Tamil cinema in 2025 was, in retrospect, a watershed year. It had been years since there was a vacuum in the hierarchy of Tamil cinema stardom, and 2025 saw new players raising their hands to be taken seriously, the slightly older players getting nearer to the top echelons, and the old guard finally letting go of their grip over the throne. All the pieces of a puzzle were strewn around.
Of course, the ascension isn’t going to be easy, and neither is the descent, but it is going to be an interesting 2026, simply because the claws are out, and it is going to be a bloodbath to the top, with some pieces making peace with their positions, some pieces trying to fit themselves in wrong places, and some others, after the dust settles, organically finding themselves to be the all-important missing pieces of the ornate puzzle, i.e. Tamil cinema, 2026.
Start to the Finish line
This time, the Pongal releases carry a weight like no other. It is a political Pongal with Vijay’s swansong, Jana Nayagan, hitting theatres on January 9. Even as the entire focus was on bidding adieu to one of the greatest entertainers of Tamil cinema, Sivakarthikeyan, the man who got the proverbial torch from Vijay in this cinematic relay, is set to share the limelight with his own Parasakthi, directed by Sudha Kongara, set to be released on January 10. Purely on content, both films are highly political, and even if that wasn’t enough, there is enough politics surrounding the release plans, theatre bookings, fan wars, and social media campaigns. One thing is certain: it is not going to be a healthy competition at the box office, and things will turn ugly before a semblance of normalcy can be expected to return. So, what else can be said, except… “We are waiting!”
Sequels, franchises, and everything in between…. Again
Let’s stop acting surprised that sequels are a thing in Tamil cinema. Our mass masala entertainers are superhero movies anyway, and it makes sense that filmmakers are milking this cash cow dry. Even if a sense of saturation was felt a couple of years back, it hasn’t deterred the eager filmmakers, who prefer successful reiterations to channeling their creativity that might or might not work.
Even Rajinikanth isn’t immune to this sequel culture as his next venture is Jailer 2, which reunites him with Nelson Dilipkumar. The film that made the most of superstar cameos and a rare style-meets-substance approach is coming back with bigger cameos, more style, and hopefully, more substance (read it as more Ramya Krishnan). After holding Tamil cinema in a lockgrip with two franchises — Kalakalappu and Aranmanai — Sundar C steps into the Mookuthi Amman universe to helm the standalone sequel, once again featuring Nayanthara in the lead. Even as we are still awaiting the release of Mysskin’s Pisaasu 2, Ajay Gnanamuthu seems to have gotten comfortable with the horror genre after the Cobra setback and is coming back with Demonte Colony 3. Just like Jailer 2, another rare sequel that takes off from where the first one left, and isn’t released years apart, is PS Mithran’s Sardar 2, which is the sequel to the 2022 blockbuster, fronted by Karthi.
Oh, and Selvaraghavan is bringing Kathir back with 7G Rainbow Colony 2, and not that anyone asked for it, but when every other franchise is back with its new instalment, can Raghava Lawrence and Kanchana be far behind?
Trust thy neighbour
With Tamil and Telugu cinema being the biggest industries in the South, it never made sense why more collaborations didn’t happen between the movers and shakers of both these industries. But with the concept of pan-Indian films taking over the narrative, Tamil-Telugu bilinguals started to become the norm. If Dhanush’s Vaathi/Sir and Kuberaa with Venky Atluri and Sekhar Kammula, respectively, reignited that trend, Suriya has hopped on to the same. If Suriya 46, his next after RJ Balaji’s Karuppu, is helmed by Venky Atluri, Suriya 47 is set to be directed by Aavesham filmmaker Jithin Madhavan. This might just be the start of another trend: the Tamil-Malayalam bilinguals. And to not forget the Tamil-Telugu bilingual, we have Vijay Sethupathi’s next with Puri Jagannadh, which also stars Tabu.
