Top 15 Tamil Films of 2019

These are the only 15 Tamil films I've managed to watch either through streaming or in the cinema. There were many other well-received films, but they were not released in Malaysian theaters or online streaming services. So here is my own personal top 15 list.

15) Raatchasi

Geetha Rani is posted to a school in a rural village in south India as the new principal. She works hard to improve the school by forcing the out-of-touch teachers to update themselves and by inspiring the students to prioritize on their education. Her changes are so drastic that she makes a few enemies along the way, including some of her own colleagues who conspire with the owner of the local private school to bring her down. However, none of them realize that Geetha Rani is not just an average school principal from the city but someone the federal government sent to the village with a specific purpose...

Source: Google Images

14) LKG

Lalgudi Karupiah Gandhi, or LGK, is a local Councillor who dreams of power, wealth and influence. He is mostly a do-gooder, but occasionally he resorts to not-so-ethical means to get what he wants. Not satisfied with his current position, LKG contests in the by-elections to become the next Member of the Legislative Assembly. He hires Sarala, a young political strategist to help him with his campaign. However, he has to go up against the powerful and respected incumbent, Ramraj Pandian. Desperate to win, LKG devises certain dirty tricks to bring down his opponent, but things take a turn for the worst when Ramraj decides to give LKG a taste of his own medicine...

Source: Google Images

13) Airaa

Yamuna is a YouTuber who is popular for her videos on paranormal investigations. In order to escape her doting parents, Yamuna hides out at her grandmother's mansion in the countryside, where she is disturbed by some strange events that threatens her life and the lives of the people around her. With the help of Mani, her childhood friend, she decides to investigate this odd occurrences. At around the same time, a young man named Amudhan is investigating a string of deaths which he believes may be connected to his fiance's recent death. Both Yamuna and Amudhan soon cross paths when it is revealed that they both are investigating the exact same case but from completely different angles. When the person behind the deaths is finally revealed, there is no going back for either one of them...

Source: Google Images

12) Magamuni

Maga is an assassin who moonlights as a taxi driver in the city, while another young man who looks exactly like him named Muni is a tuition teacher in the countryside who practices religious celibacy. Maga struggles to work his way out of the political underworld that seeks to destroy the family life he has secretly built for himself. Meanwhile, Muni struggles to live a live of dignity and respect since he belongs to a lower-caste community. Their paths cross when one of their enemies' confuses one for another and all hell breaks lose...

Source: Google Images

11) Sathru

Kathiresan and Prabhakaran are two young men in Chennai who are complete opposites. Kathir is an honest police officer who takes his job very seriously. Meanwhile, Prabha is a career criminal who kidnaps children from wealthy families for ransom money. His gang always kidnaps a poor child too, which they will kill to frighten the wealthy family into paying up. Their paths cross when Kathir is assigned to rescue one of the children Prabha's gang has kidnapped. Kathir eventually tracks down one of Prabha's gang members who interrogates and kills. The case now becomes personal as Prabha no longer just wants the ransom money but to avenge his friend's murder...

Source: Google Images

10) NGK

Nandha Gopalan Kumaran, or NGK, is an organic farmer who lives an honest life until his entire farm is destroyed by a politically connected gang. Desperate to rid his village of the gang, NGK is forced to work for the ruthless local assemblyman, Pandiyan. In return for decommissioning the gang, NGK has to convince 500 other young men in his village to join Pandiyan's political party, which he does. Impressed by NGK's influence and abilities, the president of Pandiyan's party meets him personally. This meeting seals NGK's fate in politics and changes his in ways the once upright and patriotic young man did not expect...

Source: Google Images

9) Thadam

Loosely based on a real-life case that happened in Malaysia, this is the story about identical twins who are both prime suspects in a crime. Ezhil and Kavin are twins who have led separate lives after their parents' divorce. Despite looking alike, they are very different. Ezhil is a civil engineer whose construction business is doing well. He is also engaged to reporter, Deepika. On the other hand, Kavin is a con artist who, like his dead mother, is a compulsive gambler. After years of separation, the twins are brought together following the murder of a young man named Akash and the twins are both prime suspects. Only one of them is innocent while the other is the culprit...

Source: Google Images

8) Jiivi

Saravanan and his roommate Mani decide to rob their landlady's home and frame their neighbour. However, Saravanan starts to notice certain parallels between his life and the life of his landlady's younger brother, Kathir. He learns that Kathir and his friend was also involved in a robbery many years ago and someone else was implicated. Karma soon caught up with Kathir and things did not go well in his life following the robbery, including to members of his own family. As time passes, Saravanan notices similar events happening in his family too. Believing this to be a never ending cycle, Saravanan decides to end it by doing the right thing although things get complicated when the police gets involved...

