‘Content’
is
an
ugly
word
used
to
tie
together
a
myriad
of
stories
out
there
but
the
market
seems
to
respond
to
it.
Audiences
seem
to
prefer
experiential,
novel
stories
over
stale,
formulaic
films.
Arjun
Menon
looks
at
the
Top
10
South
films
that
made
an
impact
in
2024.
Kalki
2898
AD
Director:
Nag
Ashwin
Cast:
Prabhas,
Amitabh
Bachchan,
Kamal
Haasan
and
Deepika
Padukone
Director
Nag
Ashwin
cracked
the
formulae
of
the
spectacle,
rooted
in
its
mythological
origins
in
the
biggest
motion
picture
of
2024.
The
passion
project
brought
together
big
names
like
Prabhas,
Amitabh
Bachchan,
Kamal
Haasan
and
Deepika
Padukone,
among
others,
to
tell
the
story
of
a
hero’s
journey
that
traces
its
roots
back
to
our
mythology.
The
film’s
well
thought-out
use
of
‘Blade
Runner‘
in
the
world
of
the
Mahabharata
cracked
the
confluence
of
a
certain
fantasy
aesthetic
with
the
right
amount
of
conviction
and
grandeur.
The
sweeping
scope,
ambition
and
heart
at
the
center
of
this
spectacle
make
one
hopeful
for
the
much-anticipated
sequel.
Maharaja
(2024)
Director:
Nithilan
Saaminathan
Cast:
Vijay
Sethupathi.
Anurag
Kashyap,
Mamta
Mohandas
and
Sachana
Namidass
The
tradition
of
‘Revengomatic’
film
is
not
new
to
our
cinema
and
has
been
a
constant
staple
of
mainstream
potboilers.
The
effectiveness
of
a
revenge
narrative
is
banking
on
the
emotional
cogency
of
the
hero’s
plight
and
his
relentless
tussle
with
his
moral
boundaries.
Maharaja
is
one
of
the
most
fascinating,
structured
mainstream
films
in
recent
times,
where
our
empathy
for
the
central
figure
sidesteps
our
expectations
of
a
routine
revenge
flick.
Vijay
Sethupathi’s
turn
as
a
socially
awkward
father
trying
to
trace
his
missing
teenage
daughter
is
the
fulcrum
around
which
Director
Nithilan
Saminathan
stacks
up
a
seemingly
mundane
narrative
about
two
men,
mirrored
to
form
a
complicated,
unrelenting
portrait
of
psychopathy
as
well
as
violence
and
its
effects.
The
closing
shot
of
the
film
is
one
of
the
most
symbolically
elegant,
yet
disturbing
images
in
recent
memory.
Aadujeevitham
Director:
Blessy
Stars:
Prithviraj
Sukumaran,
Amala
Paul,
K
R
Gokul
and
Jimmy
Jean-Louis
Any
adaptation
of
a
popular
text
may
not
meet
fan
expectations.
Aadujeevitham,
adapted
from
Benyamin’s
bestselling
novel
of
the
same
name,
is
one
of
those
rare
instances,
where
the
heightened
sensibility
and
poetic
insistence
makes
up
for
the
description-heavy
source
text.
It
is
aided
by
a
challenging
performance
by
the
leading
man,
whose
physical
preparation
for
the
character
will
go
down
as
a
piece
of
Malayalam
cinema’s
triumphant
behind
the
scenes
stories.
Prithviraj
Sukumaran
is
an
immigrant
from
a
village
in
Kerala,
who
is
tricked
into
a
life
of
servitude
and
extreme
hardship
on
a
goat
farm
in
the
Middle
East.
The
film
noted
mostly
for
its
excruciatingly
long
production
history
marred
by
the
pandemic,
production
halts
and
numerous
issues
plaguing
the
team,
created
history
in
Malayalam
cinema
with
its
glorious
box
office
run
and
widespread
critical
acclaim.
A
R
Rahman’s
melancholic
score
and
director
Blessy’s
maximalist
take
on
a
life-affirming
subject
matter
made
it
a
standout
production
in
recent
Malayalam
cinema
history
of
great
cultural
and
cinematic
curiosity.
