BEST OF 2017 TAMIL MOVIES

This was a tough list to decide. But the struggle was happy as I was spoilt for choices. 2017 is truly Kollywood’s year in terms of providing some beautiful content. It was also the year of fresh faces — several new directors giving much hope and excitement for the shackled cinephile in us. I say shackled as there are multiple standards we bind ourselves with. In reality, we see several shades of grey; several types of leads; stories that go beyond a genre. But somehow, our expectations of a movie, especially a mainstream one, is different. Our definition of larger than life has shrunk considerably — it is dangerously close to real life. And there were several films that straddled this line impeccably this year They may not have been up there with technique or even performance, but they had refreshing stories to tell us.

THEERAN ADHIGAARAM ONDRU:

           Though this  movie came with not much expectation it made an surprise hit in the kollywood industry.As this movie was adapted from a real story Director H.Vinodh give a disciplinable screenplay...This movie u must not miss in 2017.The love scenes between karthi and rakul also have been well taken. I had no great expectation when I walked into the auditorium screening H. Vinoth's latest cop story, Theeran Adhigaram Ondru, that had Karthi in khaki. He had played policeman in an earlier work, and there have been so many cop pictures in Tamil that frankly I could not think of anything different that Vinoth could possibly offer.

              But, surprise of surprises, the young director (who did earlier give us a reasonably clean movie called Sathuranga Vettai) came out with something which was dramatic without being too exaggerated. Based on a true crime story that rocked Tamil Nadu and other southern states in the 1990's and early 2000, Theeran Adhigaram Ondru is all about a notoriously criminal tribe from Rajasthan plundering and killing on some of the lonely highways. These masked men were brutal to the last word; they did not just rob, but also murdered men, women and children in cold blood.

                Unlettered and unsophisticated in this game, these men (who have been compared to the thugs who operated in 19th century Bengal and other neighboring areas until Lord William Bentinck finished them off after they had had a free run for 600 years with fearless impunity) left behind their fingerprints – which eventually help Karthi's Theeran to eradicate their menace. Wonderfully researched with the help of the very man, the then Inspector-General of Police, S R Jangid – who led the assault on the criminals – the film is narrated with gripping precision. There is never a dull moment here, and the plot progresses with admirable ease, taking us to several places in Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and the sands of Rajasthan, where the final battle is fought between Theeran and the murderous gang

                    Atlast this movie is one of the most solid cop films made, I liked Theeran best for the way it handled its commercial elements. There was a romance track, an item number, but the ‘damage’ was minimal. The story and script rose above the few commercial compromises. The film, for the most part, was a solid, honest cop movie — thanks to H Vinoth’s extensive research. The struggle was real and also the well-executed action.

ARUVI:

I promise that after the end of this movie all people would leave with a tearful eyes.Director Arunprabhu  hit a straightaway sixer about narrating the story. He also put a plenty of strong  dialogues.The performance of Aditi Balan also awesome..Totally" Aruvi"the most welcomed movie of 2017 ...so don't miss it. Aruvi is a Tamil movie written and directed by Arun Prabu Purushothaman, featuring Aditi Balan, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy and Shwetha Shekar. Aruvi is a gentle yet spirited girl who decides to break bad and rebel against the oppressive forces that has treated her unfairly. Her audacity to vent out is not without consequences.Aruvi is a film that threw every stereotype out of the box. The authenticity of Arun Prabhu Purushothaman’s writing makes you forget about what could have been problems with the film. Aruvi is also a towering example that good content will always be commercially viable if marketed properly.                     

THUPPARIVAALAN:

This movie came with based on the story of "Sherlock Holmes". A detective story.And director Miskin doesn't fail to tell the story on his way.I will remark that this could be a best movie of Vishal.so don't miss this power pack detective thriller in simple While investigating the killing of a dog, a detective uncovers a series of bizarre and seemingly unrelated crimes.

ARAMM:

The most sensational films which hits the real time politics very bravely.Director Gopi Naiyinar came with a brilliant story and screenplay. And thinking about the collector character no one fits none other than Nayanthara.I promise that this movie will satisfy all type by of audience.I was impressed to see actress Nayanthara as a no-nonsense District Collector in Gopi Nainar's Aramm. The film is all about her, and Aramm deals with a huge present-day problem, that of deep, unused borewells, which are bone-dry and left uncovered by callous contractors. The openings of these wells are at ground level, and that is what makes them so dangerous. One fine morning, Nayanthara's Madhivadhini (an IAS officer) gets a phone call about a four-year-old village girl, Dhansika, having fallen into such a pit, about 90 feet deep. The officer rushes to the spot to be confronted by what looks like insurmountable problems: a broken-down fire engine blocking the only narrow road to the village, hysterical parents of the girl, angry villagers baying for the blood of the guilty, ruthless politicians and an insensitive media. What is most remarkable about Aramm is its ability to stay on track for those 10 or 12 hours when Dhansika lay trapped in the dark well – although I did at times feel the background score a little too disturbing. No costume change for Nayanthara, who is seen throughout the movie (except for brief periods when she is answering to a charge-sheet in a Chennai office) in the same sari. Subtle and subdued, she goes about taking one risky decision after another (in the end, Dhansika's brother is lowered into the well to get her out) most stoically, and I am sure the actress has certainly carved a fine niche for herself with this film  This movie is a message with several social connotations, the film’s treatment of Nayanthara’s role stood out. IAS Madhivadhani was just that — a honest democrat in an emergency situation. Though the film’s preachy stance made me feel a bit iffy, it is impossible to refuse that it dealt with several important questions that need to be documented.

