Top Tamil Heroes of 2014 - Critic & Popular Choice

The popular actor rankings of 2014 are based on a number of criteria including actor's fan base/opening, success of their movie(s), overall performance, increase in market, etc. The critic choice is based on the acting capability irrespective of the outcome in the box office.

Popular Actors of 2014

Vijay leads the popular actors with his performance in Kaththi. Ilayathalapathi was appreciated for selecting a heavy message oriented topic and making it a commercial success. Rajinikanth had 2 releases this year with Kochadaiiyan and Lingaa. With Lingaa, Rajinikanth proved that his mass appeal is intact despite both his movies not performing up to the expectations. Ajith Kumar's star appeal keeps increasing year over year irrespective of the outcome of his movies. Veeram proved to be a winner when it was pitted against Jilla. Ajith's different get up in white shirt and veshti was refreshing. Dhanush delivered the biggest commerical hit in terms of Return Of Investment through his VIP. Dhanush proves that that no other actor could have single handedly carried this wafer thin story and make it in to a resounding hit movie. Karthi made a complete U-turn with his fantastic performance in Madras. Sivakarthikeyan continues to increase his fan base and marketability with every new movie. In Maan Karate, Sivakarthikeyan showed remarkable improvements in dance and fight departments. Siddharth made his comeback to Tamil cinema with careful selection of sensible scripts and team as seen in Jigarthanda and Kaaviya Thalaivan. After mindless action-comedy movies during the last few years, Vishal is making a mark for himself with good scripts and interesting roles. In Naan Sigappu Manithan, he had donned an interesting role as a narcoleptic patient..

Critic Favourites of 2014

Bobby Simha's terrific performance in Jigarthanda made Rajinikanth yearn for that role. Bobby Simha was unanimously praised for showing such wide range of acting in  the movie. Dinesh's portrayal of blind person in Cuckoo was appreciated. Dinesh's Thirudan Police earned him a clean commercial hit. Popular cameraman turned actor Natraj sparkled with his excellent dialogue delivery and keen understanding of the role he played in Sathurangavettai. Dulquer Salman's breezy and confident performance in Vaayai Moodi Pesavum got him noticed by Tamil fans and also earned him his next Tamil movie with Mani Ratnam. Vishnu's measured performance in Mundasupatti and sensitive portrayal of a struggling cricketer in Jeeva were noticed and appreciated. Prithviraj played a difficult role of an actor who needs to come across as less talented and non-spontaneous when compared to Siddharth's role in Kaaviya Thalaivan. Tough indeed! Ashok Selvan's self-assured uber-cool performance in Thegidi was a relief. Vijay Antony is conveniently establishing himself in roles requiring him to play an introvert. 

Actors Missing in Action

Kamal Haasan was missed on the big screen while he was busy wrapping up 3 back-to-back movies in 2014. 2015 will be a busy year for Ulaganayagan. Vikram's dedication in Shankar's "i" is beyond imagination. Ai kept Vikram out of action for all of 2014. Simbu/STR has the most number of shelved/pending projects(total of 6 depending on how you count) after his mis-timed release of Poda Podi in 2012. But, Simbu manages to stay in the news with the standard dose of controversies in regular intervals. 

Difficult Year

Suriya's Anjaan was criticized for its content and trolled heavily for Lingusamy's pre-release hype. Suriya desparately needs a hit through Venkat Prabhu's Masss to reclaim his position. Ravi K Chandran's Yaan got instantly panned by fans without even a glimpse of hope of survival at the box office. Unfortunately, the movie pulled down Jiiva's career along with it. Lesser said the better about Sasikumar's disaster of the year, Bramman, Jayam Ravi's Nimirndhu Nil and Arya's Meaghaman could not propel their respective careers.