CE Year in Preview: What to expect from Tamil cinema in 2023 

When we made similar lists for the last two years, the pandemic was raging and film industries across the globe suffered. It’s safe to now say that our industry has healed reasonably, and we might be in for some great content this year. Here are our predictions on what might be in store... assuming, of course, the pandemic doesn't rear its ugly head once again.

Beginning with a bang

January will witness a clash of the titans as Ajith's Thunivu and Vijay's Varisu vie for the pie this Pongal. Given that both the actors had underwhelming previous releases in Valimai and Beast, expectations are sky-high, nevertheless. While Ajith is teaming up with director H Vinoth for the third time after Nerkonda Paarvai and Valimai, Vijay has taken a completely different detour and collaborated with Telugu filmmaker Vamshi Paidipally for Varisu, with the crew too being new for the actor.

Late bloomers?

There continue to be many delayed films that are awaiting release. Vijay Sethupathi's Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir and Idam Porul Yaeval come to mind. Sivakarthikeyan's big-budget Ayalaan which has been in the making for a while now will come out soon. According to trusted sources, Vikram-Gautham Menon's Dhruva Natchathiram might be out in the first quarter of 2023. Films like Party, Iravaakalam, Adho Andha Paravai Pola, Server Sundaram, Joshua Imai Pol Kaaka, Kallapart, Vanangamudi, Sathuranga Vettai 2 and Naragasooran, were all completed long ago and haven’t been able to see the light of day. Perhaps some of them might come out on OTT platforms?

Cross-country collabs

With Sivakarthikeyan and Telugu filmmaker Anudeep KV teaming up to give us Prince and our very own Lingusamy directing Telugu actor Ram Pothineni in The Warriorr last year, more such collaborations are happening this year. Vijay's Varisu will see him teaming up with Telugu filmmaker Vamshi Paidipally. Meanwhile, Dhanush is gearing up for Telugu director Venky Atluri's Tamil debut Vaathi, which is also releasing in Telugu as Sir. On the other hand, director Shankar is teaming up with Ram Charan for a film tentatively titled RC15. Venkat Prabhu is making Custody, his first Tamil-Telugu bilingual, with Naga Chaitanya. Ram, who previously directed Malayalam actor Mammootty, is teaming up with Nivin Pauly for the Tamil film, Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai. Atlee is making his Bollywood debut with Jawan starring Shah Rukh Khan. Aishwarya Rajesh is working with Ludo and Jagga Jasoos' dialogue writer Samrat Chakraborty for a Tamil-Hindi bilingual titled Manik. Kannada director Prashant Raj is joining hands with Santhanam for a Kannada-Tamil bilingual rom-com.

Sequels galore

Sequels aren't new anymore, but the frequency has dramatically increased. The most expected one is undoubtedly Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan Part 2 that's slated for an April 28 release. Kamal Haasan and Shankar's Indian 2 will also be out. Gautham Menon and Silambarasan have promised a sequel for Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu, and the film is expected to go on floors soon. Vijay Milton's upcoming Mazhai Pidikatha Manithan, starring Vijay Antony, is a sequel to the actor's 2014 film Salim. We also have a few films which might be continuing the story from the first part or be what's called a 'spiritual sequel'. That list encompasses titles such as Chandramukhi, Jigarthanda, Pichaikkaran, Neerparavai, Maragatha Naanayam and Demonte Colony.

The rise of LCU

With Kamal Haasan's Vikram last year, director Lokesh Kanagaraj officially started the Lokesh Cinematic Universe. With his new film with Vijay rumoured to have commenced shoot yesterday, in the first year of 2023, it's speculated that the Master duo's new film will also be a part of LCU. Interestingly, the director has also been teasing the idea of a sequel to Karthi's Kaithi and also a spin-off film on Suriya's character from Vikram, Rolex. An update on these films could make this a year to look forward to for fans of LCU.

Not a flash in the pan

This year will also see a large number of films being classified under the 'pan-India' category. We will see Prabhas' Salaar, Adipurush and Project K which will get released in multiple languages including Tamil. There's also the much-awaited sequel to the Telugu film Pushpa which did so well in Tamil markets. Our Ponniyin Selvan 2 and Indian 2 will also be released in multiple Indian languages. Director Shankar's upcoming film with Ram Charan will also aim for a release across languages. Suriya's 42nd film which will be directed by Siva will get released in 10 languages. Kannada film Kabzaa featuring Upendra, Sudeepa and Shriya Saran is said to release in seven languages including Bengali and Marathi. Nani and Keerthy Suresh's Dasara will also release across the nation. Akshay Kumar's Marathi debut, Vedat Marathe Veer Daudle Saat, will also release in Southern languages. Meanwhile, Bollywood biggies like Jawan, Pathaan and Tiger 3 will release in several regional languages.

Young directors and veteran actors

2023 will also see several young directors helming experienced actors. The list kickstarts with H Vinoth who is teaming up once again with Ajith for Thunivu. The actor's next film will be helmed by Vignesh Shivan. Vijay is once again joining hands with director Lokesh Kanagaraj after the success of Master. Rajini has teamed up with the three-film-old Nelson Dilipkumar for the much-awaited Jailer. Actor Vikram, meanwhile, is working with Pa Ranjith in Thangalaan.

