2010 was not a productive year in terms of number of movies I managed to catch either on cinema or TV. Hectic schedule forced me to skip many movies, thus this review would be limited. As usual, a plethora of Tamil movies were released in 2010 (ABOUT 140!), culminating in Kamal Haasan’s Manmadha Ambu in the last week of 2010.

Here’s a very brief review of the movies I managed to watch (alphabetical order):

Aasal – Ajith starrer with two heroines, Sameera Reddy and Bhavana. Lots of stylish stuff but I would say average acting by Ajith.

Ambasamundram Ambani – a comedy movie with some message somewhere in it. Hero is Karunas (yes!) and suprisingly was entertaining compared to other big-starrer movies. I saw it on HD 🙂

Anandhapurathu Veedu – A family category ghost story. About parental love from beyond the grave. Enjoyable if you have nothing better to do. Starts Nandha and Chaya Singh.

Angadi Theru – Starring newcomers Mahesh and Anjali, this tearjerker movie was one of the sleeper hits of 2010.  Good songs, good acting, good story. Worth watching, but not if you are a fan of the typical masala movie.

Aval Peyar Tamilarasi – Movie starring Jai and Nandaghi, with a happy ending. Nice songs. Also a hit movie due to the story line. Jai, as usual, needs to improve on his acting.

Ayirathil Oruvan – One of the most anticipated movies in 2010, this one had Karthik Sivakumar, Reema Sen, Andrea Jeremiah, and Parthiban in it. Directed by Selvaraghavan, it had good songs. Story is a bit complicated. It incorporated old Tamil and may not be understood by audiences not well versed in Tamil. Its a mix of adventure, history and magic but was well accepted. Became a hit movie. Sequel expected.

Baana Kathadi – Entry movie for late Murali’s son Adharva. Also stars Prasanna and newcomer Samantha as heroine. Similar to his father’s many roles, Adharva’s character ends up dead. Nice songs, but nothing much to shout about. Keep it for a boring day.

Boss Engira Baskaran – This movie was released around the same time as Endhiran, so it faced a major hurdle. And surprisingly, it did exceedingly well! The light-hearted romantic flick stars Arya and Nayanthara, along with “nanbendaa” Santhanam. Personally, I consider this as a comedy movie.

Endhiran – Undoubtedly, the biggest movie event of the year for Tamils all around the world. Starring Rajinikanth, Aiswarya Rai, Danny Denzongpa, Karunas, and  Santhanam, the most expensive movie in India was a mix of sci-fi, romance and comedy. With mesmerizing songs by AR Rahman and helmed by director Shankar, this movie broke many records at the box office.

Goa – A light-hearted stories about 3 friends and their escapade. Starring Jai, Vaibhav, Piya Bajpayee, Premji Amaren, Sampath, Sneha, Prasanna, and others. Very entertaining movie, but not suitable for family/children viewing.

Guru Sishyan – I can’t remember what this movie was about actually, so you get my point. Stars Sathyaraj and Sunder C. Did I say skip it? Well, I do.

Irumbbu Kottai Murattu Singam – A western (cowboy) style comedy starring Lawrence, Padmapriya, Lakshmi Rai, Manorama, Delhi Ganesh and others. Watch it for the comedy, and don’t expect alot.

Jaggubhai – Starring Sarath Kumar and Shreya Saran as father and daughter team (faints!). A flop if you ask me. The story is about father looking for his long lost daughter, with some bad guys seeking revenge in tow.

Kacheri Arambam – A movie which did well, surprisingly. Its a romantic-comedy cum action movie starring Jeeva, Poonam Bajwa and JD Chakravathy. Quite entertaining.

Kalavani – Another sleeper hit, again from the romantic-comedy genre. Starring up-coming actor Vimal (remember Pasangaa?), Oviya, and  Ganja Karuppu. The movie was set in rural area and is about love between two people from different villages. The movie has many comedic moments and with a happy ending.

Kattradhu Kalavu – Yet another comedy movie with a splash of romance and action added in. Its about . Starring Krishna (who starred in Anjali as a kid) and Vijayalakshmi Agathiyan. Sampath. Story is about a small time criminal who plots to scam some minister and while on the run, meets andf falls in love with a girl who ran away from home. Average movie.

Kola Kolaya Munthirikka – Story about two thieves who work together to try find some diamonds, and of course fall in love along the way. Stars Karthik Kumar. Entertaining, but keep it for a lazy day at home.

