Tp 20 Tamil Films of 2021

Please bear in mind this is my own personal list and I also did not get to watch every movie released in theaters on on streaming. Nevertheless, here you go. My Top 20 Tamil Films of 2021: 

20. Kutty Story

This anthology is made up of four different short films all dealing with love. The first story is about two college friends who might have had feelings for one another but ended up marrying other people. The second story deals with a young woman who refuses to go through an abortion even after her boyfriend dies, risking her family's reputation. The third story revolves around two gamers who meet and fall in love while playing an online video game while not knowing one another in real life. The final story shows us what happens when a man, who has cheated on his wife, suddenly is told that his wife has been cheating on him too. 

Source: Google Images

19. Kabadadaari

Shakti is a traffic cop, who discovers the skeletal remains of a three-member family who are over forty years old. He decides to investigate the case himself with the help of journalist Kumar. They approach Ranjan, a retired officer who investigated the case years ago. During the course of the investigation, Shakti is faced with multiple hurdles that force him to question his own intentions and integrity. When Shakti and his companions eventually trace the case to a very powerful individual. 

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18. Kamali From Nadukkaveri

Kamali is no different from any other Indian girl growing up in a small village like Nadukkaveri. Despite being a good student, all she wants to do is complete secondary school and marry whoever her parents choose for her. However, after watching the interview of the state topper, the dashing Ashwin, Kamali develops a huge crush for him. She starts studying hard to enroll into Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai where he is currently a student so she can get to know him. However, she has to face many challenges from the patriarchy that has dominated life in her village for generations. 

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17. Anbirkiniyal

Anbu is a nursing graduate who plans to go work in Canada for a few years so she can make enough money to pay off all her loving but conservative father's debts and start their own business. She works part time at a fast food restaurant at a popular mall in the city. One evening, Anbu helps her workmates place some stocks in the freezer room. Thinking that all his workers have gone home, Ambu's hot-headed manager unknowingly locks her in the freezer. Anbu's father becomes worried that when she does not come home at time. With the help of Charles, Anbu's boyfriend, the father tries desperately to find his daughter while she struggles to stay alive in the freezer room. 

Source: Google Images

16. Theethum Nandrum

Dass and Siva are burglars who have successfully robbed from many wealthy citizens in the city. However, when Dass gets married to Sumathi, and Siva falls in love with Thamizh, they begin contemplating ending their life of crime. However, when Sumathi becomes pregnant, Dass is unsure if working as a labourer will be enough to provide for his small family. He and Siva are then approached by an old friend, Maaran, who convinces them to do one last job. However, the heist is much more complicated that they were led to believe and the young men are finally forced to confront the law. 

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15. Nenjam Marappathillai

Mariam, a selfless orphan, becomes the governess for a wealthy family to help the nun who raised her run the orphanage she grew up in. Although, Rishi the young boy she is tasked to care for grows to adore her, his manipulative father, Ramsay, lusts after her while his arrogant mother, Swetha, looks down on her. One night, while Swetha is away and Rishi is asleep, Ramsay and his men plan to take advantage of Mariam. When she threatens to expose them, Ramsay makes a decision where there is no coming back from. 

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14. Boomika

After her architect husband is contracted to refurbish a grand estate in Ooty for a large sum of money, Sam and her family move into the area with their business partner. While preparing to stay at the mansion for the night, Sam's sister-in-law starts texting Krishna, their old-friend and even sends a selfie to which he eerily replies that he too is in the picture. Later, Sam's husband reveals that Krishna had died in a car accident the previous night, and that there is no phone signal in the estate. Soon, more paranormal activities begin to occur and the group's attempts to flee are consistently thwarted by all kinds of unexplainable events...

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13. Thalaivii

In the late 80s, Jaya, a former movie star turned member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly questions the chief minister on the various false allegations leveled against the opposition while demanding his resignation. However, her outspoken speech leads to violence where Jaya is assaulted and humiliated. Comparing her plight to Draupadi, Jaya pledges she would only return to Fort St. George after she has become chief minister. The story then is told in flashbacks of how Jaya, a young girl with many dreams, would soon become one of the most powerful women in India...

