10. Kattradhu Tamil
These are times when formal learning of Tamil beyond school is a rarity. Kattradhu Tamil was about a person who learnt Tamil all the way to post graduation, lost his love to fate and his sanity to the world. There has been no film in the recallable past where the hero has looked so psychotically worn out.
9. Onbadhu Roobai Nottu
Estranged parents are not a new subject to cinema. But casting a fun actor like Sathyaraj in such a somber role, adapting a good work of literature on screen, retaining its soul and capturing the essence of a rustic village of Tamil Nadu; all these make Onbadhu Roobai Nottu an effort worth appreciating
8. Polladhavan
A debut director may choose to play it safe, or so we might think. But Vetrimaaran showed the courage to be different. Making a full length feature film with hero's favorite bike as the central core, showcasing gangsters and goons as they are, steering away from unnecessary theatrical moments, he ended up making what might be a trendsetter
7. Kalloori
Movies set in a college campus need not always mean all fun, a bit of love and a tearful farewell. Balaji Shakthivel has taken a campus movie beyond these dimensions. We are normally used to seeing campus stories set wholly in Chennai, The Loyola, MCC or others. The choice of a Govt. Arts college far removed from the city lights too was a welcome change.
6. Ammuvahiya Naan
A sex worker is a victim of circumstances. They need not dress revealingly, wake only at noon, chew tobacco and speak foul language all the time and they are not people to be shunned away from society. A sensitive revelation of these truths and showcasing these women in a different light for the first time on Tamil screens, deserves the accolades it got.
5. Oram Po
You don't need a long story full of twists and turns to make a movie. If you have a good idea and the will to implement it then you can make a good movie. Centered on auto racing, something hitherto untouched in Tamil cinema, Oram Po is a good example of how an out and out fun movie can be made.
4. Mozhi
Breaking stereotypes about disability is not common in Tamil cinema. But Mozhi did it by showing that hearing impaired person can be confident, inspired and independent, not at others' mercy. Beautifully made, Mozhi is the kind of cinema that needs to be emulated.
3. Evano Oruvan
A movie that dared to have no songs or fights; that in itself makes it stand apart. The remake of the Marathi film, Dombivili Fast, Evano Oruvan was a wake up call to the common man to shake himself out of complacency and oblivion. This movie gets its place for great contemporary relevance of its theme.
2. Chennai 600028
Movies have been made on cricket, but never on something as trivial as gully cricket, a group of youngsters (all new faces) and a script that depended heavily on their performances. Even the most intuitive of minds would have been stumped by the climax. The undiluted earnestness of youth shone through brilliantly.
1. Paruthiveeran
300 days and still showing, something we thought impossible on February 23, 2007. Never have the sunny, dry, vast stretches of lands of interior Tamil Nadu been captured with so much originality, never has the slang of the villages been spoken with more perfection, never has a director shown so much confidence in a rookie and never has it all paid off in such a great fashion.
reference: www.behindwoods.com
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