Source: Google Images

7) Asuran

Chidambaram is the younger son of a drunkard farmer, Sivasaami. Chidambaram looks up to his fearless and charismatic older brother, Murugan who is the only person brave enough to question Narasimhan, the local landlord. Narasimhan makes life difficult for poor farmers in the village so that they will sell their land to him for an unfair price. The entire village is set aflame when Narasimhan brutally murders a villager to set an example to the other farmers, and in retaliation, someone kills him. As the thirst for blood and revenge consumes the once peaceful village, Chidambaran finally learns his father is someone that he has underestimated all his life...

Source: Google Images

6) Kaithi

An entire group of police officers are drugged by Anbu, the brother of a local crime lord who is out to reclaim his gang's captured drugs. The only officer to not be drugged, Inspector Bejoy blackmails Delhi, a former convict out on probation to transport him and the unconscious officers on a lorry to the hospital in a nearby town unknown to Anbu's men who are out for revenge. A desperate Delhi has to help so he can meet his daughter Amudha the following morning. Accompanied by Kamatchi, a local who is familiar with all the shortcuts in the area, Delhi and Bejoy have to travel through a dangerous jungle while avoiding Anbu's men. However, the jungle is a far more dangerous place for than expected and Delhi is not as innocent as he appears to be...

Source: Google Images

5) Enai Noki Paayum Thota

Raghu, a young college student whose life is scared following the disappearance of his older brother, finally finds love in Lekha, a rising movie star. However, Lekha's controlling guardian turned manager keeps them apart to avoid any distraction that might derail her career. Years later, Lekha contacts Raghu but not alone. His long lost brother is with her and they are both in deep trouble with the police and gangsters in a city faraway from home. Raghu has to travel there to help them but something more sinister awaits him...

Source: Google Images

4) Sarvam Thaala Mayam 

Peter is a college student who enjoys doing nothing except hanging out with his friends and watching their favourite movie star's films. His parents want him to become a civil servant and not end up making musical instruments for a living like his father, Johnson. However, Peter changes after witnessing Vembhu Iyer, a renowned musician playing the traditional 'mridangam' that Johnson plays. Peter desperately wants to learn music under Vembhu's tutelage, but quickly realizes that in the world of Indian classical music, certain roles are restricted to those who are born into privilege despite their talent and dedication. Although Vembhu does not consider caste important, the people around him force Peter to do things that changes him, both for better or for worst...

Source: Google Images

3) Super Deluxe

Similar to the director's debut, this is a hyperlink film with four subplots. The first subplot is about a cheating wife, Vaembu, who unwittingly kills her lover while having sex. Her husband, Mugil, agrees to help her dispose of the body in condition they separate after the ordeal. The second subplot involves Shilpa, a transwoman who returns to home to her surprised wife and son. While taking her son to school, she gets into trouble with a corrupt police officer. The third story is about five teenage friends who bunk school to watch a soft core adult film. To their surprise, the girl in the film is the mother of one of them. The boy meets with a accident while rushing home to confront his mother,  Leela, who is part of the fourth subplot. Leela struggles to pay her son's hospital bill while her husband Dhanasekaran is more preoccupied preaching his newfound religion after surviving a tsunami. Their lives change that day as they are all brought together by their circumstances...

Source: Google Images

2) Aadai

Kamini is the host of a popular prank show. Fancying herself a strong, independent young feminist, she refuses to listen to her conservative mother. Since their media company is shifting to another building, Kamini and her friends decide to spend the night in the old TV station. While high on alcohol and drugs, Kamini accepts one of her friends' challenge to do a show naked. The following morning, she wakes up all alone in the building, her clothes gone and her phone out of credit. She slowly starts to realize she is not the shameless feminist she thought she was as she tries to avoid getting help from men out of fear of being humiliated....

Source: Google Images

1) Game Over

Swapna is a successful young game designer who is suffering from post-traumatic stress following a terrible date gone wrong. Her life changes when she learns that her tattoo has a dead cancer patient's ashes mixed in the ink. This news worsens her condition and she attempts suicide, ending up needing a wheelchair. As Swapna's maid helps her cope with the pending anniversary of the traumatic event, their house is attacked by a group of masked serial killers who mysteriously appear to behave eerily similar to characters from a video game she plays...

Source: Google Images