Top 10 Tamil movies - 2008

2008 was by no means a great year for Tamil Cinema, but by all means it was an eventful one. The big stars were humbled, the younger ones shined, experimentation was appreciated, corporates showed interest in producing movies and produces opted for more reallistic and good cinema, which the audience too yearned for. I found it tough to list down 10 of the best movies in 2008, not because of the tough competition but I could hardly get 10 movies. I was saved by the movies released late this year and here I have the Top 10 Tamil Movies of the year 2008.

10. Jeyam Kondan

Cast: Vinay, Bhavana, Lekha Washington

Direction: R. Kannan

A neat and simple story about a struggle for wealth between siblings. Vinay was apt in his character as a London return, Bhavana was at her usual chirpy best. Vivek's comic interludes were so-so and the surprise package was Lekha Washington as Vinay's sister. Kishor and other actors filled the bill, and had completed a suave family poem. It had created a lull at the box office, but with its shoe-striing budget the producers were hardly disturbed.

9. Bommalattam

Cast: Nana Patekar, Arjun, Rukmini

Director: Bharathiraja

The film boasts a comeback vehicle for veteran ace director Bharathiraja and the debut of Bollywood great Nana Patekar, and the film doesn't fail to deliver. The usual Bharathiraja touch was missing, but we are glad to see this more than ordinary offering from this man. This thriller made with cinema itself as the background had quite a few brownie points, and it travels purely on the shoulders of the Nana Patekar and the suspense element in the film. Nana as Director Rana plays his heart out, and the girl Rukmini is very much a welcome change to tamil cinema. Arjun has a very brief role and he excels in it. Overall, a different experience for movie-goers and yes...Bharathiraja is BACK.

8. Yaradi Nee Mohini

Cast: Dhanush, Nayanthara, Saranya, Raghuvaran

Director: Mithran R Jawahar

A remake of the Telugu superhit "Adavari Matalaku Ardhalu Veru" is a beautiful little love story of a struggling youngster and a software proffesional. This film has its moments of fun and sentiments, but the movie can be never categorized as any one. Dhanush was on a high after the stupendous success of "Polladhavan" abd the director made good use of it. Nayanthara looked wooden in expression, but nothing great was expected from her. The two characters that steal the show were Raghuvaran as Dhanush's dad and Saranya as Nayan's cute little sister. Music was pleasenty from Yuvan. The film was a good summer treat for the family audience annd the movie worked wonders at the boxoffice with piling up 4-5 times its production costs.

7. Poo

Cast: Srikanth, Parvathy Menon

Director: Sasi

Poo is about the unadulterated love a village girl has on her cousin and her inability to express her love to him. Srikanth after a long time has been part of some good cinema, though his role is overshadowed by the brilliance of Parvathy. A hip girl in real lifeshe had gone under the skin of the character Mari, and her expressive face a delight to see in the sequences where she was unable to express her love to her man. Kudos to the director for making a reallistic and refreshing village story. The fact that the film was not that well recieved in the box-office is a worrying factor though

6. Santhosh Subramaniam

Cast: 'Jeyam' Ravi, Genelia, Prakash raj

Director: Raja

Another makeover of a telugu film was on the cards what with that film turning out to be a blockburster of all sorts. "Santosh Subramanaiam" is the faithful remake of the telugu movie "Bommarilu". Not making much an effort to modify the original, the director opted for a much direct approach off taking the film forward frame by frame as in Telugu. Ravi made an attempt to show his histrionic skills and Prakashraj as the doting father was just doing a repeat of his wonderful performance. The film truly belongs to Genelia who with her vivacious approach to the character made everyone sway to her tunes. Music was just OK as it always had a telugu flavour to it. Thefilm ran for a 100days in TN and garnered close to 2.5 crs in the opening week.

5. Vaaranam Aayiram

Cast: Surya, Simran, Sameera Reddy, Divya Spandana

Director: Gowtham Menon

Defenitely not the director's best , but Surya's awesome potrayal of father and son, and Harris's soothing music and its picturisation made sure that Gowtham pulls it off. The film defenitely belongs to Surya, where he has taken his acting to the next league. The 3 ladies do their job perfectly, with Sameera's screen precence showing once we miss her after her character,s demise. There flaws apleanty in this story about the father-son relationship but the good things outdo the bad ones and the movie turns out to be a winnner. Non-release of big star movies saw this film scrape through by getting back the production cost of 14 crs.

4. Saroja

Cast: SPB Charan, Vaibhav, Shiva, Premji, Nikitha, Vega, Sampath, Prakash Raj, Jeyaram

Director: Venkat Prabhu

It shows on the screen, when a director is having fun with his wor. It showed in "Chennai-600028" and it clearly shows in "Saroja". raking in a new genre 'Comedy-thriller', Veenkat played all his cards well and emerged the winner.Taking the story of "Judgement Night" and mixing uo his trademark comedy element he had provided the most enjoyable movie of the year. All the actors form the veterans Prakash Raj, Jeyaram to the younger lot had thoroughly enjoyed the film and also made us to do so.

3. Dasavatharam

Cast: Kamal Haasan x 10, Asin, Mallika Sherawat

Director: K.S. Ravikumar

A once in a lifetime film made on a whopping budget of 60 cr had Kamal Haasan potray 10 different roles. The story was experimenting the chaos theory and butterfly effect, which are hitherto unseen in Indian cinema. With the help of high end technical effects and brilliant cinematography the film was a treat to our eyes. Though the movie recieved mixed reviews, the collections were steep. It garnered close to 100 crs worldwide therby recovering the huge production cost. Kamal Haasan would have been a rekieved man with the tag of "Producer's nightmare" getting off him for a while.

2. Subramaniapuram

Cast: Jai, Swathi, Sasi Kumar, Ganja Karrupu

Director: M. Sasi Kumar

The film potrayed the right flavour of love, betrayal, friendship, politics and exploitation of a group of youngsters in a remote town of Subramaniapuram(near Madurai). The backdrop of the 80's was a flawless exhibition of thorough research and proffesionalism of the makers. This can be easily classified as a cult classic in Tamil Cinema. The Characters were seen, not the actors. Jai and Swathi's decent potrayal of love forcesa grin in our face,The song 'Kangal Irandaal ' is a classic example of a montage song. If only the vio;ence was a bit toned down. it could have catered to a wider audience, but still it worked wonders. Sasi himself produced the movie as there were no takers for his story.

1. Anjathey

Cast: Narain, Ajmal, Vijaylakshmi, Prasanna

Director: Myskkin

Anjathey is in a league of its own. The screenplay and camera are fresh , and give a different perspective to film making. The director should take credit for his boldness and unusual approach to a usual story. Not a thing is unacceptable in the film. Myskkin proves that his first flick "Chithiram Pesuthadi" was not just a flash in the pan. He has earned a repution and recognition for himself through Anjathey , and there is every sign that he will live upto it. Narain is marvellous in his diverse role as a trainig police Si and a good-for-nothing youth, and his transition is smooth. New find Ajmal is nothing short of brilliance, as the friend of Narain. Vijaylakshmi has a meagre role and Prassana, except for that horrible wig, provides justice to his role of a rapist(chocolate boy no more!!). This by all means is the

MOVIE OF THE YEAR