Just to start with a few... This page i have just started building it. Not even contains half of what i'll have in the end but a start anyways, hopefully it will contain all class movies of tamil as i remember and do it properly ... I've ordered little, but apart from that Its little random, i'll try to organize them more into proper groups later.... visit this page often - i put in updates as and when i remember the movies. SO UNDER CONSTRUCTION until finished ;-). Mail your suggestions on many movies i've missed.
Visit my HomePage If you have not :-).
Pooveli - A very nice movie. Liked this a lot, as it was practical and how love is just a feeling and can reoccur in life. Friendship changing slowly to a love because of circumstance was shown nicely. Ending was little too dramatized for my taste, apart from that a excellent movie with superb songs too. Cast: Karthik, Kousalya, Heera.Kaadhalukku Mariyaadhai - One of the all time best movies. Not just another love movie, but how parents are important for our indian society is shown nicely (suprisingly the religion difference of couples is underplayed and i liked that). I had mist eyes :-) when the pair decides to split and ofcourse the ending (superb!!). I saw the original malayalam version "Aniyathi piravu" also - even though i don't know malayalam. It was also great. Songs in both this movies are great (and different tunes). Cast: Vijay, Shalini
KanduKondaen Kandukondaen - straight from "Sense and Sensibility" of jane austen. Modified for our current tamil generation. Very nicely done although with few flaws (Abbas is one of them). Tabu, Ash turns excellent performances - a satisfying point in that heroines dominated the movie (rare in tamil) even though there were heroes. Ignore few dramatic scenes (tabu becoming a programmer ;-) from receptionist etc) this is a excellent entertainer. Songs are fabulous. Cast: Tabu, Aishwarya Rai, Mamooty, Ajith
Azhagi - Wow. this one traces the child-love (or infactuation??) of a pair and the differences in their fate. Paarthiban and Nandita Das turns in a performance of Tamil cinema. The village scenes of kids are nice, although teen scenes (except the excellent song - Oliyile therivathu) are little stupid. Devayani also portrays a believable character of basically good natured woman but holds husband closely to her heart (with little jealous, possesivness). Its sort of revolution that this movie was a hit too :-). Cast: Paarthiban, Nandita Das, Devyani
Sethu One of the heart wrenching performance of all time by Vikram. The story even though little on usual line, it made the audience cry at the end. Even the newcomer actress did a great job. A career turning point movie for vikram and deservingly so. A rowdy hero falling in love and transformation is common story line. Then the story takes a different line with a gruesome depiction of how mentally retarded are treated in india. It makes you flinch and is nauseating. Ending is not a happy one, but thats what makes this movie remembered by the viewer.
Dumm Dumm Dumm - A nice wholesome entertainer. Madhavan's magic smile just carries away lot of people (gals ofcourse :-)). Songs are great and wondefully picturized. Stunts to put off their marriage by hero and heroine were done in imaginative way. They eventually falling in love with each other albeit little cinematic was done quiet nicely. Drags little in the end with fake climaxes. Jyothika comes in here standard-made-for-her role. Vivek adds some good laughing moments. Cast: Madhavan, Jyothika, Vivek.
Poove Unakkaga - Vijay's career turning point movie. super good films really proved their name - a superb and good film. During our college days it got released and i remember all "love" guys ;-) melted seeing this movie with lot of senti dialogues ("first love one will remember always" etc). Vijay proved that he can act and do good roles. Director deserves kudos. Sangeetha came in her standard chutti role. songs were nice. Even if you don't love the concept of Love you might still love this movie. Cast: Vijay, Sangeetha
Sollamale - Tamil like other indian languages had its share of too many love movies, but this one really touches the heart. Livingston is a very good actor (although comes as a surprise for many and i'm surprised he didn't make it big). This one is proof of it and Kowsalya turned in a decent performance (i liked her lot during this time though ;-)). A nice melodious heart touching movie with some comedy too. Cast: Livingston, Kowsalya
Rhythm - Nice melodious movie (not to mention the superb melodious songs too). De-emphasizing heroine's being a widow and emphasizing the smooth relationship developing between the lead pair was done greatly by director(good job by vasanth). Jyothika coming for sometime impresses. Arjun, Meena did a great job. I wonder why heroine's marraige has to be shown as unconsummated (tamil sentiment huh? - even if its a remarriage she has to be virgin is stupid - anyway we'll forgive the director for the compromise). The boy and arjun scenes make us feel wonderful. Little drama ending, neverthless a superb one to watch - I enjoyed it very much. Cast: Meena, Arjun, Jyothika
Keladi Kanmani Vasanth's debut if i'm right. "Mannil indha kaathalinri" - SPB's song (continuous in saranam and no breath in between) is a class one. Possesiveness of daughter, widower meeting a nice woman and both interested - the human psychology was handled believably. Janakaraj provided few good comedy moments and made us pity him with his one-sided love. SPB and Radhika - unbelievable job. Half-baked (positive?? or didn't want to be negative) ending. Love has no age limit and this movie presents it in acceptable form. Some dramatic moments (deaf and dumb parents of heroine). Translation of their (dumb) language by a Kid to SPB was great. A good one. Cast: SPB, Radhika, Janakaraj
Vaalee Just for performance of Ajeeth and simran this is a movie to watch. Not a great core concept of trying to take brother's wife, but it was nicely handled in the movie with nothing to make you cringe, shows the director's skills. some decent songs and catching moments (ajeeth making simran fall for him). a nice entertainer.
