Top 5 Tamil Films Of 2008

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1. Vaaranam Aayiram – A truly touching tale of a father son relationship told with maximum reality. The mannerisms of Surya as the father, 16 year old, student, drug addict, army man were absolutely fantastic. Gautham Menon’s tribute to his father had me thinking about the relationship I had shared with my dad. A once in a lifetime film with brilliant performances, great music and good direction makes it my pick for top movie of 2008.

2. Dasavatharam – When you thought you have seen it all, well think again. Kamal Hassan in 10 roles promised Dasavatharam would be a spectacle and it was nothing less. Though the movie had a lot of loop holes and fell flat at places, an out of the world performance by Kamal Hassan along with some catchy numbers made up for the mistakes.

3. Subramaniyapuram – A touching but violent tale of friendship, love, betrayal and revenge told in the backdrop of Madurai of the 1980’s. Excellent performance by the lead cast with trend setting music especially the Kangal Irandal song along with a good storyline and a perfectionist director made Subramaniyapuram the biggest dark horse of 2008 despite its shoe string budget.

4. Saroja – The young energetic team of Chennai 600028 came back with an edge of the seat thriller. Good storyline of friendship woven into a thriller thread and nice doses of humour, power packed screenplay, good music and fantastic direction makes Saroja one of Kollywood’s finest thrillers. The near to perfect casting and good performances backs up the good production values.

5. Anjathey – A story of friendship, love, evil and fight to be on the top told in a fresh manner. Good sensible script, good music and able direction backed up by brilliant performances makes Anjathey a delightful watch. It is a refreshing change from cliched hero oriented movies. The movie talks about how friends became foes and what it takes to be brave.

Vaaranam Aayiram (meaning: Strength of a thousand elephants) deals with father son relationship in a manner never before seen. The movie is a flashback when the younger Surya (a military officer) is thinking about the relationship he shared with his dad (also played by Surya) after he hears the news of his father’s death.

The movie is truly refreshing and its biggest strength is Surya. Surya’s look as a 16 year old, 24 year old and as the father is truly awesome. Surya lives the character and delivers his best ever performance. Sameera Reddy and Divya Spandana do their little parts well. Simran as Surya’s mother is truly amazing.

The music by Harris Jayaraj is fantastic. Cinematography and editing are superb. The narrative could have been better. The main drawback of the movie is the slow first half and the length of the movie. But all credits to director Gautham Menon for providing such a visually and emotionally rich movie.

The movie presents us with truly memorable scenes like the one in which Surya meets Sameera for this first time, or the one in which he goes to her house or the one in which he searches for he in California. All scenes are realistic and far from fantasy which is why this movie works for me.

Gautham Menon said that this movie was a tribute to his father and so it is.

Rating: 8/10