10 Best Tamil Films of 2016 You Shouldn’t Miss

What Made 2016 Special for Tamil Cinema

If we ever look back and retrospectively try to locate exactly when the year that Tamil cinema as a whole changed, 2016 might well be one of the first choices. It wasn’t just a year of one or two big hits, it was an creative explosion. We watched as gritty, hard-hitting dramas vied for attention with mind-bending science fiction. We saw gorgeous, big-budget embarrassments with no script to speak of and we saw superstars signing on to play interesting, grey characters that didn’t always end the film cackling in triumph.

2016 was the year a punishing, relentless film served as our ticket to the Oscars, and a first-time filmmaker produced an audacious thriller on a dime. It was not only a good year, it was a noteworthy one. So, let’s go back and rejoice in the 10 movies that made the year 2016 something to remember for Kollywood lovers.

10 Must Watch Kollywood Films of 2016

1) Visaranai

Visaranai is not the kind of film one "enjoys". It’s a movie that you experience, that you suffer through, and it leaves you altered at a root level. Vetrimaaran gave us a gut-punch of a movie that holds up the mirror on the ghastly, everyday violence of power. Adapted from the novel Lock Up, the film centres on four Tamil migrant workers in Andhra Pradesh who are arbitrarily picked up by police and tortured into giving confessions to a crime they had no knowledge of. And just when you think they may finally have found a way to slink from the pit, they’re shoved back down into an even murkier, dirtier pit of political corruption in their home state.

In the traditional sense there are no “fan-loved” scenes, just sequences you never forget. The entire first half, which is confined to the police station only, is a relentless claustrophobic masterclass of maintaining tension and sheer horror. The sound design, where even the slightest blow lands with a thump that can make you feel it in your own bones, is chilling. The weary, pragmatic inspector trying to negotiate Hobson’s impossible choice is a stand-out performance by Samuthirakani. Visaranai is that sort of grim, vital and well-made film that possibly should have represented India at the Oscars this year.

2) Irudhi Suttru

Madhavan did not just come back after a breather, he stormed the wall like a man possessed. As Prabhu, a discredited boxing coach with the shakes, Maddy was a revelation. Grizzled, nihilistic and simmering with anger. Irudhi Suttru is a film that ticks every box of the sports drama checklist with ease but it’s the raw, unvarnished energy from its leads which makes it an all-time classic. He is banished to Chennai, where he uncovers Madhie (a stunning, National Award-winning debut by Ritika Singh), a rough-around-the-edges fish-seller with an untapped gift for boxing.

The magic of the film is all in that tension between Prabhu and Madhie. Their “vaathiyaar-sishyai” relationship is electric, complete with insults, tough love and unspoken respect. Fans are cuckoo for the training montages, not just for the boxing. Santhosh Narayanan delivers the film's heartbeat."Ey Sandakaara" is pure adrenaline, and Vaa Machaney captures in music Madhie’s infectious spirit. It’s one if those movie that wants to make cheer.

3) Aandavan Kattalai

In a year where we had several heavy-hitters, Aandavan Kattalai was that warm, smart and real comedy which only made you feel good. This was the second project of M. Manikandan and Vijay Sethupathi which established them as a dream team. VJS portrays Gandhi, a naive and kind man who in his desperation to clear off his debts pretends to be married just to obtain a passport. This one “small” lie snowballs into, getting caught in a bureaucratic hell as he battles to reverse his mistake and removing his “fake” wife’s name from his passport.

It's a masterclass in quiet, situational comedy. The passport office scenes that could easily have become boring are a comedy gold, thanks to an excellent supporting cast of which Yogi Babu shines in the role of his career. But the movie’s heart is in Gandhi and Karmeghakuzhali (Ritika Singh, in a completely different but also delightful role) coming together and growing softly close. They make no big declarations, and some of them have only straightforward conversations. One fan favorite is a scene in which he finally, shyly spills his love to her. It’s a lovely, simple and intelligent film.

4) Joker

Joker was the satirical gut-punch Tamil cinema never realised it needed. In director Raju Murugan’s Mannar Mannan, the protagonist, introduces himself as the “President” of his village. Decked in full body armor with his platoon of misfits, the only other possessor of a broken heart being Sattu’s best friend Akhilesh (Ashish Verma), he rides around an old moped on which all four apply RTIs, challenge each local ‘corruption’ and demand nothing but the right thing. The movie casts his madness as the only sane reaction to a thoroughly shattered and ridiculous system.

The film expertly mixes its acrid with a devastating love story. It’s these flashbacks showing Mannan’s life with his wife, Malliga (Ramya Pandian) and what terrible event led to his mind being shattered, that give the film its tremendous emotional heft. It is comic and harrowing to watch him battle for a toilet to be constructed for his wife. It is Sean Roldan’s music that breathes life into the movie with “Ennanga Sir Unga Sattam” that was an anthem for dissenting voices. It’s a movie that makes you laugh and cry, and most important, makes you mad.

5) Uriyadi

Uriyadi is condensation of pure, raw and righteous anger into scenes by a filmmaker. In his premiere as writer, director and actor, Vijay Kumar delivered a brutal, violent and unapologetic portrayal of caste politics and the exploitation of students by political parties. Playing out in the '90s in a college hostel, it follows four friends as they are put on a collision course with a politician after a small spat in candy shop snowballs and pits them against an influential man.

