Tamil films are known for their interesting tales, great acting and nice music. Tamil Movies are available to watch online on the popular ott platforms where you can watch or download the films. With traditional and new stories, Tamil filmmakers create new records in storytelling and entertainment.
A glorious beginning of Tamil Cinema (1930s1950s)
It was actually during the year 1931 that the Tamil cinema was first launched beginning with the release of the most first Tamil film named Kalidas. It was however Chandralekha (1948) by S.S. Vasan that made Tamil cinema to look forward in this field. It was the biggest production you have ever seen with massive set with a drum dance performance and its budget was very high.
This was the era in terms of religious mythological tales, the moral values and the culture ethos in the film. Poetical dialogue and Carnatic music based song were solid. The screen had such personalities as M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and P.U. Chinnappa. However the largest transformation came with M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) and Sivaji Ganesan who were two giants and became a household name.
The era of 1960s-1980s
This was the time of Tamil movies of glory. MGR turned into a giant size image and often he would turn into a messiah of the poor and hapless. His movies such as Enga Veettu Pillai (1965), “Adimai Penn” (1969), Ulagam Sutrum Valiban (1973) were superhits, and he gained him humongous popularity which he later turned into politic.
Sivaji Ganesan however was the king of expressions and delivery of words. He also played in Veerapandiya Kattabomman (1959) which is remembered to date.
It was also the era when giants such as K. Balachander, Bharathiraja, Balu Mahendra had brought in new themes and natural style. They had originated in extramural suburbs but in the genuinely suburban sense, through a collection of normal characters and social issues, which appealed to the audiences at the gut level.
The Superstar arrive: Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan (1980s and 1990s)
By the 1980s, the two superstars to run Tamil film industry were Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. Where Rajinikanth became the name associated with mass masala, stylish action, punch dialogues, Kamal Hashan was the poster boy of versatile, method acting and out-of-the-box cinema.
Rajinikanth gave blockbuster films such as Baashha (1995), Muthu (1995), Padayappa (1999). These were a family drama of a typical Rajini style and a power storm act.
Kamal Haasan’s hit movie Nayakan (1987) was based on the life of Mumbai don Varadarajan Mudaliar and it was selected by the Time magazine as one of the 100 films of all-time. Other hit movies were Indian (1996) and Hey Ram (2000). This competition was not only of fame but rather of two contrasting ideas of cinema. And both were loved by Tamil audiences.
Trend Change (2000s)
With new generation of directors, the new themes and styles takes place in the film industry. Mani Ratnam, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Vetrimaaran and Mysskin and others led to city romance films, rural projects, gangster epics and mind games.
Movies You Will Have to watch are:
- Alaipayuthey (2000) is a romantic drama film directed by Mani Ratnam with the music given by A.R. Rahman.
- directed by Murugadoss, Ghajini (2005) is A psychologically substantial action-thriller movie in which Suriya acts.
- “Paruthiveeran” (2007) – Grimy village romance and the film that made Karthi get his breakthrough.
- Subramaniapuram (2008) is a Crime drama film which revolves around 1980s Madurai.
- Vaaranam Aayiram (2008) is an emotional story of a son, Suriya has played the lead role.
Having seen pan-India films create a massive craze, the Tamil movies are currently being dubbed and released simultaneously in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam versions. Other popular Tamil movies are Master (2021), Vikram (2022), Jailer (2023) and Leo (2023).
Impact of Tamil Movies
The association of tamil cinema with the society is one of the reasons as to why the cinema is remarkable. Well, the thing is that lots of movies discuss audacious topics. Tamil movies in the present generation are available in the Netflix, Amazon Prime, Jio Hotstar and other ott platforms.
Even such movies as Jai Bhim were nominated to be considered as Academy Awards. Directors are now being invited into foreign film festivals and Tamil cinema is already finding itself in the global cinema discourse.