There were so many top 10, 20 30 lists by new year time, I thought of composing such lists for Tamil movies too. Normally turn to the imdb top 250 for a pick of a classic for a nice evening, but then, there hardly were any such rankings for Tamil movies. The only critics that were worth mentioning used to be in Vikatan and most of them should be dead or retired by now, making the magazine just as worthless...So here goes nothing, and if you choose to disagree we always have the comment section!

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1. Michael Madana Kamarajan - True, from the moment Kameshawaran appears on screen, it explodes, he's absolute dynamite.

And the climax itself, no matter how illogical, ridiculous or crazy the setting, was cherry on the cake, one of the best in Tamil Cinema, and this was long before a certain copy cat called Priyadarshan assembled all his cast for a run-amok climax for ALL his films!
Kamal and Crazy Mohan kicked ass and the Thiruttu Paati was pure rock star material.The 2 henchmen, while are wrong men for their job, keep you in splits'
Small funny bits, that you might miss the first time, but notice after repeated viewing, liek the one where Kushboo is drenched following the brake failure during their drive to Bangalore and Kamal says'Aiyya Nanjuteengala' which is quickly 'corrected to 'Aiyyo nanjuteengala'
Priceless! I watched this movie a few years back with a marathi friend of mine, who couldn't speak or understand a word of tamil, at the Kamal-Khushboo duet before climax, she was rolling with laughter.

2. Aan Paavam - It would be a crime to leave this one out. A personal favourite, this movie has still not been topped for the effortless way in which it made you laugh.

Paandiyarajan was never half as good again. V.K.Ramasamy was pure genius and Janakaraj made you laugh with merely close ups of his frustrated face.
And the dialogue so fast and witty. When Pandiarajan complains to his father V.K.Ramasamy for not getting him married, he states that one day he will marry his granny (an adorable Kunnakudi Karupaayee). At which VKR admonishes him, to which he retorts with a 'Nee mattum en ammava kalyanam pannikalaam, naa un ammava kalyanam pannika koodathu'
Yeah, it's that crazy!

3. It's a close call between which of the two should feature on this list, Saroja or Chennai 28, the ending of the latter positively lands the ball in Chennai 28's court. During the last cricket world cup, a brilliant Nike commercial was aired, glorifying the crude and ballsy gully cricket. It was an instant hit with a soundtrack so infectious it had you humming it though you didn't get a darn word of it! Sadly it was taken off air following India's early exit. Perhaps gully cricket is one such thing that rubs on it's energy to anything that brushes it, Chennai 28 is a cult film that would define this generation, just like Agni Nakshatram or Kathalikka Neram Illai did. The bet match on the beach with the school kids has you in splits and the film has one of the best endings ever!

4. The 2 heroes were pretty much sidelined, Balayya and Nagesh truly rocked and stole the show. Kathalikka Neramillai, like it's predecessor in this list is a favourite for the older generation. Shot mostly at the Aaliyar dam, the movie has awesome pieces which will make you laugh out loud. Be it the famous story telling sequence between Nagesh and Balayya or the scene where Nagesh teaches Sachu to act. Sure they didn't have time to fall in love, they were busy laughing their heads off!

5. 23-am Pulikesi - Boy, was it good to hear good old tamil again. Hell, it was great! Yeah it came with a contemporary feel, but who cares when it is this good.

Hurling the Choicest of abuses at his sub-ordinates, the weakling King has you rolling on the aisles.
And he is well supported by his 'manguni amaichar'. Just typing about this movie has me in splits!
The second half dulls a bit with the other Vadivel, but the loony king keeps coming back to keep things going.
It has a number of funny scenes, the pulavar paalapatra onaandi reciting his poem to the irked King, the kollan forgetting to weld the swords, the king pleading to escape from the cellar. But the best has to be the part when an enemy comes knocking on his doors for war.
'Suthi vilayadivatharku ithu tharunam alla' rotfl!

6. Madras to Pondicherry - Long before the hollywood buddy films, long before on the road comedies like Dumb and the Dumber, this mad caper is a timeless classic.
With a crazy conductor and driver (Nagesh and Karunanidhi) and passengers loonier than them, it's an absolute delight. Worth a repeat, the Baggoda Kadar sequence.
It was so good that years later Mahmood copied it bit by bit, the only thing good about that movie, Amitabh singing 'Dekha na hai re socha na'

7. Bale Pandiya - Screwball comedy. 3 Sivaji Ganesans, 2 M.R.Radhas. Nothing can go wrong. Boy, they sure don't make it as good as those oldies now.
A plot that could have driven you bonkers with the identity swapping thing, but it was deftly handled. Highlights for this one, M.R.Radha combing his hair,it's lifted yeah and though all logic is tossed out of window, it's a must watch just to see the badass Radha.

And of course the way he goes beserk in the 'Neeye unakku endrum nigar aanavan' song.

