The Goods and Services Tax (GST) took away the entertainment tax exemption* Tamil films enjoyed, in the event of them containing Tamil titles, and had a clean U from the censor board. The GST came into effect in 2017, and by 2019 Tamil cinema had gone full on with its English titles.

* Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi wavied off the entertainment tax for films containing Tamil titles beginning 2006. In 2011, the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK added a clause to the same stating that movies with Tamil titles should also be U-certified by the CBFC for the entertainment tax waiver. Tamil titles that leaned towards 'pure' or literature Tamil had a bigger advantage. Tamil movies enjoyed this entertainment tax exemption for 11 years between 2006-2017. 

 

The Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic perhaps put even the English titles in Kollywood to a temporary pause, for the trend of releasing Tamil films with English titles was around but not as much as when the floodgates had opened post GST. It is seemingly catching up again as evident in the years 2023, 2024.

Last year alone, 22 Tamil movies - Beginning (Vinod Kishan), Run Baby Run (Aishwarya Rajesh, RJ Balaji), Dada (Kavin), The Great Indian Kitchen (Aishwarya Rajesh),  Memories (Vetri), Ghosty (Kajal Aggarwal), August 16 1947 (Gautham Karthik), Good Night (Manikandan), Regina (Sunainaa), DD Returns (Santhanam), Love (Bharath), Lets Get Married aka LGM (Harish Kalyan), Jailer (Rajinikanth), Partner (Aadhi Pinisetty), Mark Antony (Vishal, SJ Suryah), The Road (Trisha), Leo (Vijay), Japan (Karthi), 80's Buildup (Santhanam), Joe (Rio Raj), Parking (Harish Kalyan), Fight Club (Vijay Kumar), released with English titles.   

Tamil Movies With English Titles - 2023 

2024 Tamil cinema is likely following suit, as evident from the list of movies that have already released  this year - Captain Miller (Dhanush), Mission: Chapter 1 (Arun VIjay), Blue Star (Ashok Selvan, Shantnu Bhagyaraj), Singapore Saloon (RJ Balaji), Devil (Vidharth), Lover (Manikandan), Siren (Jayam Ravi), Joshua (Varun), J.Baby (Urvashi), Guardian (Hansika), and from the movies lined up to hit theater screens soon - Thug Life (Kamal Haasan), The Greatest of All Time (Vijay), Good Bad Ugly (Ajith Kumar), Genie (Jayam Ravi), Brother (Jayam Ravi), Love Insurance Corporation aka LIC (Pradeep Ranganathan), Amigo Garage (Mahendran).

Tamil Movies With English Titles - 2024 

In both the mentioned years, only Shankar directed Indian 2 starring Kamal Haasan in the lead is retaining its English title from a prequel, which released 28 years ago [Indian (1996)]. All the other title decisions seem to be indicative of Tamil filmmakers not having to think twice before naming their movies in English. 

L-R: Indian (1996) Indian 2 (2024)