Cinema – Some call it art, some call it science, while some stick with entertainment.
Whatever it may be, anything and everything that brings life to an idea would ideally need evolution and what more ways to evolve than to experiment.
Tamil Cinema has seen a lot of phases, phases which were regarded the golden era, and also sometimes as the masala era.
For any transition to happen, a new trend is set only by a visionary who has the skills to squeeze his mind and juice out a sugar sweet or a hot pepper. The ones that come good are regarded trendsetters while the ones that bomb are recognized down the years.
Here are a few experimental Tamil movies in Kollywood industry that fall under such experimental filmmaking – in both Story and Technical fiasco.
List of Top Experimental Tamil Movies
Aaranyakaandam
Year: 2011
Director: Thiagarajan Kumararaja
Tamil cinema has seen a lot of gangster movies in its years; some were game changers while some were box office duds.
But there stands a thin line between the both where the movie is usually appreciated a few years after its original release. Such among one is Aaranyakaandam. Supposedly Tamil cinema’s first neo-noir movie, this movie still has a strong cult following.
Nadunisi Naaygal
Year: 2011
Director: Gautham Vasudev Menon
Fresh from the success of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, Gautham Vasudev Menon decided to take the road less traveled and experiment with concepts unvisited back then.
The psycho-thriller was a big bomb at the box-office but was truly one of a kind with no background music used. Here is an easter egg for you – Scenes of the movie were teased in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya.
Miruthan
Year: 2016
Director: Sakthi Soundar Rajan
Tamil Cinema has had a rich run with horror flicks. From creepy costumes to rich VFX, moviegoers have seen them all but for one.
Miruthan starring Jeyam Ravi was Tamil Cinema’s first experimental Zombie flick and a good one too.
Enthiran – The Robot
Year: 2010
Director: Shankar
The year 2010’s biggest blockbuster and an industry record holder back then, Endhiran starred Superstar Rajnikanth and Aishwarya Rai in the respective leads.
Entitled to director Shankar’s dream project (which originally had Kamal Haasan in the lead) the movie was India’s answer to a terminator like a genre-shattering all existing Tamil cinema box office records.
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Mugamoodi
Year: 2012
Director: Mysskin
With the Mayan prophecy from the west shrieking the people back then, director Myskin decided to let another west (Not the genre) story work its way into the people’s mind.
Mugamoodi was Tamil Cinema’s recreation of Batman. The movie met with heavy criticism and failed drastically in the box office. However, this Jiiva starer was the first masked hero movie made in Kollywood.
Indru Netru Naalai
Year: 2015
Director: R.Ravi Kumar
For the fans of “Back to the future” and other racy time travel movies, this one was a treat. Though it lacked the logic in the time travel theory, this Vishnu starrer was first the experimental Tamil movie that amalgamates time traveling concept and went on to be a box office hit.
Jigarthanda
Year: 2014
Director: Karthik Subbaraj
Short of words to describe. In Simple line – The biggest game-changing dark comedy Tamil movie yet!
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Uriyadi
Year: 2016
Director: Vijaykumar
Uriyadi is one of the best experimental Tamil movies that strongly talks about caste discrimination, the movie was a box office dud and was a victim of piracy. The movie, however, claimed a cult status for its bold narrative and its intermission scene – even though much of its fame was accredited to illegal copies of the movie released online.
Uru
Year: 2017
Director: Vicky Anand
It would be an understatement to call this movie from debutant Vicky Anand an experimental one. The movie explores a writer’s block, psychotic emotions, usage of drugs and brutal killings like never before in Tamil cinema.
The movie bombed at the box office but the lead pair and the director’s work were praised for the new line of storytelling with the unexpected twist at the very end.
Jil Jung Juk
Year: 2017
Director: Deeraj Vaidy
Set in a post-apocalyptic timeline of 2019, Jil Jung Juk is yet another story of a gang of strangers put together for a single cause ending up in the crosshairs between gang mobs.
The movie stands out for its visual presentation, new age storytelling, and the screenplay.
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Kaaviyathalaivan
Year: 2014
Director: Vasanthabalan
Not many movies have focused on stage plays. The movie from Vasantha Balan had AR Rahman behind the Kollywood’s musical set in a pre-independence period.
A must watch movie to understand how stage plays were one of the foremost entertainment in southern India and how serious the business meant to the concerned.
Iruvar
Year: 1997
Director: Mani Ratnam
The movie sparked a lot of debate and was way ahead of its time. It was a fictional biography of the lives of MGR, Karunanidhi, and Jayalalitha. Directed by Mani Ratnam, the movie was just perfect in all aspects and has never had a competitor in its class till date.
Paruthiveeran
Year: 2007
Director: Ameer Sultan
City-based masala movies to Village subjects, Paruthiveeran was the game changer and a true trendsetter, this movie was cutting ribbon which brought in a variety of village-based subjects back again into tamil cinema.
Kadhalil Sodhapuvadhu Yeppadi
Year: 2012
Director: Balaji Mohan
If you thought Deadpool was the first movie you saw that broke the 4th dimension, you are wrong, Kadhalil Sodhapuvathu Yeppadi was a movie or a teaching to youngsters where the lead breaks the 4th dimension many a time to show off his mistakes and how he manages to win his love back again.
Agree to our list? Did I miss out on your favorites? Drop down your opinions in the comments section down below.