Kutty -Starring Danush and Shriya, its a typical boy-meets-and-falls-in-love-with-girl-but-girl-doesn’t-like-him-first story. Some nice songs, and entertaining movie. Again, need not rush to watch it.

Maanja Velu – Arun Kumar seems to be huffing and puffing to come out with a blockbuster, but still, that X-factor seems to be lacking. The movie is about revenge, so expect plenty of fight scenes. Average movie. Also stars Karthik.

Madrasapattinam – One of the top movies of 2010, mainly due to its potrayal of Chennai (Madras) on the verge of independence. Nice songs. Stars Arya, Amy Jackson, Kochin Haneefa. Don’t miss it.

Manmadhan Ambu – Just caught it today. Starring Kamal Haasan, Madhavan, Trisha, Ramesh Arvind, Orvasi, and Sangeetha, its a comedy story set mostly on a cruise trip along few European cities, but excitingly dotted with some twists and turns. All around good acting, with the typical super dialogues epitomised by Kamal Haasan movies. Trisha even recited a poem. Some nice songs by Devi Sree Prasad. It may not be technically packed like Endhiran, but you can enjoy watching an actor act here, nevertheless. Classic Kamal albeit in a modern setting. BTW, MANnar (Kamal Haasan), MADHAnagopal (Madhavan) and AMBUjakshi (Trisha)’s names make up the movie title (Man-Madha-Ambu).

Naanayam – A thriller-caper (bank robbery case) movie starring Prasanna, Sibiraj, SPB and Malaysian born Ramya Raj. I enjoyed it but may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Nice song by SPB and Chitra.

Paiya – Another blockbuster hit for Karthik Sivakumar, who stars alongside Tamanna Bhatia. Typical love story where boy-meets-girl-and-helps-girl-escape. Along the long road trip from Chennai to Mumbai, adored with some nice songs and fights. For me, its just another love story.

Pen Singam – Police story starring Uday Kiran and Meera Jasmine. Watch it only if your life depends on it.

Raavanan – A very highly anticipated movie, due to being under the helm of director Maniratnam, starring Aiswarya Rai, Priyamani, Prithiv Raj and Vikram (Tamil version. Hindi version had Vikram and Abishek Bachan). Based on Ramar, Sitha and Ravanan premise (Hinduism). Quite an entertaining movie, superb songs, and nice cinematography. Yesteryear actors Karthik and Prabhu had a memorable role as well.  Should watch it.

Singam – A crowd entertainer movie starring Surya. Prakash Raj, Nasser and Anushka Shetty. Typical action-type police and bad guy story with some nice songs.

Sivappu Mazhai – This movie made some sort of record for being the fastest movie ever made (under 12 days). Starring Suresh and Meera Jasmine, I didn’t pay much attention to the movie. It was slow-moving. About a guy who kidnaps a minister’s daughter in order to secure the release of a prisoner. Something to do with Sri Lankan issue.

Sura – Another over-hyped film from Vijay (his 50th movie).  The starting few minutes would have given you the idea of the pain you had to go through. Throw in eye-candy Tamanna and comedian Vadivelu for the required side-dishes. Only for die-hard Vijay fans.

Thambikku Indha Ooru – A forgettable movie starring Barath, Sana Khan and Prabhu. Has some comedic moments courtesy of Vivek, but plenty of loop holes. Some scenes taken in Malaysia.

Thamizh Padam – One of my favorite movie for 2010. A parody comedy starring Shiva and Disha Pandey. Highly entertaining if you a fan of Tamil Movies as you attempt to identify which movies/scenes were spoofed.  Again, remember its a spoof movie. Has the popular song with meaningless lyrics as well as the “Pachai” song.

Theeratha Vilaiyattu Pillai – A purely entertainer movie starring Vishal who is one a quest to finalise his wife from 3 candidates (Sarah Jane, Neetu Chandra, and Thanushree Dutta). As expected lots of comedy moments. Enjoyable, but that’s about it.

Thillalangadi – A comedy movie starring Jayam Ravi, Tamannah, Vadivelu, Prabhu, Santhanam, Shaam and others. Its about a guy who gets a “kick” doing unexpected things like robbing from the rich to give to the poor. Some nice songs, and comedy moments but few loopholes. BTW, some scenes were taken in Malaysia.

Vinnaithandi Varuvaya – Another of my favorite movies for 2010. Good acting by Simbu and Trisha. Super songs by AR Rahman. Remember the phrase “Jessie, Jessie”?

