Jai Bhim, Sarpatta Parambarai and Master:Top and Best worst of Tamil cinema in 2021

What became as a trickle in 2020, became a deluge in 2021 as films and shows found their way to streaming platforms came of age. OTT emerged as a significant alternative to traditional film distribution even as many held on to their belief that home screens could never replace the theatre-going experience and that it is just a fad that will blow over soon. But, the stakeholders in the exhibition chain were in for a rude shock when the makers of Tamil superstar Vijay’s Master made it available for streaming just two weeks after its initial theatrical release. The producers of Master blindsided the distributors and exhibitors on the film’s OTT release. And people in the box office business learned a valuable lesson from that incident: never take technology for granted. Since then, discussing the OTT release strategy of a film before signing the terms with the producers has become a new practice among distributors and exhibitors. Also Read |Shubhra Gupta’s list of the best (and worst) films of 2021, and why no Bollywood biggie made the cut The film distribution was also threatened when producers of several big-budget movies opted for the OTT route as there seemed no respite during the second wave of Covid infections. The onset of the OTT and the competitive push of the leading streaming platforms to invest in original series, shows and films in Tamil have overhauled the dynamics of the entertainment system. Master Helmed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, Master is a sort of departure from the usual overdose of heroism we get from a typical Vijay film. The film gets only better on repeat watch, which is a rare merit that one could assign to recent Vijay movies. In the film, Lokesh sort of breaks the practice of undermining the villain. Unlike other big hero movies, we know everything about the villain, played by an in-form Vijay Sethupathi, and very little about the hero, played by Vijay. The unhurried and smooth texture of the film makes it an important one in Vijay’s career. Karnan Written and directed by Mari Selvaraj, this film is visual poetry. While in his debut film Pariyerum Perumal, Selvaraj’s hero, was a non-violent college boy who suffers all humiliation in silence, the hero of Karnan is a sword-wielding soldier, who refuses to obey discrimination in the name of caste hierarchy. Dhanush is a revelation in this movie. Sarpatta Parambarai This film is a benchmark in Tamil cinema when it comes to making boxing movies. It did not just give an honest depiction of the boxing sport, it also provided an engaging narrative of the forgotten culture of Chennai (then Madras). Unlike his previous film, director Pa. Ranjith didn’t reflect on the evils on the outside. But, he services fault lines within the community. The hostility in the movie stems from more primitive instincts such as jealousy, greed, insecurities and self-indulgence. Jai Bhim Director T. J. Gnanavel’s movie is based on real-life events that happened in retired Madras High Court Justice K. Chandru. The film follows the struggles of a tribal woman who fights the system with the help of an activist advocate to find her husband, who gets lost in the cracks of our vast democratic setup. The film is sincere, unflinching and relentless.