Baatcha - It might even be said as a typical "Rajni" movie, but for sure its an absolute entertainer (except the ending). You know that hero is some big guy and it brings the animalistic attitude of vengence when his family is taken for ride (i'm sure viewers feel it). How he withstands when he himself is harmed is something to take to heart. His dealings to get a medical seat to his sister was absolutely thilling. A decent movie with some ok songs. Cast: Rajini, Nagma
Mannan A comedy in which rajni excels. simple expected story line, but a nice entertainer with few koothu songs. A MCP movie in some way ;-), but let us pardon it for providing a decent movie. Cast: Rajni, Vijayashanthi, Kushboo
Andha Ezhu Naatkal An old concept involving lover-before-marriage/husband. Rajesh turned in a great understanding human being, a nice son, father role. Baghyaraj touch in entire movie with him turning a superb performance along with ambika. A nice comedy-and-family movie. Cast: Rajesh, BaghyaRaj, Ambika
Vaazhve Maayam A sad ending love story. Little like devdas, neverthless makes your eyes mist. Songs are great and worthy performances. Cast: Kamal, Sridevi, Sripriya
Oru Thalai Raagam A movie which is the landmark for love story movies after wards. T.Rajendar's directorial debut was one's dream. His stamping dialogues were there and with him in a small role - the story he tells of the love of Roja and Kuruvi makes one cry. Most songs were most melodious and evergreen hits. Lead pair and others turned in good performance, the ending even though little dramatic is believable and makes you so sad. You pity with the hero and even might hate the heroine which is a success of that character. Her circumstance of not accepting the love was not conveyed convincingly, but i guess thats how the real life is. Will be sure remembered forever as the greatest one sided love story told in tamil.
Moonram Pirai Another sad ending love story. But much more emotional, both kamal and sridevi turned in one of their all time high performances, kamal got national award. It was a controversy that sridevi should have got it also. Neverthless it makes you sad in the end. Kannadsan's last song "Kanne Kalaimaane" is an all time hit. Cast: Kamal, Sridevi
Veedu National award winner with a superb story. It really touches the heart and you can connect with it. How a middle class longs for a house of their own and the problems/joy when they build one. Archana and chokkalinga bagavathar steals the show with director (balu mahendara) stamping his touch. Cast: Archana, Chokkalinga bagavathar
Chinna Gounder Vijaykanth's one of the mega hits. RV.Udaykumar who was delivering hits consistently that time even reached higher with this one. The concept of village respected person having honor etc has been used in tamil so many times after this movie (has become a joke). But this one when it came it was done greatly and even now it will be better than others i feel. This movie was popular (or notorious ;-)) for "pamabaram viduthal". Suganya - Manorama fights intially were hilarious. Usual climax, neverthless you can sit through it. Cast: Vijaykanth, Suganya, Manorama
Chinna Thambi One of the huge hits in tamil. Just for Songs you can watch it. If you look at logic and all you can critic this movie in lot of ways. who cares, its great entertainment till the irritating climax. Prabhu and Kushbu did their roles well. Everybody else were just there in the movie (what else can i say). Cast: Prabhu, Kushbu
Mundhaanai Mudichu The movie which carried bhagyaraj to his peak. A family based - targeted at women - movie. A good mixture of comedy and seriousness, good songs, screenplay carries this movie. It was a huge hit and "murungaikkaai" assumed special significance ;-) in the society (whether its true or not). Cast: Bhagyaraj, Oorvashi
Alai Payuthe - I like maniratnam movies a lot. This love story is quiet common (similar to one even in our class) and was done nicely. I liked the close to reality happenings of Before-Love/After-Love differences which can happen in couples, although in this movie the reasons for them were not that natural. Songs were great and an excellent movie. Cast: Madhavan, Shalini
