Glimpses 2019: From 'Petta' to 'Asuran' five Tamil movies that ruled the year

kollywood-2019 via IMDb

The year 2019 has been wonderful for Kollywood with quite a few releases meeting both critical and commercial acclaim. While there were enough mass masala flicks like Viswasam and Bigil that were received well by fans, the year also had films like Magamuni and Super Deluxe which met with critical acclaim. As the year ends, here is a look at five movies that set the cash register ringing while managing to garner good reviews.

Nerkonda Paarvai

A remake of the Bollywood movie Pink, this Ajit starrer stayed true to its original while also bearing in mind the sentiments of the Tamil audience. Directed by H. Vinoth, the film had Ajit doing away with his action hero avatar while donning the gown of a lawyer. The film managed to convey the concept of 'consent', thanks to the acting prowess of Abhirami Venkatachalam, Shraddha Srinath and Andrea Tariang and the powerful dialogue delivery by the leading man Ajit.

Nerkonda Paarvai is a film to be celebrated by every woman who wants to enjoy her rightful place in the society. The dialogues in the courtroom might not appeal to all the men, but would move the women in the audience, as they would have faced similar humiliation and harassment in their lives, too.

Peranbu

Director Ram, who has to credit movies like Kattradhu Tamizh, Thanga Meengal and Taramani, teamed up with Mammootty to deliver one of the finest movies of 2019. Love, affection, agony and self-realisation—Peranbu has it all. If veteran actor Mammootty is at his best in the movie, child actor Sadhana outperforms him at many points. Sadhana is outstanding as a differently-abled child, with her hands and legs twisted, and struggling to voice her thoughts as she expresses her liking for nail polish, sparrows and horses or her crush for an actor. The movie also dealt with themes of sexuality and transgender, with Mammootty's character deciding to marry a transexual in the movie.

Petta

One of the most awaited movies of the year, Petta was a treat for hardcore Rajinikanth fans. The film, that came with the tagline 'Get Rajinified', rekindled nostalgia with his characteristic on-screen antics—the star flipped his glasses in style and walked in his inimitable gait. Directed by Karthik Subbaraj, who by his own admission is a huge Ranjini fan, Petta boasted of a steller cast, including Vijay Sethupathi, Bobby Simha, Sasikumar, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Simran andTrisha. The punch lines, one-liners and action scenes found favour with the fans and others, and the film went on to become a hit.

Asuran

Vetrimaaran-Dhanush combo, who had previously delivered some fine films like Vada Chennai, Aadukalam and Polladhavan, once again did not disappoint as they crafted a brilliant thriller that also dealt with socially relevant issues, including casteism, untouchability and discrimination. Also starring Manju Warrier, Prakash Raj and Pasupathy, Asuran told the story of a family that was forced to be on the run after teenage son of Sivasamy (Dhanush) murders a powerful landlord. In flashbacks, the movie unveiled the troubles faced by the family. A tale of love, family, affection and greed, the movie resonated with the audience and won high praise from critics.

Super Deluxe

After a nine-year break, Thiagarajan Kumararaja returned to direction, and how! Kumararaja teaming up with Vijay Sethupathi was indeed good news for cine goers. As expected, the result of the cooperation was a perfectly crafted movie. Sethupathi played a transwoman in the movie which also featured popular Mollywood actor Fahadh Faasil, Ramya Krishnan and Samantha Prabhu Akkineni. Weaving together three different narratives into a single piece of art, the director dealt with the themes of gender identity, faith and religion, love and betrayal, greed and lust, and relationships. The film earned high praise from critics and cine goers alike.

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