First Quarter 2015 Tamil Movies Report 

The first quarter of 2015 was a very happening one for Tamil movies, as there were as many as 4 hits, namely, Vikram’s I, Dhanush’s Anegan, Sivakarthikeyan’s Kakki Sattai and Tamiluku En Ondrai Aluthavum.  

MovieCrow’s Picks of First Quarter of 2015

• Popular Film - Anegan

• Critic Favourite - Rajathandhiram

• Director - KV Anand  (Anegan)

• Actor - Vikram (I)

• Actress - Amyra Dastur (Anegan)

• Screenplay - AG Amid  (Rajathandhiram)

• Comedian - Darbuka Siva (Rajathandhiram)

• Villain - Arun Vijay (Yennai Arindhaal)

• Cinematographer – PC Sreeram (I)

• Editor – Anthony (I, Anegan, Yennai Anrindhaal)

• Music Director – Harris Jayaraj (Yennai Arinndhaal, Anegan)

• Popular Song – Dangamaari (Anegan)

• Lyricist – Madhan Karky (Pookale - I)

• Male Singer - Anirudh (Mersalaayiten - I)

• Female Singer – Chinmayi (Idhayathil Yedho Ondru – Yennai Arindhaal)

Biggies Deliver

Vikram’s I was undoubtedly the most expected film of this year so far. In spite of mixed reviews and termed as one of Shankar's weakest efforts when it comes to screenplay, I became a hit due to painstaking efforts by Vikram and Shankar's opulent making. Dhanush’s Anegan was a solid hit, with overwhelming reviews and support from the family audience.  Ajith’s Yennai Arindhaal was a comeback of sorts for Gautham Menon, and he has surely made the most of the opportunity to portray Ajith in a different style. Mixed reviews just don’t seem to affect Sivakarthikeyan’s movies, as he registered another hit with Kakki Sattai.

Smaller Gems

Tamiluku En Ondrai Aluthavum emerged as a sleeper hit, thanks to Udhayandhi Stalin’s wide release.  GV Prakash’s Darling took on the biggies in the Pongal race, and received fairly positive reviews. Rajathandhiram was easily the best promoted film on social media.

Disappointments, but no surprises here 

Vishal’s  Aambala was a loud and formulaic film from Sundar C. The director, who usually engages the audience throughout his film, missed out in this film. Sarathkumar’s Sandamarutham failed to get decent reviews, as well as occupancy level. Jai’s Valiyavan never created any buzz before its release, and it never did after the release too.

Overlooked Attempts

Karthik Subbaraj released 6 short films as a feature film, Bench Talkies, in the theatres. The popular old saying ‘Don’t ever remake a classic’ still holds good, as Enakkkul Oruvan could not create a huge impact like Lucia did. SJ Surya surprised the audience with a well-executed thriller Isai. However, the opening and collections were poor due to wrong timing of release. 

Lost in the crowd

The month of March saw the clearance of a huge backlog of movies. As always, many movies went unnoticed due to poor planning and lack of powerful writing. The alarmingly large list includes Thottal Thodarum, Aivarattam, Ivanukku Thannila Gandam, Mahabalipuram, Katham Katham, Killadi, Dharani, Ettuthikkum Madhayaanai and Kallapadam. 

There were also attempts to change the distribution side of the business by Cheran who released his movie JK Enum Nanbanin Vaazhkai directly as DVDs (C2H). Unfortunately, the movie nor the business model created any ripples.