Mouna Ragam - Simply Fantastic. The girl character avoiding marriage (or fearing) was done nicely - although her first love was not so believable. But those scenes excel and karthik lights up with a performance of life time. The love (what else you can call it) which slowly develops between the husband and wife who are living separately in the same house was beautifully portrayed. Mohan excels in gentleman character - a role model of how guys should be when it comes to their spouse. His fear and initial trying to talk to revathi to refuse the alliance which she also tries to do (indirectly) which makes him accept it was done excellently (NICE). superb songs too . no wonder it won national award. Cast: Mohan, Revathi, Karthik
Anjali - A heart touching movie. Although kids doing all those stuff in an apt complex makes you long for childhood and a place like that to live, i guess its not that much realistic. But afterall movies are little fantasies, and this parts were so much fun, including mottai-madi love :-). All actors (ofcourse kids too) turned excellent performance. Songs are great. Cast: Raghuvaran, Revathi, Baby Shamli
Iruvar - Its sort of tracing the life of MGR-Karunanidhi-Jayalalitha (to some extent) during the peak Dravidar movement period in TamilNadu. If you follow politics and/or interested in history this is a movie to watch. Although because of (political) compulsions there had been compromises (to insure noone is showed badly) in the movie its a excellently made movie. Songs are sizzling (hats off Vairamuthu and ARR), bringing the periodic feelings. Mohanlal, Ash (both roles) turns in absolutely phenomenal performance. Ash is Beauty, takes away all males (irrespective of age) heart and womens too i'm sure. Cast: Mohanlal, Aishwarya Rai, Prakash Raj, Gowthami
Nayagan Like GodFather in english this movie is a great one and has a striking similarly storyline but with Mumbai-Tamils as background (with some reality added to it - Taravai etc). Kamal rightly won national award for his performance. Although portraying goodness of outlaws is a common concept, this one stucks chord. Kamals daughter is the actual checkmate, eventhough she turns in weak in the end - its an ideal character, especially the scene she proves "Right/Wrong depends on the viewers discretion" by raising hand on kamal's household person. Climax was superb. Songs are good. Cast: Kamal, Keerthiga, Naasar, Nizhalgal Ravi, Saranya
Roja It scintillates with patriotism. It gave ARR to the world and vairamuthu got national award for a song in this. "Chinna Chinna Aasai" brought out everybody's dreams. A small village is connected with kashmir struggle through a software engineer (wow :-)). Lot of moments to enjoy in this movie with terrific songs. Cast: Aravindswamy, Madhubala, Naasar
Kannathil Muthamittaal Another gem. The story revolving around a 10 year old and portrayed from her view point is very different for a tamil movie. Madhavan and Simran were simply great, the unusual proposal, hugs ;-), simran more like a kid yearning for love/acceptance of her daughter all frames have the mani's touch. The movie deals with adoption, the parents and kid's dilemma. Srilankan issue was handled in a humane way instead of just concentrating on the conflict it shows the human sufferings (although one side of it) and not on who is right/wrong. Prakash raj does a good supporting role and what to say about keerthana - acting is in her genes. A worthy performance and not overdone.
Idhaiyathai Thirudaathe Its dubbed from telugu movie "geethanjali". Surprisingly the songs in tamil also were good. "odi poidalaama" dialogue became popular, girija did her role very well - girl with child attitude in few things, fantasy for many guys. Nagarjun also gave a good performance ably supported by others. Love blooming between near-death people is core of the movie and climax was open ended. Cast: Nagarjun, Girija
Agni Natchathiram Two families (two wives) and the conflict between the (step) brothers. The music and songs were simply too good (ilayaraja's master performance). Prabhu and Karthik were perfect fit for their roles, Amala as a innocent-bubbly babe. Nirosha was a weaklink the movie. The story even though a usual (tamil) one - the director made it an amazing one to watch and cherish. A wholesome entertainer.
Thirudaa Thirudaa Another entertainer and fun movie from maniratnam. Two smalltime theieves how they get connected to a biggest robbery (a truck full of money). Heera did a different role as a innocent villager and suprisingly turned in a good performance. Songs were great ("Veerapandi kottaiyile", "konjam nilavu", "raasathi enusuru"). A triangle love story and the movie ends with no conclusion (left to the viewer). A fun ride... worth taking.
