Dec 15, 2009 IST 16:30:32

Top Tamil films of 2009

We salvage a few good ones in a year dominated by mediocre films. • Priyanka: Failure of Raashee broke my heart • It's raining Malayalam films this Christmas • James Cameron, ex-wife fight over Oscar noms • Spotted: SRK, Karan Johar in LA

Readers' Corner

Chat with Himesh Reshammiya

• Chat with Bigg Boss' Claudia Ciesla

• Contest: Win exciting prizes from Avatar

Rajnikanth, the boss of box...
Tamil superstar Rajnikant quietly ringed in his 60th birthday on...

• Bollywood hots up lingerie show

• Aamir Khan goes missing

There are people -- film critics, indie filmmakers, and audience members -- who are averse to the idea of technology overshadowing the dramatic content of films. I have often found myself in that camp.

But I remember being dragged, kicking and screaming, by a friend for a screening of Terminator 2: Judgment Day and being humbled by James Cameron's vision and the thrilling suspenseful chase sequences between the Terminator and T-1000, with his liquid metal form. To say that I was impressed by Cameron as a grand filmmaker is an understatement.

I felt the need to bow before Cameron again after I saw his mega-successful and multiple Oscar winner Titanic, where a sappy romantic story, with two attractive young actors was outweighed by the grand technological cinematic wonder of a sinking ocean liner, the drowning passengers, and frozen survivors clinging on to pieces of ice in the Atlantic Ocean. Was Titanic a great film? We can continue to debate that issue. But was Titanic a great piece of entertainment? Yes, there is no doubt about that!

And so I went with these thoughts in my mind for a press screening of Cameron's latest Avatar -- reportedly the most expensive movie ever made. The New York Times put the price tag at $230 million -- enough money to fund more than100 small indie films. The New York Post said that Cameron's 3D spectacle cost anywhere between $400 to $500 million. Those are very large numbers, and even if Avatar is a hit, it will take the film a long while to start to show profitability. Hollywood may or may not have a good Christmas.

This much I can say: Avatar is a tremendously entertaining film. It is a huge WOW and an amazing display of high technology, although once again overriding the drama and the script. It is a sensory, emotional feeling -- the experience of being inside and participating in a two and a half hour long video game, with tall blue aliens called the Na'vi, creepy lizard like flying creatures that can be tamed, other scary monsters, lush plant life, big huge 'shock and awe' like war sequences between the natives using bows and arrow and evil Earthlings, motivated by profit, and then also some nice tender romantic moments.

Normally, I am used to rooting for small, heart-wrenching emotional films like Precious, Based on the Novel 'Push' by Saphire and the Coen brothers' latest crazy Jewish comedy A Serious Man. But Avatar has once again compelled me to revise my perspective of what cinema and technology can do.

A scene from Avatar

Review: Avatar is a MUST watch
James Cameron has proved once again that he's one of the best...

• Must Watch DVDs: Harry Potter 6,...

• The Princess And The Frog is a...

Review: Rocket Singh is...
Comfortable in its own skin, the film never tries too hard, and...

• Pix: Shah Rukh, Kajol in My Name...

• Why advertisers aren't gung ho...

Videos

Television's biggest night
A look at the Ninth Indian Television Academy Awards held recently in Mumbai.

• Video: The best trailers of 2009

• Sufi singer Abida Parveen, live in Chennai!

Television

Claudia: Pravesh and I are only friends
Claudia talks about her time in Bigg Boss.

• Claudia, Vindoo to be evicted but...

• 'Bigg Boss hasn't paid us to eat & enjoy'

Now, you can listen to Salman...
Here's what your favourite celebrities have been upto.

• Vote: The best smiles in Bollywood

• Pix: Bollywood's best posters of...

Watch Saleem at your own risk
Everything about this Telugu film is unexciting and below average...

• Genelia steals the show in Katha

• Maleyali Jotheyali is a feast to...

Top Tamil films of 2009

Readers' Corner

Top Emailed Stories

Reviews

Most Commented

Videos

Television

Photographs

South Cinema

Stars spotted!