From Jama and Family Padam to Byri and Kurangu Pedal, ten Tamil films that deserved more love

Jama

Pari Elavazhagan in a still from his debut directorial Jama.

The film is a heartwarming melange of aspirations, societal oppression, and the fight to survival in a field where recognition and respect is everything. Taking on the superficial idea of masculinity, debutant director Pari Elavazhagan, who also plays the lead in the film, talks about the futile idea of labels, and how talent will find a way to come out of forcibly closed doors like a plant growing out of a concrete wall. A solid drama with excellent music by Ilaiyaraaja, Jama is a film that should have ideally been this year’s Yaathisai. A movie made by a set of people with worthy aspirations, and the talent to back the same.

Sattam En Kaiyil

Sathish headlines the serious investigative drama, Sattam En Kaiyil.

The film is a gripping chamber drama that functions like a ticking time bomb. You know the explosion is going to happen. You know there is some ulterior game underway. You know the hero cannot lose. Of course, the title is a dead giveaway too. And yet, this Chachi directorial, headlined by Sathish, is quite engrossing. It helps that the supporting cast are bankable actors and yet without a sense of image burdening them. You never know who could become the bad guy, and this works in favour of the film. It is nice to Sathish gradually extending his repertoire as a lead actor without creating a lot of noise about the same.

Kurangu Pedal

A still from producer Sivakarthikeyan’s Kurangu Pedal.

Nostalgia is a beautiful thing. Often, it is dipped with too much saccharine because we are always kinder to what we were in the past. There is a rose-tinted approach to the times that were. And in some ways, Kurangu Pedal too is a film banking on the allure of the past to pull it through. And for long stretches of time, the film does it quite effectively. It is like watching the wind rustle through the pages of an old diary, and you randomly stumble upon a fascinating and heartwarming chapter. A film about learning how to ride a cycle, soars through like a kite even if director Kamala Kannan loses the grip on the string a few times.

Neela Nira Sooriyan

Samyuktha Vishwanathan headlined and directed the gripping Neela Nira Sooriyan.

When talking about the tales of the oppressed, there is a reason why there is more authenticity when it is the people who faced the systemic injustice talking about it. In Neela Nira Sooriyan, we see the life of a physics teacher change when he decides to transition into a woman. Now, this film could have taken a lot of different ways to tell this story, and every way would have been valid. But debutant director Samyuktha Vishwanathan, who also plays the protagonist, decides to tell it in a matter-of-fact way, and strips the movie off all the melodrama we expect from such films. Neela Nira Sooriyan is a straight-forward story that refrains from overt preaching, but wonderfully touches upon it, and lets the audience decide their own takeaways. A rare gem indeed.

Rocket Driver

Vishvath and Naga Vishal star alongside Sunainaa and Kathadi Ramamurthy in Rocket Driver.

It is interesting how Tamil films are adopting the sci-fi genre but taking on a rather simplistic angle to tell the story. For instance, Rocket Driver is centred around a disgruntled auto driver, who is a science wiz, but was forced to discontinue studies. His role model is former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. One fine day, in 2024, Abdul Kalam is his passenger… and the catch? the legendary scientist has travelled from 1948. Now, this idea is definitely whimsical, and the makers don’t really bother to break the time-space continuum etc… It is essentially a simple what-if film that simply talks about what really matters in a person’s life, and as the 100-odd minute film finally comes to a close, it manages to put a smile on our faces.

ALSO READ | Family Padam movie review: A breezy and bittersweet tale about dreams and aspirations that is a bit rough around the edges

Family Padam

Vivek Prasanna and Udhay Karthick headline the family comedy, Family Padam.

Cinema is a profession that has more failures than success. Of course, there are people who have reached dizzying heights of fame, but the bottom is filled with so many people clamouring their way up, pulling other down, or just simply staying there resigned to their idea of fate. In such a scenario, debutant director Selvah conjures up a story that is essentially his way of driving home the importance of a solid support system for any filmmaking aspirant. It is a warm narrative that takes more than its fair share of leaps of faith, but ensures there is enough heart at the core of everything.

Pogumidam Vegudhooramillai

Vemal and Karunas headline the road trip film, Pogumidam Vegudhooramillai.

Can a person be actually alone in this journey of life? In a rather grim journey to deliver a dead body to his family for the last rites, Vemal finds an unlikely companion. Karunaas plays a street theatre artist who says what is on his mind without adulterating it for the world that doesn’t understand him anyway. This duo navigate the challenges that presents itself in the form of familial disputes, caste-based oppression, love, tension, and a ticking time bomb that would result in major violence if it explodes. Building the right amount of tension, and leaving us with a rather serene calmness that only comes after a storm, Pogumidam Vegudhooramillai ends up reminding us that it is humanity that makes this world go round.

Byri

Directed by debutant John Glady, Byri, starring Syed Majeed, talks about pigeon racing and its politics.

The film is about pigeon racing, and hot-headed individuals finding themselves going down the rabbit hole of murder, and mayhem. The movie comprising of a relatively unknown cast and crew does one thing that many big-ticket films with the biggest of stars fails to do. Byri keeps us engaged. Even though the film is rough around the edges, it is constantly on the move, going from one set-piece to another, and ensures we are drawn into this world that is true to its setting in Nagercoil. Raw performances comes as a refreshing change even though certain contrived scenes, especially the romantic portions prove, to be deterrents.

Hit List

Gautham Vasudev starred in Hitlist, the debut film of actor Vijay Kanishka.

What if someone who lives a rather non-violent life, adopts vegetarianism, espoused the belief that no living creature should be killed, is forced to go on a murderous rampage. A rampage that is not of his own doing, but has him placed firmly between a rock and a hard place? When a sadistic voice in his ears asks him to kill one person, maim another, and there is no where to run or hide, what does a man do? In a rather intriguing but inspired premise, Hit List weaves a tale that unravels with decent precision, held together by a debut performance by Vijay Kanishka that is as compelling as it is convincing.

Deepavali Bonus

Vikranth and Riythvika play a matured and understanding couple in Deepavali Bonus.

It is beautiful how marriage is called ‘Oru Naal Koothu’ aka ‘One day festivities’ to remind us how it is not just a special day, but also just one day in our lives. It is a gentle reminder that it is futile to invest so much money into one occasion in our lives that are filled with many such events, most of which are recurring. There is Pongal every year. There is Diwali every year. So, the onus of celebrating it with the same gusto every single year falls on the people running every family. Deepavali Bonus is about one such family where seeing the smiles on each other’s faces trumps adversity, obstacles, and never-ending woes. It is a heartwarming tale of how the weight of the economy is always a burden, but scores of families power through the same in the hope of a better tomorrow. Director Jeyabal, with the able support of Vikranth and Riythvika, tells a simple story of wants, desires, ambition, hope, and how all of them are grounded by the idea of reality, which surges through in the belief that there is light at the end of the tunnel.