From Michael to Japan, here are the biggest disappointments of Tamil cinema in 2023

Ranjit Jeyakodi’s Michael, played by Sandeep Kishan, came with a lot of promise. The trailer and promos of the film confirmed the visual drama feeding the action. However, when he was released, Michael had only styles and nothing. It followed the story of a legendary hero who rises to the top of the Mumbai underworld. He has a secret mission, which is revealed to be very mysterious, but any viewer can see the plot from afar. Apart from the beautiful frames, no guardian angel was saving ‘Michael’.

Storage

Naga Chaitanya’s misfortunes continue. Even Venkat Prabhu, who resurrected the career of Silambarasan and Maanaadu, could not do the same for Chaitanya and Custody. The action drama is the story of an ordinary police officer who is against a government leader. The predictable gameplay and difficult action tracking turned Custody into a wet squib.

2 pictures

Actor-singer Vijay Antony turned director with Photosikkaran 2, which was supposed to be a spiritual sequel to the successful first installment. However, his first directorial venture lacked the right story and ideas that made director Sasi’s film a success. Instead, Antony concocted a disturbing plot involving more obscure matters such as brain transplants. Between them, the film turned into a bad repeat of the anti-establishment Shankar/AR Murugadoss movie, ending up all over the place.

Cool

Balaji Kumar of Vidiyum Munn (2013) fame made a comeback after a decade with Kolai. The film’s excellent design is the only thing that stands out in this meaningless whodunit. The problem with Kolai is that it doesn’t follow all types of color to a tee, but it doesn’t have any originality in doing so. Vijay Antony plays a detective. The character is simple and understated. Everything about the film is plastic, which does not make the viewer use the story or wonder about the killer.

LGM

Cricketer MS Dhoni’s amazing ability to read games is not a transferable skill. As a debutant producer, the cricketer failed to make an interesting film as he wanted. Directed by Ramesh Thamilmani, LGM known as Let’s Get Married is about a family visiting a family, the boy’s mother, and her friends start to get the girl to meet her future in-laws. The main problem with LGM is that it fails to make you laugh. On paper, the concept may sound promising but the script fails the film.

Karumegangal Kalaigirathu

Director Thangar Bachaan, known for making good rural films, saw better days with films like Azhagi, Solla Marandha Kadhai, and Pallikoodam. Karumegangal Kalaigirathu is an interesting story about a retired judge, who goes in search of his illegitimate daughter and lover. Similarly, the lord of the parota tries to reunite with his daughter. The film is an experimental story with a terrifying performance. On top of that, the director gets the morals wrong. At one point, they say that parota is the cause of heart disease. Another, one goes ‘Old is always beautiful’. Such ideas make the film old-fashioned and pretentious.

Aneethi

Like Thangar Bachaan, Vasantha Balan also has the idea of ​​loving poverty as a virtue. In Aneethi, the poor are all good people and the rich are heartless monsters, who live and breathe to destroy others. Such takes make Aneethi a painful watch. The director’s anti-capitalist views are what shines through in the film.

Chandramukhi 2

While Rajinikanth’s Chandramukhi, which also starred in the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu, became a huge hit, P Vasu chalks up its success to its worst side effects. One can see the appearance of all these directors with great reputations failing to emulate their success. Things seem to have changed in Kollywood where melodrama and logic no longer work.

Ivan

While veterans struggle with old-fashioned methods, some contemporary filmmakers try to combat violence but fail. Director I Ahmed and his film Iraivan is an example. The movie is another story about a serial killer. It adheres to all the cliches of the genre to deliver an epic thrill ride that tests one’s patience.

Japan

2022 was a great year for Karthi with three consecutive hits-Komban, Ponniyin Selvan 1, and Sardar. 2023 may have started on a positive note with PS 2, but the second installment was more of Vikram and Jayam Ravi and less of Karthi. Therefore, the actor put a lot of hope in Japan, and his collaboration with the actor-director Raju Murugan. With dramatic changes and clarity, the drama did not impress the audience as it does not reveal what the film is about until the end. The hero discovers that he is HIV positive and decides to right many wrongs. This seems to have been the idea behind Japan, but this is not reflected in the film, which is all over the place.