Star Movies

Last week, Rediff had a nice article on movies that made stars out some Hindi actors. I was nodding in agreement as I read about the movies since they were exactly the ones that introduced me to the actors or made me like them. Along the same lines, here are 5 Tamil actors and the movies that proved to be watersheds in their careers.

Rajnikanth – Thambikku Endha Ooru
In the early part of his career, Rajnikanth was predominantly an action star. Sure he had comedies like Thillu Mullu and dramas like Aarulirundhu Arubathu Varai on his resume, but action films like Billa and Murattu Kaalai were what he was known for. But Thambikku Endha Ooru threw comedy into the mix and showcased him as an action-comedy star – a role that attracted all sections of the audience. With movie’s big success, he knew had hit upon the right formula and he stuck to it after that.

Vijay – Poove Unakkaaga
Vijay started off his career in low-budget, vulgar movies like Rasigan that targeted the front-benchers almost exclusively. While the steady stream of such movies kept him in the public eye, they did not earn him respectability and the A-center and family audiences gave his movies a wide berth. All that changed with Vikraman’s Poove Unakkaaga. It made him a loverboy and gave him respectability. He built upon the movie’s success with a string of movies where he played the loverboy.

Vikram – Sethu
This has to be the most obvious entry in this list. Vikram was languishing in obscurity until then, starring in flops and playing second-fiddle to stars like Ajith (Ullaasam). But he then came out of the dark to take Tamil cinema by storm with Sethu. From a college guy in love to a mental patient, the movie brought out the actor in him and Tamil cinema had a new macho star.

Surya – Mounam Pesiyadhe
For a long time, Surya struggled to find the right break. With a face not really cut out for action, a soft voice and awful dancing, he starred in a series of flops trying to play a regular loverboy. But director Ameer finally found the perfect role for him. He cast Surya as a man of few words in Mounam Pesiyadhe and made the moviegoers (especially the ladies) sit up and take notice of him. After that it became easy to accept him whether he played a cop, a rowdy or a man with short-term memory loss.

Simbhu - Manmadhan
Since his debut, Simbhu was probably the most disliked actor in Tamil cinema. He was seen primarily as a wannabe-Rajnikanth (his tag of 'Little Superstar' didn't help) with his punch dialogs and finger-swishing. But with Manmadhan, he proved that he wasn't all noise. He came up with a good, engrossing screenplay and topped it off with a good performance that hit all the right notes.