Gentleman Just for songs (although they faded away with time) this deserves to be watched. The movie addresses some social issues also about education oppurtunity for all but it gets suppressed in the entertainer package its presented in. Cast: Arjun, Madhubala, Koundamani
Mudhalvan Another shankar hit with smart mixing of a social message in a absolute entertainer. Manisha looks and feels old. Apart from that this movie is good and has some high moments like arjun's interview with CM and lot of little-over-dramatic moments. Cast: Arjun, Manisha
Indian Against corruption and the theme comes suprisingly strong compared to other shankar movies. Old Kamal relishes the role. Timepass heroines are also there with some eye catching songs. Cast: Kamal, Manisha, Urmila, Suganya
Kaadhalan Just LOVE. Even this the director proves his knack in making the viewer sit through the movie. Songs as usual help a lot. Nagama no wonder stole many hearts (gopala gopala...). Cast: Prabhudeva, Nagma
Thevar Magan Unbeatable. Sivaji and Kamal all the way, you just cannot express their acting skills in words - this movie being a gem in their collection. Revathi and Gowthami all turned in one of their greatest performance. Songs were simply great with chitra getting national award for "Inji iduppazhagaa". Right mix of village culture, people, sentiments. Why this movie is in this category is the message of "badness of caste violence" came very strongly. "enakkulla thungikittu irukkira mirugathai ezhuppathe" kind of evergreen and touching dialogues were the mark of this movie. A MUST SEE for all. Cast: Sivaji, Kamal, Revathi, Gowthami
Karuthamma Just for the concept i liked this movie. About "girl kids killing" as soon as they are born since they are viewed as burden. Songs are bonus in this movie. Female cast and the father steals the show. A nicely made movie.
Vedham Puthithu It strikes you with dialogues about the caste system and its harmful impact on society. Lovely movie with even a love in it ;-). Subtle but superb performance by amala. Sathyaraj and that boy, saritha makes you feel their emotions, innoncence, love. one of the best ones by the director. Cast: Sathyaraj, Saritha, Amala, Raja
Puthumai Penn It got even "TaxExemption" from TN State Govt. Touches the ever menacing Dowry business and women suppresion. Like bharathi's puthumai penn revathi walks away from her husband. One of the exemptions from normal movie making
Anbe Sivam Well Kamal and Madhavan just scintillated the screen and their chemistry was too good. This movie can be summarised by one line in a song "for athiests love is god, for theists god is love". The way movie was taken - in a light comedy, without dosage of sorrow in a heavy subject is simply amazing. one drawback was the lead-pair love for commercial interests i guess, kiran was okay, but not needed. Ending was good except the supposedly turning point in madhavan's marriage. A feel good movie which makes you feel good at the end.
Michael Madana Kamarajan One of the best comedies in tamil cinema. A jolly timepass movie (should not think too much of logic). Madan kamal in Keralite brahmin role turns in a great performance, along with Oorvashi. Ending was useless, apart from that the movie flies by with few above-average songs. Cast: Kamal, Oorvashi, Kushboo
Sathi Leelavathy A comedy with drama feeling (crazy). It makes you laugh your hearts out. Story of a wife getting back her husband from his mistress. little dramatized, but worth watching. Cast: Kamal, Kalpana, Kovai sarala
Sundara Purushan Pleasantly surprised with this movie as i went with not much expectation. A tricky story line but carried smoothly with a lovable ending. Livingston was so apt to the rule and rambha helped him. A good comedy. Cast: Livingston, Rambha
Darling Darling Although this can be classified elsewhere it comes first in mind as a comedy. Bhaghyaraj and Poornima became real life pair later and this movie probably formed the basis for it. Poor hero - rich heroine love story is so old, but with comedy and nice screenplay this one moves well. The ending was fun. Cast: Bhagyaraj, Poornima
Oomai Vizhigal This set the standard/trend for lot of film institute students entering into film industry. Really a heart-stopping, scary thriller for tamil. Aabhavaanan made his name in this film and vijaykanth proved his calibre.
