Telugu
- Epic Tales: The nation got to know that Telugu heroes have rippling shoulders and gleaming torsos and are badass in the stunts department too. Nothing captured the entire nation as SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus in Telugu- Baahubali, the beginning. The mythological monster hit was the highest grossing film within India in 2015.
- Warrior Princess: Before Mastani wielded a sword, her southern sister played a royal warrior queen with awesome majesty. Rudramadevi brought the Kakatiya Deccan queen’s life with 3D effects. Gods in heaven and warriors on earth, the magic never fades.
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- Look Forward To: In 2016 the audiences across Andhra and Telengana are looking forward to typical crowd pleaser family drama, Brahmotsavam with Mahesh Babu in the lead.
Tamil
- Black Magic: After almost 25 years Sridevi graced a Tamil movie in 2015. Her Maleficent meets Snow White fairy tale sorceress didn’t have the same magic in Puli.
- Love and other stories: O Kadhal Kanmani proved Mani Ratnam’s finesse with a rom com; Ajith Kumar’s monster hit Vedhalam; Thoongavanam, Kamal Hassan’s Tamil spin on the French, Nuit Blanche proved some thrills and the female audiences warmed to Tamil films with fare like Inji Idupazhagi (where fat is feminist too) and 36 Vayadhinile where Jyothika made a comeback post motherhood.
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- Real life heroes: The terrible floods that lashed Chennai and parts of Tamil Nadu did not spare its stars too. Movie stars like Siddharth, Ajith, Dhanush, Rajinikanth all pitched in to help.
- Look Forward To: Rajinikanth’s release in 2016, Kabali, aka Kabaliswaran, a silver bearded mobster whose mean acts promise to throw up the superstar’s early year’s villainous roles.
Kannada
- Action Ahoy: While Kannada movies saw a lot of action films, the sleeper hit was The Plan a suspense cops and jailbirds drama. At 67 veteran Anant Nag as the grizzled cop still could pack a mean punch.
- Look Forward To: The release of RGV’s Killing Veerappan, in Kannada and Telugu lwas halted by a legal petition in 2015 by the brigand’s wife Muthulakshmi. But the trailer proves why Varma is one of the best in raking up on screen danger. This time it is Sandeep Bharadwaj playing the sandalwood brigand and, in a twist, abducted Kannada superstar Dr Rajkumar’s son, Shiva Rajkumar, as a stealthy cop.
Malayalam
- Nostalgia: Sathyan Anthikad, Mohanlal and Manju Warrier team after 17 years in Ennum Eppozhum brought talent and nostalgia together. Alphonse Puthren’s Premam, a love story brought in box office success as did Oru Vadakkan Selfie in Malayalam.
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- Look Forward To: Watch out for Mamoorty’s Megastar 393 and Lal’s Pulimurugan.
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