Manjummel
Boys
Director:
Chidambaram
Cast:
Soubin
Shahir,
Sreenath
Bhasi,
Deepak
Parambol
and
Khalid
Rahman.
At
this
point,
there
is
nothing
much
left
unsaid
about
the
earth-shattering
box
office
success
of
Chidambaram’s
survival
thriller
Majummel
Boys,
which
is
the
highest-grossing
Malayalam
language
film.
This
ensemble
featuring
a
roster
of
talent
from
the
new
generation
of
Malayalam
cinema
told
the
story
of
a
group
of
men
and
their
attempt
to
save
a
friend
after
an
unexpected
accident
during
their
visit
to
a
tourist
location
upends
their
carefree
trip.
The
film
is
an
exercise
in
tension
that
thrives
on
its
back-and-forth
narrative
splicing
strategy.
The
resilience
of
the
human
spirit
and
relentless
friendship
are
celebrated
in
this
chamber
piece
about
a
group
of
buddies,
who
come
to
terms
with
their
existence
on
a
fateful
day.
The
Kanmani
Anbodu
Kaathalan
song
at
the
end
of
the
film
is
arguably
the
greatest,
most
inventive
needle
drop
moment
in
any
Indian
film
this
past
year,
which
both
provided
new
context
and
meaning
to
the
chartbuster
Illaiyaraja
classic
from
Guna.
Saripodhaa
Sanivaaram
Director:
Vivek
Athreya
Cast:
Nani,
S
J
Suryah,
Priyanka
Mohan
and
Sai
Kumar
Saripodhaa
Sanivaaram
stands
out
among
this
year’s
theatrical
releases
for
its
sly
irreverence
to
the
in-demand
formulas
of
our
pulpy
action
entertainer
brand
of
cinema.
Screenwriter-Director
Vivek
Athreya
upended
the
done-to-death
tropes
of
mainstream
action
by
spinning
a
unique
conceit
into
the
story
of
a
reluctant
hero,
whose
anger
lands
him
in
opposition
to
the
corrupt
police
chief
wreaking
havoc
on
the
local
people.
The
coming-of-age
of
the
hero,
who
is
forced
to
be
the
saviour
of
the
downtrodden,
is
expertly
subverted
with
a
keen
eye
for
clever
scenarios
where
the
intrusive
goodness
of
the
hero
is
balanced
by
the
quirky,
nonchalance
of
the
antagonist.
No
action
film
has
managed
to
steer
clear
of
cliches
with
such
a
commitment
to
novelty
as
this
Nani
and
S
J
Suryah-starring
experiment.
Meiyazhagan
Director:
C
Premkumar
Cast:
Karthi,
Aravind
Swamy,
Sri
Divya
The
director
of
the
much-acclaimed
romance
96
made
his
comeback
with
Meiyazhagan,
which
explores
the
stories
of
two
individuals
uprooted
from
their
surroundings
at
a
young
age
and
finding
their
worlds
inverted
at
a
later
stage
by
a
special
person
from
their
past.
The
gradual
sight
of
the
city-dwelling
Arulmozhi’s
superficial,
bubbled
existence
being
upended
by
a
dear
one
from
his
past
is
a
sweetheart
ache
in
cinematic
form.
Meiyazhagan
is
not
your
routine
run-of-the-mill
comfort
watch
but
a
film
that
slowly
rubs
against
the
vestiges
of
goodness
within
each
of
us,
with
its
own
leisurely,
laid-back
rhythms.
No
movie
has
come
close
to
touching
a
nerve
of
emotional
truth-seeking
as
this
wondrous
conversational
piece,
brimming
with
a
rare
sort
of
humanism.
Aavesham
Director:
Jithu
Madhavan
Cast:
Fahadh
Faasil,
Sajin
Gopu,
Hipster.
Fahadh
Faasil
has
risen
quickly
to
be
a
nationally
recognised
actor,
whose
reputation
for
quirky,
larger-than-life
parts
precedes
him.