Movies I have not seen yet (as of 8th Jan 2011):

Agam Puram – Starring Shyam.
Ayyanar – starring Aadhi [update: saw this in 2011. Typical fighting movie].
Bale Pandiya – Starring Vishal and Piya Bajpai [update: saw this in 2011. comedy romance movie].
Chikku Bukku – Crowd pullers Arya and Shreya Saran [update: not so interesting movie despite the star actors].
Drohi – Starring Srikanth, Vishnu, Thiyagarajan and Poonam Bajwa. Seems to be quite interesting story about rivalry and revenge between two ex-good buddies. [update: saw this in early Feb 2011. Its about two youths Srikanth and Vishnu whose friendship ended when they were kids and grow up antogonising each other. One plans to be a cop while another, traumatised, joins a bad guy. Its a rowdy movie with plenty of twists and turns. But some scenes seem to be abrupt and at times confusing if we are watching flashback or current time.]
Easan – Directed by Sivakumar (Subramaniyapuram) and starring Samudrakani and Vaibhav. [update: One hell of a movie. Worth watching. Its about revenge]
Goripalayam – Not your typical movie story. Starring Vikranth and Ramakrishna. Expect something like Renigunta.
Inidhu Inidhu – Heard its about college life story. All newcomers. [update: saw this in January 2011. Being a story about college life, can expect the typical love angles, friends problem etc. Story about 7 buddies and their pursuit of love. For those feel good times or to relive your college times. I enjoyed it].
Irandu Mugam -Starring Karan and Satyaraj. Expect some political overtures.
Kanagavel Kaaka – Another Karan movie about vigilantism.
Kanimozhi – romantic movie starring Jai and Shazahn Padamsee.
Matthi Yosi – Another movie starring some new faces.
Moscowin Kavery – Title sounds interesting, but heard the movie didn’t do well.
Mynaa – Quite a controversial movie starring Vidarth and newcomer Amala Paul. Not your typical story, think “Paruthi Veeran”. [update: saw this tear-jerker movie. Well taken, simple and tragic ending]
Naan Mahaan Alla – A blockbuster starring Kartik Sivakumar and Kajal Aggarwal. [update: saw this in January 2011. quite dissappointed as the expectation was high, but the movie was kind of disjointed and ended quite abrupt. Kind of storyless. Could have made into a full blown love story and brought more meaning to Kajal’s role.].
Nandalala – Starring director Mishkin. About a mentally-challenged guy and a boy’s journey.
Pugaippadam – Starring newcomers and also about college life. Music by Gangai Amaran.
Rasikkum Seemane – Starring Srikanth and Navya Nair.
Rettaisuzhi – Starring two top directors Balachander and Barathiraaja, so its not your normal cup of tea. Most likely won’t appeal to most of the cinemagoers.
Siddu – Directed by Bagyaraj and stars his son, Shantanoo. Not top of my list.
Uthama Putthiran – Heard this was a well received movie. Stars Dhanush, Genelia, Bagyaraj, and Vivek. [update: a romantic movie cum family entertainer. Nice songs but normal story].
Va Quarter Cutting – Starring Shiva, SPB Charan and Lekha Washington. About a one day story. Expect normal comedy track. [update: Comedy movie with a simple ridiculous plot about a guy’s aim to get drunk before flying off to overseas the next day. A different story, but not for everyone]
Vallakottai – Arjun, Haripriya and Suresh star in this movie. Expect the normal action movie stuff from Arjun. [update: Saw this, but can’t recall much. Guess that sums up Arjun movie]
Vande Mataram – Stars Arjun, Mamooty, Sneha and Jai Akash. About terrorism, police and patriotism.
Yathumaagi – Starring Sunaina and new actor Sachin as hero.

My list of top movies for 2010: Angadi Theru, Ayirathil Oruvan, Endhiran, Goa, Madrasapattinam Manmadha Ambu, Raavanan, Thamizh Padam, Vinnaithandi Varuvaya.

My vote for best actors for 2010 (so far):  Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Kartik Sivakumar, Santhanam, Arya, Simbu, Shiva, Trisha, Aiswarya Rai, Mahesh, Anjali, Parthiban, Sampath, Jai, Premji Amaren, Vaibhav.

List of movies for 2010 can be viewed here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_films_of_2010

My 2009 review is here:

http://poobalan.com/blog/movies/2009/12/31/tamil-movies-2009/