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Misses Of 2022: 12 Tamil Films That Failed To Create Magic!

Jayabhuvaneshwari B

Every year, the Indian film industry offers us an array of films, some of which work flawlessly, some others of which fail to create magic. Just as how Aldrich Killian from Iron Man 3 said, “Failure is the fog through which we glimpse triumph,” these not-so-well-made films act as stepping stones for filmmakers to make better films, and for the audience to know more about their likes and dislikes in a film. Filmmakers learn to connect more with the audience after they make films that fail amongst those audiences. Keeping this in mind, here’s a list of 12 Tamil films that failed to create magic in 2022.

It is to be noted that some of the films that are mentioned here may be commercial successes due to star power, but they are films that could have had a better storyline, screenplay, or even performances. In these terms, let us have a look at the misses of this year.

Sivakarthikeyan was having a number of successful movies back-to-back. Doctor did really well amidst audiences and although Don did not have great writing, its entertainment quotient gave SK a win. After the success of 2 films consecutively, people expected a hat trick for SK with the release of Prince this year. Directed by Anudeep KV of Jathi Ratnalu fame, Prince turned out to be a huge disappointment for the actor’s fans as well as the Director’s fans. One out of every ten jokes worked in the film, and much of the comedy was forced and “lame”. Although the oneliner of the film seemed entertaining, the writing of the film made it only unbearable. Sivakarthikeyan’s presence in the film was the only saving factor that kept the film from sinking.

With stars like Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanthara, and Samantha headlining the project, Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal was the biggest and most unexpected miss of 2022. While the first half of the film was bearable, the second half’s writing was fully messed up. As we start the second half with popcorn in our hands, we are more than bored even before our popcorn gets over. The second half repeats the comedy from the first half, and after a point, the same jokes that were funny become forced comedy. Towards the end of the film, it is natural to start getting extremely restless, as we pray the movie comes to a logical and acceptable conclusion soon. With great performances, costume design, and music, Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal could have done so much better.

We tend to judge a film either by the Director’s previous work or by the actor’s capacities. Maaran’s director Karthick Naren gave us one of the best films of 2016- Dhuruvangal Padhinaru. He also managed to impress most of the audience with his short film in the anthology series Navarasa. So, when Maaran was not that watchable, it came as a surprise to many. Starring Dhanush as the lead and Smruthi Venkat in an important role, Maaran took the same old path of brother-sister sentiment. With a lot of loopholes in the plotline and the severe dragging of the screenplay, the movie was barely bearable to watch. All said and done, Maaran was a waste of two talents, Karthick Naren and Dhanush. The plus point; Smruthi Venkat was the unexpected talent that shone through the film.

No doubt, Ajith and H Vinoth’s Valimai did well commercially. But, all those who watched the film know that it did not deserve to. An out-and-out Commercial Ajith film, Valimai showed the actor’s biker side, nothing more, nothing less. Be it the fact that Ajith’s character is a larger-than-life cop who can nab a gang of criminals or the fact that it was just another movie with an Amma sentiment, Valimai was going for a miss from the beginning. Now, all we can do is hope that Vinoth-Ajith’s next Thunivu would be much better!

When a movie has an ensemble cast, there is always an expectation for it to do well. Such was the expectation for Sundar C’s Coffee With Kadhal as well, which starred, Jiiva, Jai, Amritha Aiyer, Malvika Sharma, Srikanth, Divyadharshini, Raiza, Samyuktha,  and many others.  What was expected to be a comedy family entertainer, turned out to be a devastating watch with immature jokes. The performance was also not that appealing for it to become the advantage of the film. With a good oneliner for a family film, much more was expected from the film. Kudos to all those who managed to sit through the entire film with patience and perseverance.

Vijay has been on a streak of mass commercial films, some of which have not been really working off-late. Much like Valimai, Beast was also a commercial success owing to Vijay’s stardom. No doubt, Vijay was enjoyable on screen. But, it was surprising to find Nelson’s script with these many illogical loopholes. A fully action-driven film, Beast had a lot of problems with logic, especially the climax. The writing was the biggest problem in the film as it only aimed at the ‘hero-ification’ of Vijay. The sexist dialogue aimed at Pooja Hegde’s character was another problematic aspect. On the whole, Beast was bearable but should have been much greater.

Pandiraj has a template for all of his films, a macho patriarch who has to save the world or his family. Etharkkum Thunindhavan is no different. Suriya plays an advocate turned vigilante who stands up for the cause of women. While the idea of the movie was worthy, the execution was messed up. The film advocates taking justice into one’s own hands, something people are already prone to do in today’s world. While the comedy and romance were quite entertaining, the movie that tried to stand for something bigger, ended up becoming a mediocre commercial film starring Suriya. With a strong take on cybercrime, the movie could have done much better.

Directed by Brindha Master, Hey Sinamika starred Dulquer Salmaan, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Kajal Aggarwal in lead roles. A remake of an Argentine film, the film’s premise was quite tempting and created a lot of curiosity. Despite good performances, the movie didn’t work among Indian audiences because of its flawed and toxic portrayal of relationships and psychology. The movie probably worked in the Argentine market because of their culture and belief systems. Here, the entire idea of Aditi Rao Hydari’s character trying to make her husband Dulquer Salmaan fall in love with Kajal Aggarwal, instead of divorcing him was extremely problematic and toxic. It also felt pretty unrealistic, i.e., the level a wife would go to divorce her husband. With a promising cast, brilliant costume design, feministic thoughts, and picturesque cinematography, Hey Sinamika should have surely been a lot better, given it was thought out better.

Cobra’s trailer was extremely intriguing, with a mathematical genius cum assassin on the run. With Vikram as the lead of such a film, it was full of potential and promises. The 3-hour end product was however a letdown. For a crime thriller, and for an International on-demand assassin, the movie had a lot of unimaginable loopholes. The movie had too much to convey and it was all conveyed confusingly. The length of the film only made it worse. The movie had too much to convey and it was all conveyed confusingly. The length of the film only made it worse. At its best, it was a confusing thriller. At its worst, it was a long and tiring film that would have sunk without Vikram.

Shakthi Soundar Rajan’s Captain gives the idea of a refreshing film. But halfway through the movie, we wonder why logic is haywire and all over the place. We know that the intention of the film was to bring out a film similar to Hollywood’s ‘Predator’. Unfortunately, the movie could have done so much better. The movie’s biggest plus is that it was short. The Graphics used to create the alien creature were also not effective. There was no conviction in the establishment of the relationship between the characters and the storyline itself. Many scientific explanations were made incomplete. This undermined the value of proper sci-fi and rather makes it half-baked on the whole.

This movie is the only one on this list that fits perfectly, especially without any doubt. An expensive joke, the movie seemed nothing but like a parody of Rajinikanth’s Sivaji. The character arcs of Saravana and Urvashi Rautela genuinely felt like a purposeful joke, except that it was not. While the story was super predictable the movie was just unwatchable. However, amongst us, there are still some who enjoyed the film for its caricature comedy.

The film was meant to be a callback for all things Vadivelu. The film ended up becoming just that and nothing more, making it a tribute video, rather that an actual movie. The movie relied upon the star’s facial expressions, body language, and occasional punch dialogues. In Naai Sekar Returns, the long stretches of forced comedy were so poorly written that even the famous performances of Vadivelu weren’t enough to make us laugh. A comeback for the legend, the movie should have done more justice to the actor.