The best Tamil films of 2023: From ‘Koozhangal’ and ‘Chithha’ to ‘Good Night’ and ‘Viduthalai: Part 1’

From ‘Koozhangal’ and ‘Chithha’ to ‘Good Night’ and ‘Viduthalai: Part 1’, here’s our list of the ten best Tamil films of the year

Thalaikoothal:

“When is one considered alive and who are we to decide that?” Examining this question would take more than a lifetime, and those oblivious spaces in our existence as thinking beings are where artists love to cook their magic potions; that’s what Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan pulled off with his wonderful film, Thalaikoothal. The spectacular surreal imagery of viewing the life of a comatose patient through their memories and subconsciousness told the merit of the filmmaker in Jayaprakash. If social media reactions were to be taken as a parameter, Thalaikoothal would end up an underrated gem from Tamil cinema this year. Starring a terrific Samuthirakani as a son who stands up against the world to save his father from senicide, this is an unmissable film which is currently streaming on Netflix.

Dada:

What a terrific year it has been for debutant filmmakers! We had Ayothi, Good Night, Por Thozhil, Parking, Bommai Nayagi and of course, Ganesh K Babu’s emotional romance drama Dada. Starring Kavin and Aparna Das — who were both terrific in their roles — the film showed the rupturing of a relationship due to an unplanned pregnancy with a lot of heart. While you wish the second half of the film turned the lens more towards the single father and the child, the superbly-staged scenes surely made up for any missteps.

Watch | Actor Kavin on ‘DaDa’ and the road to success

Ayothi:

While casually re-watching Sasikumar’s fantastic film Ayothi, the thought I couldn’t shake away is what it takes for a director to convince his producer, actors and team to believe in what he saw in this story. Especially at a time when films were keen on getting bigger and prioritised telling even political ideas in a larger-than-life fashion, Ayothi was a simple, straightforward film that reminded us of what cinema can do. Apart from telling a tearjerker of a story, R Manthira Moorthy’s film questioned patriarchy within a family system, pointed at the cracks in the sanctimonious norms and philosophical structures people are conditioned to lean on, and told that all religions should first ask you to pray to this god — the fellow human being. Forgive the introduction fight meant to appease Sasikumar fans, and Ayothi gives you more than you ask from it.