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12. Lift 

Guru is a new employee of a renowned IT company in Chennai. His first day goes as normal but he is then asked to stay back and complete an assignment till late in the evening. As he tries to leave, he finds that the lift has malfunctioned and he ends up in a random floor where he witnesses a security guard committing suicide. Guru tries to escape but ends up in the lift again with Harini, the human resources manager who dislikes him. They then encounters various abnormal events in the lift and the office building. Initially, they are convinced that the supernatural entity haunting them is trying to kill them but as the night goes on, they discover that there is something else in the works...

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11. Oh Manapenne!

Karthik is a typical slacker who took five years to complete his final year. He dreams of becoming a chef and opening his own restaurant, but his father who has stopped believing in him decides to get him married to someone from a wealthy family. Karthik then ends up in the home of Shruthi, who is a class topper and aspires to start her own business despite her father's wishes for her to get married. As both Karthik and Shruthi start getting to know each other, both families realize that Karthik had ended up in the wrong house and he is quickly taken away. Despite not being each other's match, they both decide to work together to start a food truck business. However, Karthik's laziness and Shruthi's overbearingness prove to be an incompatible match in more ways then they could have imagined...

Source: Google Images

10. Netrikann

Durga, a young policewoman with a promising career, goes blind following a road accident that killed her adoptive brother. As she is healing from the trauma of that day, young women start going missing across Chennai. She becomes convinced that the perpetrator once tried to abduct her before hitting a food delivery boy that ultimately foiled his plans. She tries to help Manikandan, the officer in charge of the case, find the predator alongside the reluctant delivery boy who reminds her of her death brother. However, unknown to any of them, the villain is not just any ordinary sexual deviant and he is always a few steps ahead of them...

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9. Sarpatta Parambarai

Kabilan, an aspiring boxer, grows up worshipping Rangan, the local boxing coach who once trained his late father. However, Kabilan's mother disallows him from training since her husband, like many other boxers in their neighbourhood, ended up becoming henchmen for the local mobsters before dying in gang wars. However, Kabilan somehow manages to join Rangan's class, but he quickly learns that his most deadliest opponents are not those from within the ring but are from his immediate surroundings...

Source: Google Images

8. Doctor

A young army doctor goes to the home of his former fiancé to find out why she ended their engagement. During this time, her niece is abducted by a notorious human trafficking ring. The doctor decides to help the family find their daughter by teaming up with a few local goons. Eventually, the doctor is able to get hold of one of the criminals who has been supplying his Goa-based crime lord with young girls. However, he instead chooses to let the criminal go free so he can track down the syndicate, expose them and save the other girls who have been abducted from their homes...

Source: Google Images

7. Kadaseela Biriyani

Chikku is a meek and studious teenager who lives a simple life away from his violent family. However, after his father is murdered by a mobster, Chiku's older brothers con him into helping them seek revenge. The three brothers travel across state lines and eventually break into the mobster's vast rubber estate. While waiting for the perfect time, they overhear the mobster's psychotic son reveal a damning confession to his parents that even shocks the brothers. However, Chiku and his brothers have come too far to turn back now...

Source: Google Images

6. Blood Money

Kaliyappan and his brother are sentenced to death in Kuwait for allegedly their employer's Sri Lankan maid in a road accident. Before their sentence is carried out, their family in a small town in southern India make a video begging for the Indian government to intervene. The video goes viral and Rachel, an aspiring journalist, decides to make the case her first story at her new workplace. However, she is soon humiliated by jealous senior co-workers when it is revealed that the men were not convicted for manslaughter but instead were sentenced for allegedly murdering the maid and trying to dispose of the body. Nevertheless, Rachel discovers that blood money in accordance to Sharia law that is practiced in Kuwait has been paid by Kaliyappan's family but for some odd reason, the sentence is still to be carried out...

Source: Google Images

5. Maanadu

A Muslim youth from Dubai is taken some corrupt cops who blackmail him into assassinating the chief minister in Ooty before being killed himself. Since he was born in a temple dedicated to Lord Kala Bhairava, the Hindu deity of time, he gets to relive the same day over and over again each time he is killed. However, every time he overcomes a particular obstacle by using his knowledge on what will happen, he finds that someone always ends up standing in his way, which can only mean he is not the only one stuck in the same time loop...

Source: Google Images

4. Jai Bhim

Three young men from the oppressed Irular tribe go missing one night after they are forcefully taken by a group of policemen. One of men's pregnant wife goes to Mythra, the only educated woman in the village who teaches locals how to read and write. She in turn approaches Chandru, a lawyer-turned-activist, to help bring the police officers to justice and hopefully find the missing men. However, the law appears to favour only those in power and Chandru finds that getting justice for the tribesmen will not be an easy journey...

