prakash Raj
Direction:
K. V. Anand
Music:
Harris Jayaraj
Production:
Kumar, Jayaraman |
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Ko was K V Anand’s
next movie after the hugely successful Ayan.
After touching upon the sensitive issue of
humans being used as medium to transport drug
in Ayan, Anand settles for a subject that
is as novel as it’s interesting. Jiiva
plays the victim of his friend - an aspiring
politician - who uses his friend to fulfill
his political aspirations. Ko’s Hindi
rights are reportedly sold and the Hindi version
will have Ranbir in the lead.
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5.
Mankatha
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Starring:
Ajith Kumar, Trisha, Arjun, Andrea Jeremiah,
Lakshmi Rai, Premji, Anjali, Vaibhav
Direction:
Venkat Prabhu
Music:
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Production:
Dayanidhi Azhagiri, (Cloud Nine Movies) |
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Although Mankatha is widely
talked about for Ajith’s salt-n-pepper
look, there is obviously much more to the
movie than just that. The action thriller
with an ensemble cast portrayed Ajith as a
man who is willing to go to any length in
pursuit of money. How many times does a Tamil
movie feature its lead in negative light?
Well, Venkat Prabhu proved that bad is cool.
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4.
Deiva Thirumagal
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Starring:
Vikram, Anushka, Amala Paul, Santhanam,
Direction:
AL Vijay
Music:
G V Prakash Kumar
Production:
UTV Motion Pictures |
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There were initial apprehensions
before Deiva Thirumagal released. Were we
ready to accept a man with developmental disability
as a hero? Turns out, we were. A L Vijay knew
his onions and made Vikram’s Krishna
– his character in the movie –
both believable and relatable. Baby Sara was
a revelation.
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3.
Mayakkam Enna
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Starring:
Dhanush, Richa Gangopadhyay
Direction:
Selvaraghavan
Music:
G.V. Prakash Kumar
Production:
Gemini Film Circuit |
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Selvaraghavan specializes
in depicting complex human relationships.
Mayakkam Enna is romance, all right. But the
highlight of the movie probably is Selva’s
sensitive portrayal of how love can be self-seeking.
Dhanush’s performance was widely appreciated
and Richa, being a debutant, brought a nuanced
performance to her role.
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2.
Aaranya Kaandam
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Starring:
Jackie Shroff, Ravi Krishna, Sampath Raj, Yasmin
Ponnappa, Somasundaram
Direction:
Thiagarajan Kumararaja
Music:
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Production:
SPB Charan |
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With Aaranya Kaandam, Tamil
cinema welcomed the so-far-non-existent genre
of neo-noir movies. Slickly directed and tautly
told, Aaranya Kaandam ushered in a new form
of film making – notably without songs
in its narrative. Not a single actor in the
movie missed out on performance – even
debutant Yasmin Ponnappa was brilliant in
her portrayal of a calculatingly coy girl.
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1.
Aadukalam
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Starring:
Dhanush, Jayabalan, Kishore, Tapasee
Direction:
Vetri Maaran
Music:
GV Prakash Kumar
Production:
Kathiresan |
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Usually it’s considered
that the second movie of a director is the
litmus test on his capabilities. But Vetri
Maaran had no troubles shattering that myth
with Aadukalam. His Karuppu and Irene –
people from different echelons of the society
– became immediate superstars and Vetri
Maaran’s success as a director was endorsed
by the sweeping six national awards the movie
won. The critical and commercial success the
movie achieved was unanimous and immediate.
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