In
Aavesham,
Fahadh
plays
a
feared
gangster,
whose
penchant
for
violence
is
met
only
by
his
desire
for
maternal
love.
The
film
ended
up
becoming
the
actor’s
biggest
box
office
success
to
date
and
accentuated
his
already
meteoring
‘Pan
Indian’
fame.
His
character
Ranga
might
well
be
one
of
the
central
pop
cultural
figures
to
have
emerged
from
recent
Malayalam
cinema,
inspiring
countless
‘memes
and
reels’
dedicated
to
his
peculiar
accent
and
wardrobe.
The
story
has
the
gangster
forge
a
bind
with
a
naive
set
of
college
students,
as
a
means
to
fill
the
gaping
void
in
his
existence,
and
it
is
one
of
the
funniest
take
down’s
of
the
‘amma
paasam‘
and
‘dead
mother’
trope
used
in
mainstream
cinema,
where
the
emotional
connect
of
the
plot
is
used
to
elevate
the
hero’s
likeability.
Thangaalan
Director:
Pa
Ranjith
Cast:
Vikram,
Parvathy
Thiruvothu,
Malavika
Mohanan
Vikram
is
known
for
his
chameleon-like
credentials,
when
it
comes
to
his
physical
transformations
for
roles,
and
he
proves
that
with
his
latest
film,
Thangaalan.
Director
Pa
Ranjith’s
gutsy
take
on
magic
realism,
within
the
skin
of
a
tale
of
political
uprising
is
an
ode
to
the
forgotten
heroes
from
history.
Usually
in
films
dealing
with
pre-independent
India,
the
focus
lies
on
the
freedom
struggle
from
a
generic
point
of
view,
eschewing
nuances
of
class
and
caste
representation.
But
Pa
Ranjith
places
an
epic
period
adventure
tale
within
a
caste
based
narrative
that
tells
an
important
story.
It
got
good
numbers
at
the
box
office.
Laughing
Buddha
Director:
M
Bharath
Raj
Cast:
Pramod
Shetty,
Teju
Belawadi,
Sundar
Raj,
Diganth
Few
Indian
films
have
captured
the
authentic
life
of
the
police
force
with
such
delicate
flourishes
like
this
Pramod
Shetty
starrer.
This
story
of
a
good
natured
cop,
whose
delicious
cooking
prompts
criminals
to
confess
to
crimes,
is
exactly
the
kind
of
breezy,
light-hearted
fun
that
the
title
promises.
Rishabh
Shetty’s
production
Laughing
Buddha
is
as
uneventful
as
a
film
can
be,
yet
it
captures
the
texture
and
feel
of
gruelling
mundane
police
work.
The
film,
despite
its
modest
budget
and
star
cast,
managed
to
capture
audience
attention
from
the
host
of
Kannada
releases
this
year.
There
might
be
differences
of
opinion
about
the
scattered
focus
of
the
screenplay
that
tries
to
be
too
many
things
at
once
but
the
charm
of
Laughing
Buddha
makes
it
worthwhile.
Kishkindha
Kaandam
Director:
Dinjith
Ayyathan
Cast:
Asif
Ali,
Vijaya
Raghavan,
Aparna
Balamurali
Kishkindha
Kaandam
was
a
surprise
hit
of
2024.
The
Asif
Ali
starrer
elevated
a
pulpy,
noir
staple
into
a
memorable
exercise
in
suspense.
The
film
dealing
with
the
seemingly
strained
relationship
between
an
ex-soldier
and
his
recently
remarried
son
upended
all
expectations
of
a
routine
thriller
with
its
attention
to
detail
and
layered
screenplay.
I
can’t
recall
a
more
satisfying
theatre
watch
this
year,
where
I
saw
the
audience
hold
their
breaths
and
marvel
at
the
inspired
writing.
Vijayaraghavan
and
Asif
Ali
take
seemingly
cipher
archetypes
and
turn
in
some
of
the
best
acting
of
their
careers.
Bahul
Ramesh’s
screenplay
managed
to
capture
a
certain
appetite
for
novel
storytelling
that
will
be
discussed
for
years
to
come.