Poovizhi Vaasalile A thriller (they are so rare in tamil) with a little subtle melodius love, decent songs makes this a nice movie. The dumb and deaf child steals the show, ably aided by lead characters. Cast: Sathya raj, Keerthiga
Vidinja Kalyanam A nail-baiting movie, it was a sleeper hit during that time i remember. Keeps you guessing who the murderer is with few sentiments (sigh) etc. A rare movie in tamil. Cast: Sathyaraj, Sujatha
Puriyatha Puthir Another suspense movie in tamil. Raghuvaran did an excellent role. "I know"
Sivappu Rojokkal A different Bharathi Raja movie. Its an Adults movie (!!). Kamal and Sridevi turned into the characters itself. Some songs are evergreen hits. A negative hero is not so uncommon in tamil but this one is one of the best among them. Cast: Kamal, Sridevi
Nooravathu Naal Whenever murder filled movies are talked about this is among the top. Infact its notorious even to have inspired (!!) a serial killer. Not for faint hearted. Cast: Mohan, Nalini, Vijaykanth
Pulan Visaranai Vijaykanth's trade-mark role movie. It has got good pace and at that time it was capturing some current happenings (human part selling). Sarathkumar had the villain role and did a good job. vijaykanth did too many police officer role after this i guess, still this one stands out, even sometimes not-so-believable fights.
Captain Prabhakaran Another movie of vijaykanth, his own production (??), 100th movie. Ofcourse why he named this movie so is no secret that time. Sarathkumar was moving up the ladder and had a great (even though small role). "Aatamaa Therottama" song has made generation of youth to dance in any music concert. Picturization and the movie tempo was great.
Walter Vetrivel Sathyaraj's all time high movie. He was so suited to the role and suganya turned in good supporting performance and even had a "local song - Chinna raasave chitterumbu ennai kadikuthu" with dance sensation prabhu-deva. kadamai,kanniyam,kattupadu (duty,honor and control) the qualities of a policeman shines in the lead role. Cast: Sathyaraj, Suganya
Ithu Thaanda Police A dubbed movie from telugu. After this became a huge hit there were lot of dubbed movies with names like "nee periya kokka", "ivan thanda minister" ;-). Rajasekhar in the lead role did a very good job of portraying a policeman. Jeevitha was his pair. I could recollect this being a good movie, but details are fuzzy now.
Vijayanthi IPS Another dubbed movie from telugu. vijayshanthi acted in this and this changed her career afterwards - started acting in lead roles of movie mostly with namesake heroes. People even speculated that its based on kiran bedi's life. A landmark for woman lead role movies. Excellent performance by vijayshanthi. Too much voilence in the movie as i remember. A good one otherwise.
Anbe Vaa First eastman color movie :-). Noticeable feature is no villain in this movie - only hero/heroines own (ego??) problems create a stir in their relationship. Songs are awesome. MGR is mimicked in this songs in every kindal-shows ;-). But i liked this lot, a sweet love, comedy, songs... Cast: MGR, Saroja devi, Nagesh, Ashokan
Vaanambadi I don't know how many know this movie. happenstance i saw this longtime back, wow... very impressed. all songs are ABSOLUTELY GREAT. gangaikarai thottam, thookanam kuruvi koodu are few samples. The movie runs nicely with few turns and tricks. Just for songs you can see it. Cast: Devika
Paasamalar This defined brother-sister relationship for the entire generation. "passamalar"da comment is part of the laungauge itself. It will be understatement to say Sivaji and Savthiri turned in a lifetime performance. Infact after this movie couple of movies they acted as pair flopped, then they never tried again. An All time GREAT movie with few excellent songs. Cast: Sivaji, Saavithiri, Gemini
Kaathalikka Neramillai A nice sweet comedy. Career turning point for muthuraman. Songs were evergreen hits and fabulous. Cast: Muthuraman, Kanchana, Nagesh
Nenjil Oor Aalayam "sonnadhu nee dhaana" is what makes me remember this movie. This movie concept was probably suitable for those times when women were not expected to remarry etc. Still this is a nice one to see even today with some nice moments. Dramatic ending, neverthless good one. Cast: Muthuraman, Devika, Kalyankumar(??)
Thillana Moganambal Little lengthy movie with many climaxes :-). But apart from that an excellent movie. Songs are awesome. This defined the standard for other movies, many tried to copy it - with few successful (Karagattakaran is a modern adoption of it). Cast: Sivaji, Padmini, Balayaa
Thiruvilayaadal THE movie for hindu-god-spiritual movies. Even if you're athiest you can still enjoy this movie just for its stories (many sub ones) and imagination. Nagesh-Sivaji Q&A still forms the basis for stage skits everywhere. Lot of moments to enjoy in the movie. Cast: Sivaji, Nagesh
Vanjikottai Valiban "Sabash Sariyaana Potti" veerappaa's dialogue is so popular, so is the competitive dance of Padmini and Vijayanthi mala. A nice old history/fantasy kind of movie even with Sambar gemini in it you can like it :-).