If You Haven’t Watched These South Indian Films, You’re Not a Real Cinephile
Bollywood had been dominating the maps of the Indian cinema for decades. Now, to be frank, when you call yourself a fan of films and you are still only viewing Hindi movies, you are leaving another entire world of movies behind. South Indian movies are no longer in dark. It has taken the stage with courage and many would go further and say it has even outclassed even the big B the Bollywood on the facet of telling stories, technical prowess and uninhibited emotional integers.
Well today I am laying down the challenge. In case you genuinely consider yourself a cinephile, a real cinema lover, then you simply cannot skip the following must-see Indian South movies. And no, it has nothing to do with massy action or superstar fanfare (we just like that stuff, as well). It is about movies that make you shake, inspired and dumb-struck.
🎬 1. Kumbalangi Nights (Malayalam, 2019)
Director: Madhu C. Narayanan
Available on: Amazon Prime Video
Kumbalangi Nights is probably the film that has destroyed toxic masculinity in a silent and non-vocal way. It is a story about four imperfect brothers seeking meaning, love and peace in a small fishing village in Kerala.
I recall sitting down and watching it one night with no anticipations and; in the end, I was weeping. It is a memorable experience through the emotional exploitation, amazing cinematography, and moving music.
Cinephile Test: Do you have a fondness of fly-on-the-wall tales that punch you in the gut? Watch this.
🔥 2. Super Deluxe (Tamil, 2019)
Director: Thiagarajan Kumararaja
Available on: Netflix
Note- Super Deluxe is no masala movie. It happens to be dramatic, weird and politically incorrect. It is the interdependence of telling the stories of the porn star who returns to her mother, the story of transgender parent who seeks to regain the dignity, everyone, everything, in this movie has got a nook.
You will be surprised with the acting of Vijay Sethupathi. Personally, as a real cinephile, when watching this film, you simply cannot stop and reflect on what occurred.
Cinephile Test: Do you enjoy being put on a brain bending plot? That is the paper on which you are to take the examination.
💥 3. Eega (Telugu, 2012)
Director: S.S. Rajamouli
Available on: Jio Hotstar
Dark vengeance movie, rein-incarnation and... a housefly? Sounds crazy huh? But Eega offers the documentation that, even a wackiest of the plots can work when presented full of confidence. A guy kills a man and then re-incarnates into a fly in order to even the score with the bad guy. After that, there is genius in entertainment.
It is not a matter of giggling at it. It is a movie that shows the wild fantasies of Rajamouli long before he became a common noun on the planet with Baahubali.
Cinephile Test: Do you have a liking to be ridiculous when it is done extremely well? It is another thing you can put in your list.
🧘♂️ 4. The Great Indian Kitchen (Malayalam, 2021)
Director: Jeo Baby
Available on: Amazon Prime Video
Take a warning: This is a film, which you will not enjoy. There it is, and that is the point. It is an intellectual thriller that smolders on the subject of oppression of silence, which is not dramatic, yet continuous oppression of women in the supposed moral Indian families.
I have even recommended it to one of my friends and he informed me that bro it has changed my attitude towards my mother. That is the cinema drama.
Cinephile Test: Do you have the interest to watch a movie which does not have the background music or the tempo and which does not feature any masala? Look at it and take a lesson.
🔪 5. Vikram Vedha (Tamil, 2017)
Director: PushkarGayathri
Available on: Jio Hotstar
Forget hindi remake. The original Vikram Vedha was an economical and claustrophobic thriller with tinges of noir sensibilities, shades of dark morality, assassin turns and precision cutting dialogue. It is more of a loose adaption of the Vikram-Betaal story and you find yourself in a frenzy of which is the good and which is the bad.
The movie screen is brightened by the battle of the cat and mouse between Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi.
Cinephile Test: Do you like the thrillers that criticize your sense of justice? This is necessary.
🐘 6. Kantara (Kannada, 2022)
Director: Rishab Shetty
Available on: Amazon prime video
Kantara is not a film, it is the tradition, spirituality and the folk story of a tribe. The last 20 minutes are pure magic of the moving screen. The first time I saw it was at a packed movie theater and the room was charged. Every one cheered at last. It is not a very common occurrence.
Cinephile Test: Can you identify yourself with primitive cultural roots devoid of urban elegance setting? Immerse yourself into this.
🧠 7. U Turn (2016, Kannada)
Director: Pawan Kumar
Available on: Netflix
Before the film was remade in other languages, U Turn is a Kannada sleeper hit film. It is the supernatural thriller with certain social message. Not-so-great, but inspirational in creativity and thriller.
Cinephile Test: Are you a fan of thrillers that can be driven by a well-written material and not by VFX and fisticuffs? Prove it.
🏺 8. Aayirathil Oruvan (Tamil, 2010)
Director: Selvaraghavan
Available on: Amazon Prime Video
Aayirathil Oruvan is not a movie but a full blown mythological fever dream. It begins as an adventure thriller which gradually mutates into a head-turning historical fantasy with Chola dynasty background. It is disorganized, multi-layered and far above its years. And that is true the fact is that it was actually so misjudged when it came out that it was only years in retrospect that people were referring to it as a cult classic.
I recall watching it in college and saying, what did I just watch?--in the very best possible way. It does not excel, but it is not afraid.
Cinephile Test: Are you able to take a mentally and emotionally challenging film? This is one that you should listen to.
💔9. 7G Rainbow Colony (Tamil, 2004)
Director: Selvaraghavan
Available on: Jio Hotstar
There was 7G Rainbow Colony before the world was lamenting over the harsh love novels of Sandeep Reddy Vanga. An explicit yet candid depiction of youthful love, resurgence, heartbreak, this film is a ticking trigger to anyone who has ever fallen in love with someone who is way out of their league.
It is not the lovely love story you are well accustomed to watching but raw, harsh and deeply real. There are those, including me, who cannot listen to the BGM without shedding any tears.
Cinephile Test: Are you comfortable with stories what are not comfortable but true? Watch this, and make an effort not to be gutted.
🎸 10. Vaaranam Aayiram (Tamil, 2008)
Director: Gautham Vasudev Menon
Available on: Netflix
It is more than a film. It is a letter. A love letter to fathers, to first love, or youth and an emotion roller coaster of life. The movie Vaaranam Aayiram is the story of a young man, and it has nostalgia, romance, pain, and redemption become one as he experiences the death of his father.
This is one of the finest roles of Suriya as he doubles up in the role of the father and the son. Believe me, this one is going to break you in case you lost someone whom you loved.
Cinephile Test: Will you be able to weep, ponder, and reach your parents after watching a movie? Start here.
🎞️Final thoughts
The thing is that I am not saying that Bollywood does not have gems. However, when you are really serious about cinema, then your watchlist should go beyond Vindhyas. These movies are not anymore merely regional. They are Indian stories in their simplest, their boldest forms.
Check these movies the next time you update your Letterboxd, IMDb, or other application you can use. And what will happen that they are not - then... then perhaps you are not yet a true cinephile, you are just a fan of films. 😉
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