8.Panchathanthiram - Another Kamal and Crazy gem, packed with so many witty dialogues that if you are busy laughing for one joke, you'd probably miss the next. And Ramya, her cool self, honestly padayappa was too far fetched, but this was pure fun!
The movie has more than one of it's moments; the 'munnadi-pinnadi' with the 5some with Nagesh in the car, Kamal artfully weaving a story around Ramya in Sriman's party. 'Enna solrathune therila...(his friends panic)....Illa ethathu solliruven', But my personal favourite is the one where the otherwise teary eyed tragedy queen and dull Devayani does a superb turn as a suicidal dumped girl friend.

9. Rajini, cast as a pervert. Only KB could have done something so ballsy when Rajini had already become 'the super star'. And it's a pity Rajini hasn't played a character with grey shades in a long time now because being bad comes so naturally to him! And this is perhaps his best comic role, even better than thillu mullu, he plays an old incorridgible cassanova with no moral values what so ever, completely dominating his devoted wife. And the kind of rapport he shares with Goundamani is terrific. You almost forgot there were others too in this movie including another Rajini. The old one was such a rock star!

10. Kanni raasi -In spite of a tragic ending, this has to be mentioned just because I can't leave Goundamani from this list. He is kick ass as the quick witted sarcastic guy who reluctantly agrees for his brother in law's stay in his house.
But personally I would pick the All-in-all Alagu Raaja act, but Vaithegi Kaathu irunthaal was to heavy to feature in this list.
But the petromax light and the lunch scene in Kanni Raasi in which Goundamani scrambles his brother in law's plate and finds half a dozen eggs buried in rice and then franctically does the same to the rice in his plate, stuff of legends.

I had to leave out;

Ethir Neechal, the iconic pattu maami, Sowcar Janaki rocked in a role that later became cliched in Tamil cinema, but this is the best talkative, good humoured pakkathaathu maami we have ever seen.

Thillu Mullu, Sure it wasn't original, the movie was a remake of the hillarious Golmal. But this was fun to watch nevertheless.

Rajini is at ease with comedy, and the whole rendevouz with his mooch was just too good not to be there in this list, but had to make way for better fare.

And Sowcar again, the socialite passing off for Rajini's mother, this woman had top class timing for comedy yet she was cast majorly in tearjerkers

Inru Poi Naalai Vaa - Three guys, one girl, a potpourri family. It's a potent mix and is magic! The tactics and the extent to which the guys go to woo the girl are rip roaring. You think of this movie you can't help remembering 'Ek Gaun mein ek kisaan raghu thaatha' which became synonymous with the Tamil speaking population's tussle at trying to speak Hindi!

Sathi Leelavathi - Watch it for 2 things. Kamal Hasan. Kovai Sarala. Peroid.
This unlikely pair rocks the coimmbatore accent and the movie well out of Visu-ish territory and uses the one liners so effectively, the way only Kongu Tamil can.
It's perhaps the one movie to have fully banked on the 'Coimbatore Kusumbu'

Manal Kayiru - You can't like Visu's all-knowing shmuck act all the time. But you won't complain in this one. The rest of the cast is so good, you can sit through it.

Manorama, Kishmu, S.Ve Sekhar and the guy playing the heroine's brother make this otherwise preachy film far beyond worth watching.

The middle class appeal, kittumani's 8 conditions, Kishmu's slightly 'sarka-hua' but crazy about his wife act. and it's a delight to watch S.Ve Sekhar's face everytime he discovers another one of his conditions crumble
The scene in which he finds out his wife is a plus 2 drop out, awesome!

Meendum Kokila; Long before Kopurangal saivathillai and sathi leelavathi, this one has an adorable Sridevi draped in madisar. Though it is laced with drama, this movie never actually gets too serious thanks to the lead pair's comic timing

Shimla Special, laugh riot.

This list forces one to include only full length comic films, which leaves out a lot of gems,
Thangavelu in Arivaali, teaching his wife how to make pooris,
Goundamani-Senthil in Karakattakaran (dreadful movie, brilliant comedy),
Surli Rajan's miser act, Manorama and Balayya's tracks in Thillana Mohanambal,
a brilliant Nagesh as tharumi in thiruvilayadal (this could be the single funniest sequence in Tamil Cinema),
A thumping rummaging Savitri in Mayabajaar,
The karuvaadu interlude in Singaravelan, Sathyaraj Goundamni comedies in numerous films in late 80-s and early 90s,
NSK's numerous movies left out simply because I can't recollect them including one in which the master's turban is set on fire because he angrily dismisses the servant telling him to put the burning paper on his head (en thalaila podu!),
Memory is a cruel thing and it might have failed me again
so if you think I might have missed out some gems which ought to have been there...hit back!

Labels: Movies

Posted by Sat at 1:38 PM
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