This movie isn’t for the faint of heart. The violence is not stylish, it’s clumsy and brutal and terrifyingly real, which is precisely why it works so well. The “dhabba” fight scene  where the friends get into a brawl with the politician’s men for the first time is a masterclass in low-budget, high-impact filmmaking. The film’s genuine ’90s vibe, the no-apologies dialogue and the gritty cinematography only add to its force. Uriyadi is brutal, intense end of the Civilised-Society-spectrum indie cinema that marked a new voice in the Tamil industry.

6) Iraivi

Karthik Subbaraj’s Iraivi is a dark, melancholic and layered drama on toxic masculinity back when it wasn’t even termed as much. It’s a movie about art, failure and the soul-annihilating ripple effects of men’s egos on the women in their orbit. The plot revolves around three men, a filmmaker (S. J. Suryah) with an addiction problem has a n artist (Bobby Simha) and his brother (Vijay Sethupathi). That one harebrained, illegal shot at solving their financial problems ends up costing the women in their lives everything.

It’s a technical marvel of filmmaking but most of all, the cast is its greatest asset. S. J. Suryah is career-best with an acidic performance as the self-destructive filmmaker. But it’s the women Kamalini Mukherjee, Anjali and Pooja Devariya who are the soul of the film, who embody a variant form of quiet suffering and resilience. The “Mazhai Pozhinthu” song, combined with the overall sequence around it, is an auteur’s fan favorite moment of pure art. Iraivi is one such dark, lovely and daring film that stays with you for a long time after its end.

7) 24 Movie

In a year where it was all about gritty realism, Suriya along with director Vikram Kumar came to give us an extravagant, big-budget, high-voltage sci-fi entertainer. 24 is a wonderfully ambitious and mind-bending time travel adventure constructed around a wristwatch. Suriya portrays a triple role, but it is of two: the good hearted, super intelligent scientist Sethuraman and his evil twin brother Athreya that movie withdraws. Athreya’s pursuit of the time-travel watch stretches, well, 26 years and enlists Sethuraman’s unwitting son (Mani, also Suriya) in the fight.

But the film looks great, has an intelligent, watertight script that games with the time-travel paradoxes in a smart and comprehensible fashion. The villainous, wheelchair-bound, ominously styled Suriya was a huge hit. The “freeze” moments, when Mani first learns that the watch has this power, are pure cinema magic, buoyed by an inspiring score from A. R. Rahman. This was giant, escapist entertainment done right. So intelligent, so good-looking and oh-so-pleasing.

8) Kodi

Kodi was a full-blown, massy political thriller which provided us with are two things we never knew we needed: Dhanush in a double role as warring twin brothers and an ice-cold villainous performance from Trisha. Dhanush stars as both Kodi, a savvy rising politician, and Anbu, an unassuming college teacher. Story: Kodi begins with a clash between Kodi (Dhanush) and Anbu (Kaali Venkat), his political rival, which comes to an end with Anbu’s death. And from then on, it is one man’s fight for another.

The combination of Dhanush and Trisha stands out as the best in this film. Their political chessboard “romance” is to die for (literally), and it’s luscious to watch. But the one that had theaters exploding was a startling, ice-cold twist at intermission, a move that effectively rewrote the game. Trisha's turn as Rudhra, who would and could do anything for power, is a hit with fans.

9) Sethupathi

We’ve seen a million cop movies, but Sethupathi felt different. It was not just a hard-boiled cop, it was a hard-boiled cop who is also a loving, doting last of the last sensitive fathers and husbands. As Inspector Sethupathi, a man who is just as comfortable dodging bullets exchanged with goons as he is playing games with his two young kids, Vijay Sethupathi was pitch-perfect in his debut full length role as a police officer. The central dilemma of the film is set into motion when he arrests a powerful goon, and suddenly his entire family is caught in the crossfire.

The soul of the film is the lovely, convincing chemistry between Sethupathi and his wife, Remya Nambeesan. Their relationship is lived-in and true. The Hey Mama song sequence, a day in their family life, is a fan favorite for its warmth and allure. But when the action starts, it is intense. The scene in which Sethupathi tests his kids to see if their food has been poisoned is scary, mind-wrenching tension. It’s a wonderful combination of a family drama and mass-action film.

10) Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru (D-16)

Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru Released in the final week of 2016, Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru was the breath-taking last-minute entrant that took everyone’s breaths away. A 21-year-old first-time director (Karthick Naren) made a neo-noir about as tight, clever and stylish as any ever made by any filmmaker with decades of experience. The story goes like this: Deepak is a retired police inspector who tells the tale of what happened on that one “perfect” case back in the day when it went way south, and he lost his leg.

It’s non-linear storytelling at its best. There is a hit-and-run, a missing person and murder most foul that resembles an intricate puzzle in which even the smallest piece takes on meaning. Naren’s direction is admirably assured, employing slick editing and a moody color palette to establish an atmosphere of perpetual dread. That jaw-dropping final twist (and twist after the last twist) had audiences literally gasping. D-16 was a straight-up, no holds barred sleeper hit that reminded us great script and the balls to do it are all you need.