Source: Google Images

3. Mandela

The village of Soorangudi is split into two caste-based factions, the Northerners and Southerners. When the village chieftain falls ill, his sons, who each represents the two different factions respectively, decide to run for office. They both manage to secure enough votes from their respective communities. The tie breaker vote falls upon a local barber who only recently registered as a voter. How each faction, who previously never cared for the orphaned barber's existence, try to coax him into voting them in makes up the rest of the story. 

Source: Google Images

2. Aeley

Parthi is forced to return to his village when his conman father, Muthukutty dies. Parthi grew up hating his father who often embarrassed their family with his antics. Consequently, Muthukutty's demise has no impact on Parthi, and he goes about wondering around the village emotionlessly. When the insurance agent comes to visit, the body suddenly goes missing. Parthi then learns his father had a younger half-brother who they all just recently realized exists. Parthi convinces his newfound uncle to pretend to play dead until the insurance agent leaves. However, things do not exactly go as plan.

Source: Google Images

1. Karnan

In South India, the oppressed community of Podiyankulam village are struggling every day because there is no bus stop available nearby. As a result, they have to use the bus stop at the nearby Melur village, where they are subjected to daily harassment at the hands of the dominant caste villagers there. Things take a turn for the worse when Karnan, a young man from Podiyankulam vandalizes a bus for refusing to help a pregnant lady from his village. Consequently, a high-ranking police officer named Kannabiran is brought in to investigate the case and life in Podiyankulam is about to change forever. 

Source: Google Images

Ponniyin Selvan vs. Game of Thrones

Most readers nowadays are more likely to be familiar with Game of Thrones compared to Ponniyin Selvan. This is such a shame because not only do those who have read both book series recommend the latter over the former, but there are also striking parallels between the characters from both stories. Here is a rundown of the characters from Ponniyin Selvan are similar to those from Game of Thrones. 

1. King Robert Baratheon - King Sundara Chola

Both are kings of their respective kingdoms, but are essentially forced to share their power with other powerful men in order to maintain peace in their empires. Their deaths spark the major conflict of both stories.

2. Cersei Lannister - Nandhini 

Strong and powerful women with great beauty from powerful families who then marry into even more powerful families to solidify their positions. Both possess an unquenchable thirst for power and can easily manipulate those around them to do their bidding. 

3. Tyrion Lannister - Vandiyathevan 

Renowned for their wit and intelligence which allow them to survive countless life-threatening situations. Both journey on great adventures across their respective empires. 

4. Jon Snow - Arulmozhi Varman

Great young warriors from powerful families who are sent away from home on important missions and are fated to become heirs to the throne despite their own wishes. 

5. Daenerys Targaryen - Kunthavai 

Intelligent princesses who do not wish to hide behind a man throughout their lives and instead plan to unite the empire under their respective kingdoms. Both are the female leads of their respective stories. 

6. Rob Stark - Aditya Karikalan 

Fearless, great warriors who are the heir to their respective father's positions. Consequently, both are the subjects of conspiracies that involve a grand ceremony. 

7. Sansa Stark - Vanadhi 

Beautiful young women from minor noble families who associate themselves with much more powerful families and even harbour fantasies of marrying kings. 

8. Joffrey Baratheon - Mathuranthagan

Potential candidates for the throne but are cowards who do not deserve to become king but still conspire with others to claim it for themselves. 

9. Varys - Aniruddha Brahmaraiyar 

Powerful courtiers with a wide network of spies that allow them to possess information that is inaccessible to anyone else in the kingdom. 

10. Ygritte - Poonguzhali

Strong young tribal women who save young men from powerful families from danger while they are far away from home and eventually fall in love with them.  

Even the most powerful families in Ponniyin Selvan parallel those in Game of Thrones

1. Pandiyans - House of Targaryen 

The previous dynasty that ruled the empire before being overthrown by a new family that joined forces with other minor noble families.

2. Cholas - House of Baratheon

The current royal family that has to align with many minor noble families in order to stay in power and maintain peace. Nevertheless, many conspire against them. 

3. Pazhuvettaraiyargal - House of Lannister

The second most powerful family in the land that controls the kingdom's economy and is thus the most powerful financially. It is essential that the royal family remain close to them to stay in power.