Amping up the OTT game

OTT platforms have long been seen as an alternative. However, the platforms have started coming up with strong originals. 2023 will see more happening on this front. SonyLIV has announced Story of Things, a Tamil original starring Gautami, Aditi Balan, Ritika Singh, Bharath, Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, and Vinoth Kishan. Prime Video has originals like Modern Love Chennai produced by Super Deluxe director Thiagarajan Kumararaja and starring Kishore, Ramya Nambeesan, Ashok Selvan, Ritu Varma, Vijayalakshmi, TJ Banu and Gouri Reddy, with individual episodes being directed by the likes of Bharathiraja, Balaji Sakthivel, and Raju Murugan. The OTT giant will also stream Sweet Karam Coffee, a web series directed by Bejoy Nambiar, Krishna Marimuthu and Swathi Raghuraaman and it will star Lakshmi, Madhoo and Santhy Balachandran. Arya will also be making his OTT debut in Prime Video's horror series The Village. Zee5 has Nilamellam Ratham with Vetrimaaran coming up and Hansika will be seen in Disney+ Hotstar's My3. While Netflix is also said to be working on Tamil originals, this year will also see the launch of new OTT platforms catering to Tamil audiences.

Women in front

Women-fronted films have thankfully become so common that they can't be caged under the category of a trend anymore. Trisha, who is awaiting the release of Ponniyin Selvan 2, is speculated to be a part of KH 234 and Thalapathy 67. Apart from making her OTT debut with the Telugu series Brinda, she also has the Tamil film The Road coming up. Nayanthara will be making her Hindi debut with SRK-Atlee's Jawan. She will also be headlining Ethir Neechal-fame Durai Senthilkumar's film that's tentatively titled NT 81. Apart from playing the heroine in a couple of films, Samantha will be heading the mythological drama film, Shaakuntalam. She also has the international project Arrangements of Love. Apart from starring in both the Telugu releases of this Sankranthi, Shruti Haasan will also be headlining the international feature film The Eye. Jyotika will be returning to Malayalam cinema with Kaathal: The Core and to Hindi with Sri. Kajal Aggarwal has films like Karungaapiyam, Ghosty and Uma. Andrea's Pisasu 2 with Mysskin is slated to release this August. She is also the star of Aramm-fame Gopi Nainar's sophomore film, Manushi. Amala Paul has her long-delayed Adho Andha Paravai Pola as well as her Hindi debut in Ajay Devgn's Bholaa. Hansika will be making her OTT debut with My3. While Shraddha Srinath has Kaliyugam, Regina will be seen in Soorpanagai and Flash Back.

After Soorarai Pottru, Sudha Kongara is remaking the film in Hindi with Akshay Kumar. While on Hindi debuts, KD aka Karuppu Durai-fame Madhumita is also making her Bollywood debut with the Hindi remake of the hit Malayalam film Angamalay Diaries. She is also remaking KD in Hindi with Abhishek Bachchan in the lead. Halitha Shameem has her much-expected Minmini, a film for which she directed the first half in 2015 and the second half in 2022 with the same actors as it required them in different age groups, is also coming out this year.

Year of the Rockstar

Music director Anirudh who has been having a brilliant spell over the last few years will have one of the most important years in his career this 2023. The young composer, who has become the backbone of top projects, will have many releases this year with some top stars. This includes Rajinikanth's Jailer in which he will be teaming up with his frequent collaborator Nelson. Speaking of frequent collaborations, he is also roped in as the music director of Ajith-Vignesh Shivan's project. After the success of last year's Vikram, he is working once again on a Kamal project and this time, it is Shankar's Indian 2. While it hasn't been officially confirmed yet, the Master trio of Anirudh, Vijay and Lokesh are reuniting once again for Thalapathy 67. He is also on-board Junior NTR-Koratala Siva's Telugu film NTR 30. If all of these weren’t enough, Anirudh is also the music director of Atlee's Hindi debut Jawan, starring Shah Rukh Khan.

When legends join hands

Last year's November saw what could arguably be the biggest Tamil film announcement in the last few decades: Kamal Haasan reuniting with Mani Ratnam for the actor's 234th film. The duo will be working together after 35 years since the release of their film Nayagan. While we won't be seeing this biggie this year, 2023 will be the year we get all the updates on it. As of now, it's known that the film will be produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin's Red Giant Studios, Kamal's Raaj Kamal Films International, and Mani Ratnam's Madras Talkies and it will go on floors in August or September.

A star-studded year

All your favourite heroes are expected to have at least one release this year. Right off the bat, we have Ajith's Thunivu and Vijay's Varisu. Rajini's Jailer is slated for release this year and he's expected to confirm his next project soon. Kamal Haasan's long-awaited Indian 2 is set to hit the theatres this summer. Suriya's film with Siva will likely release in the second half of 2023 while Vikram's Thangalaan with Pa Ranjith is expected to release soon. He's also got PS 2 up for release this summer. 2010 was the last time when Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Ajith, Vijay, Suriya and Vikram all had a release in the same year. That tells us that the upcoming year is set to be a landmark one for our cinema.