Big event films, other bountiful promises
Big event films are the arterial lifeline of Indian cinema, bringing festivities, year-round discussions, and new records. Unfortunately, for Tamil cinema, 2024 has been a disappointing year for big event films. Even though we had a big-budget title from most big Tamil stars, none lived up to the hype they naturally amassed when they were announced.
It was the story-driven dramas like Amaran and Maharaja, and the surprise entries like Lover, Lubber Pandhu, and Meiyazhagan, that thankfully broke and far exceeded the bounds of their respective expectations. While cinema is equal parts art and business, an argument could be made that Tamil cinema has a touch more of art in its blood.
Consequently, a decline in the quality of big event Tamil films in 2024 has little to no bearing on shaping the trend of 2025, as it would in any logic-based system like business. That is perhaps why, despite the number of duds it faced last year, you can feel the excitement in the air and the resounding cheer of the fandom, as Tamil cinema loads its cannon with several big shots, as it gears up for 2025.
From Spectator to Centre Stage
From Manjummel Boys to Pushpa 2: The Rule, Tamil cinema has been in spectator mode for most of 2024. However, 2025 offers a healthy dose of big-budget star vehicles in Tamil, from all the top guns in the industry. Right out of the gate, we have Ajith Kumar and Magizh Thirumeni’s Vidaamuyarchi, blasting off with the industry’s first festive season, Pongal.
Joining the Pongal race is Bala and Arun Vijay’s long-awaited Vanangaan. Noticeably absent from last year, Ajith will be back again with Good Bad Ugly, his highly anticipated collaborative venture with Adhik Ravichandran. Speaking of collaborations, Rajinikanth and Lokesh Kanagaraj are serving up, what looks to be, Tamil cinema’s biggest mass masala offering to a pan-Indian audience this year: Coolie.
The most celebrated collaboration of Tamil cinema is marking a reunion after 35 years. Expected to carry equal measures of commercial value and artistic merit, Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam’s Thug Life is a bow launching multiple arrows expected to hit multiple bulls’ eyes across multiple film industries.
Even though Indian 2 faced harsh criticisms, the one thing about the film that appealed to every audience was the brief peek at Indian 3, which is all set to release this year. As a film that marks a milestone event in both Tamil cinema and the Tamil political scene, Thalapathy 69, announced as Vijay’s final film, carries a historical significance and will undoubtedly register the biggest opening for a Tamil film, no matter which way the dial moves on its final verdict.
Heavy Hitters Return for a Bigger Swing
Cinema is a collaborative art form, which means that sometimes, even if you pour your heart and soul into your craft, your work might slip under the radar, lost in the torrential wave of mixed responses to the final output. Even with critical acclaim for the film and high praise for his extreme dedication in Thangalaan, it seemed like Vikram deserved a bigger, cleaner win last year.
His upcoming film with SU Arun Kumar, Veera Dheera Sooran, a rustic action drama, seems to have piqued interest with how it seemingly brings Vikram back to a simple, contained setting. With Dhanush’s performance being the single biggest anchor propping up two major releases last year (Captain Miller and Raayan), his upcoming directorial starring himself in the lead, Idly Kadai, brims with the hope of delivering a long-overdue indisputable win for the actor-director.
Any and all doubts about Suriya’s star power after Kanguva were quickly expunged with the title teaser of Retro. With expectations riding high, the film has the added appeal of bringing a Karthik Subbaraj padam to the big screens after a while.
Twist in the Team-Up
While we do like our favourite collaborations, like Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan or Rajini and Lokesh Kanagaraj, it is the unexpected that piques our interest. Excitement and surprises are offspring of random and we always find delight in the unexpected, which is why 2025 brings us a slew of delightfully new team-ups. Nobody expected Suriya to star in an RJ Balaji directorial but the announcement alone has made Suriya 45 climb up the list of the most expected films this year.
The same goes for Kubera, Dhanush’s first collaboration with director Sekhar Kammula and Nagarjuna. Even though a Mari Selvaraj-Dhruv Vikram team-up has been teased for a while, the idea of seeing Dhruv, an actor largely known for urban-centric roles, in the metaphorically and thematically rich world of Mari, generates its own levels of curiosity for Bison. With Chiyaan 63, Vikram is collaborating with Maaveeran-fame Madonne Ashwin, who is also known for experimenting with every film. Another highly anticipated team-up that is finally coming to fruition in 2025 is the Sivakarthikeyan-AR Murugadoss film, which is primed to be one of Tamil cinema’s biggest actioners this year.
Sivakarthikeyan is also part of a surprising combo in SK 25, which sees him teaming up with director Sudha Kongara and Jayam Ravi. Even the announcement for Dragon was initially rolled out as the Pradeep-Ashwath combo. With Ashwath Marimuthu’s flair for romantic comedy and Pradeep Ranganathan’s intense relatability, Dragon is touted as a light-hearted romance drama targeted at youngsters, which brings us to Tamil cinema’s latest conundrum.
Return of the Breeze
It has been no secret that with the large number of gritty gangster films, action thrillers, and intense social dramas in the last few years, Tamil audiences have started to yearn for breezy old-school romance dramas. However, 2025 brings a healthy dose of lighthearted tales of love. With AR Rahman setting the tone with his chartbuster ‘Yennai Izhukkuthadi’, Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi’s Kadhalikka Neramillai, starring Jayam Ravi and Nithya Menen, is already brimming with promise.
Billed as a sci-fi rom-com, Vignesh Shivan’s Love Insurance Kompany, with Pradeep Ranganathan and Krithi Shetty in the lead, seems to be exploring the highs and lows of new-age relationships. Nesippaya brings director Vishnuvardhan back to Tamil cinema after a decade, while Once More, starring Aditi Shankar and Arjun Das, asserts its conviction in its genre, by setting a Valentine’s release date.
Also arriving on Valentine’s week, Nilavuku En Mel Ennadi Kobam sees Dhanush stepping back to stay in the director’s chair. The film, with a young ensemble cast, is expected to truthfully capture the relationship of Gen Z.
Ace up the Sleeve
Time and again, Tamil cinema has proven that while it can satisfactorily pull off appealing team-ups, revive genres, capture trends, and big-budget star vehicles, it is much more than that. Like every year, Tamil cinema also has a couple of wild cards this year that are gathering intrigue merely by the weight of their premise alone. After doing the rounds in several international film festival circuits, director Ram’s Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai, about an immortal man’s tryst with love, is all set to arrive this year.
A strange mix of genres, Ace is a romantic crime comedy starring Vijay Sethupathi and Rukmini Vasanth in the lead. Vijay Sethupathi will also be seen in Mysskin’s Train. Arriving this January, Guru Somasundaram-starrer Bottle Radha, a non-preachy redemption story about an alcoholic, seems to hold a lot of potential.
Even with the star power of Karthi and the cult-like following for director Nalan Kumarasamy, it was the quirky teaser of Vaa Vaathiyaar that ultimately gained the film a group of eager fans. In a way, almost the entire Tamil cinema seems to operate similarly. Whether it is an auteur film or a star vehicle, fans might find excitement in the glamorous potential of a film, its team, its budget, or its historical significance, but ultimately they never forget to look at its core, at whether or not it might offer an interesting story, which evidently, 2025 seems to have a lot of.