VIKRAM VEDHA:

This could not be missed in 2017..vikram and vedha plays a beautiful roles in this movie.Directors pushkar and gayathri made a brilliant screenplay I have always like Pushkar and Gayathri’s work, right from Oram Po. But the director duo upped their ante with Vikram Vedha. Giving Vijay Sethupathi the character of his career, what Pushkar-Gayathri showed is the opposite of what we have seen so far. Star films don’t need to follow a template as well. At the end of the day, good content and smart production principles can make a star movie commercially viable even without what we call the ‘masala’ formula. If I was asked to name just one great Tamil movie in the entire year, I would not have batted an eyelid before putting my finger on the husband and wife directorial team, Pushkar -Gayathri's Madhavan-Vijay Sethupathi starrer Vikram Vedha. The helmers' ability to adapt the age-old, but timeless folklore of King Vikramadityan and Vedhalam (Betal) to the crime and criminality of modern times made Vikram Vedhasparkle. The narrative is crisp, the craft flies, and the subtlety seen through the imaginative choice of colors (white, black and grey and the way they change on the costumes of the characters) as well as the unbelievable casualness of Vijay Sethupathi as gangster Vedha push the picture to the point of perfection. Or almost. In this cop-chase-goon plot, Vedha's each meeting with the encounter specialist, Madhavan's Vikram (who brags all the time about his prowess) confuses and confounds the man in uniform -- much like the manner in which Vedhalam foxed King Vikramadityan. Riveting performances by Madhavan and Sethupathi help transform a tale of treacherous battle into a bewildering puzzle – with Vedha shooting moral questions, not bullets, at Vikram. Also, one should not miss the message: the film lambasts without mincing words the horrors of extra-judicial killings in India, something the nation heard for the first time during the 1970's Emergency.

KUTTRUM 23:

Arun Vijay plays Sherlock Holmes and Thambi Ramaiah his Dr Watson in director Arivazhagan’s gripping murder mystery, Kuttram 23, which despite tackling a whole lot of issues, like uncontrollable male ego, blackmail and unethical medical practice, remains firmly grounded and believable. Essaying a cop, Vetrimaaran (Vijay) is asked to probe the strange death of Jessica, the wife of a leading television channel owner. She is found dead along with a church priest one night. In fact, the movie begins on an eerie night outside a deserted church where we see Jessica getting off a fancy car and walking up to the priest for confession. No sooner had she confessed than the priest is murdered, and a panicky Jessica tries to flee. Coincidentally, the first to walk into the scene of the crime is Thendral (a beautiful Mahima Nambiar), who becomes the obvious first reference of police investigation. I must laud the director, who steers his work from needless romantic distractions with just about one song, and enriches his work with taut editing (by Bhuvan Srinivasan) to get Kuttram 23 on a much higher plane than most other Tamil films. With fantastic inter-cuts and minimal background score (what a relief), Kuttram 23 (referring to the 23 male chromosomes that help a woman conceive a child) may be seen as a powerful indictment of criminal methods used in the medical practice of artificial insemination.

BAAHUBALI  2

Indian cinephiles must salute Rajamouli for his vision and ambition. He once again gives us our Benhur and Ten Commandments experience rolled into one. Of course it is CGI and VFX that grab you in your seat, but Baahubali also takes you on an emotional rollercoaster ride. The romance between Devasena and Amarendra has the Titanic fervour. While the performances of the lead cast are all believable, it is Peter Hein's action—with Baahubali doing the Van Damme split and some sweeps that set your spirits soaring

MERSAL

With Mersal, we have got this year's most engaging mass masala movie. It has a relatable theme (even though the medical field has been the target for many films), star power, punch dialogues that double up as political statements, emotional scenes that make us care for its characters, a message that connects with us, colourful visuals, peppy music, and masala moments that keep you cheering for the hero(es).

                                                                                                     

WORK BY :

               RAGHUL KARNA

               S.ASHWIN