An exciting 2020 awaits Kollywood, as a series of star films with biggies like Rajinikanth, Vijay, Kamal Haasan and Ajith are set to hit the marquee, while a couple of other interesting projects also catch the eye. Here’s what Tamil movie fans can look forward to:
Darbar
Rajinikanth playing a cop (a bad one at that) after decades, a proven veteran like Suniel Shetty as the baddie, an experienced big-budget director like Murugadoss at the helm, and Anirudh in peak form hoping to repeat his Petta success: what’s not to like about this line-up? In a year that once again heralds the entry of the Superstar into politics, the film will be keenly watched by all quarters... even though for now, it masquerades as a harmless commercial film. But come Pongal season, Darbar could find itself in the darbar.
Master
Could Vijay’s decision to work with the most exciting young director in Kollywood today be a watershed moment in his career? Granted, he’s delivered a hattrick of hits with the likes of Mersal , Sarkar and Bigil in recent years, and yet, deciding to change track and do a film with Lokesh Kanagaraj speaks volumes about an actor on whom the political spotlight always dominates pre-release proceedings. If Kaithi is anything to go by, Kanagaraj can marry commercial sensibilities and a new-age narrative with ease, and in the Vijay-Vijay Sethupathi showdown, he’s got possibly, a casting coup for the ages.
Valimai
Ajith has shown a penchant to work with filmmakers and producers he’s comfortable with, and reuniting with his Nerkonda Paarvai team — with an original script this time — comes as no surprise. Little has been revealed about this project, except that it will see the actor play a cop after Yennai Arindhaal and Boney Kapoor revealing that he’ll ensure to showcase Ajith’s ‘passion for speed’, which points towards a much-hyped superbike chase/sequence.
D40
That Karthik Subbaraj wanted Al Pacino or Robert De Niro to play the antagonist in this film is astonishing insight into the five-film-old director’s vision. He finally had to settle for Games of Thrones star James Cosmo, but make no mistake about it, this is a filmmaker with real and tangible Hollywood aspirations.
Shot in London, this touted gangster drama has all the trappings of an epic franchise to come, if successful — and in Dhanush and Subbaraj, two men, whom the rest of the film world have an envious eye on constantly.
Cobra
Vikram needs a hit. His fans want him to have a hit. We, the public, are desperate to give him a hit. Will 2020 finally be the year? To be fair, the actor is making the right choice on paper — picking a young director, Ajay Gnanamuthu. His delayed Gautham Menon movie Dhruva Natchathiram could also see a release this year.
Soorarai Pottru
Suriya has a knack of selecting interesting scripts, and his 2020’s pick has him playing a role reportedly based on the life of Air Deccan founder GR Gopinath. In Soorarai Pottru , he will play Maara who is ‘an ordinary man with extraordinary dreams’, going by a tagline. Suriya teams up with director Sudha Kongara, who gave us the gripping sports drama Irudhi Suttru earlier, in this film that has music by GV Prakash. Fans of Suriya are waiting for Pongal, for a teaser is expected to release on that date.
Indian 2
The ‘Indian thatha’ is back to take on the system. Kamal Haasan and Shankar team up after a long time to do a second innings of a character we all loved, way back in 1996. With Kamal showing political intentions, it remains to be seen if he’d use this illustrious character to further his cause.
Thalaivar 168
Who wouldn’t like to see Rajinikanth in a big, fat family drama? A film that has an ensemble star cast that includes Keerthy Suresh, Khushbu and Meena, it will see Rajinikanth teaming up for the first time with director Siva, who is fresh off the success of Ajith’s Viswasam .
Mafia
The last decade has been about young filmmakers making waves in Tamil cinema, and one among them is Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru filmmaker Karthick Naren. His Naragasooran is yet to see the light of the day, but the director has pinned hopes this year on his action thriller flick, Mafia . The trailer gives equal prominence to both Arun Vijay and Prasanna.
Mookuthi Amman
Post the success of LKG, everyone wants to know what RJ Balaji is upto. And, the madcap personality that he is, the radio jockey-turned-actor is doing an ‘Amman film’ with Nayanthara.