Of course, apart from this, we will be having the various talent exchange programmes known as pan-Indian films, continuing to see this internal transfer of resources. There is Suraj Venjaramoodu being part of Ken Karunaas’ directorial debut, and Dhanush’s next with Por Thozhil director Vignesh Raja. Anaswara Rajan is being paired opposite Tourist Family director Abishan Jeevinth’s acting debut, With Love. Kalyani Priyadarshan, fresh off the success of Lokah Chapter 1, being paired alongside Ravi Mohan in the fantasy comedy, Genie, and the gritty Karthi-starrer Marshal. Mamitha could just be the darling of Tamil cinema with releases like Jana Nayagan, Irandu Vaanam, and Suriya 46.
Nivin Pauly, who is on cloud nine after Sarvam Maya’s success, will be seen in the long-awaited Ram directorial, Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai, and an interesting change of track in Bakkiyaraj Kannan-Raghava Lawrence’s Benz, which is part of the famed Lokesh Cinematic Universe.
The delayed starts
As always, financial issues plagued the release slate of 2025, and quite a few films have been rescheduled to 2026. Among them is Karthi-Nalan Kumarasamy’s Vaa Vaathiyaar, backed by KE Gnanavel Raja’s Studio Green banner, which seems to be continuously running into hot water. Vignesh Shivan’s ambitious Love Insurance Kompany, headlined by Pradeep Ranganathan and Krithi Shetty, is expected to finally hit the screens this February, but one never knows. The same holds good for two of Mysskin’s films — Train and Pisaasu 2 — that might hit the screens in 2026. Hopefully, it does, and of course, the proverbial wait for Gautham Vasudev Menon-Vikram’s Dhruva Natchathiram continues. As they say, hope is indeed a good thing, or… not.
The Old and the slightly younger Guard
Now, with Vijay stepping down the superstardom ladder, the clamour for the top would take a new colour altogether. But, it is not going to be easy to displace the ones perched on the top till they decide to move on. The biggest example of the same is Rajinikanth, who is not only awaiting the release of Jailer 2, but is also in talks to star in a film, backed by Kamal Haasan, and be part of another film, which will have the two doyens of Indian cinema share screenspace once again. With Sundar C backing out of the project, who would get the big opportunity? 2026 will have the answers.
On the other hand, Kamal Haasan, who has had a line of forgettable outings after the gargantuan success of Vikram, is expected to begin working on stunt directors Anbariv’s directorial debut. Will it be a 2026 release? Or will the impending elections push this even further?
We also have Ajith Kumar’s earnest attempt to juggle his acting responsibilities and his racing passion, finally tilting towards the former as his second straight film with director Adhik Ravichandran is on the cards. Vikram, too, had a start-stop setup with his upcoming films, before zeroing in on a project with debutant director Bodi Rajkumar, and a film with Meiyazhagan-fame C Premkumar.
With Dhanush and Silambarasan TR announcing multiple projects at the same time, one can’t help but think if we have dialled the clock back by a couple of decades. Dhanush’s impressive lineup includes films with promising directors Vignesh Raja (Por Thozhil), Tamizharasan Pachamuthu (Lubber Pandhu), and Rajkumar Periasamy (Amaran). On the other hand, a resurgent Silambarasan is joining hands with Vetri Maaran for Arasan, and filmmakers Ashwath Marimuthu (Dragon), and Ramkumar Balakrishnan (Parking).
Another actor with an interesting lineup of films is Ravi Mohan, who is taking a bold risk with Parasakthi, and, to an extent, even with Genie and Karatey Babu. And with Suriya’s Karuppu expected to take the Summer by storm, it is but clear that the young guns have their task cut out. The Old Guard isn’t giving way without a fight.
The New Order
Sivakarthikeyan leads the new order brigade with Parasakthi, which is not just taking the name from THE most iconic Tamil film of all time, but also fighting it out at the box office with Jana Nayagan, a bona fide juggernaut that might be impossible to stop. Up next, he has a film with Venkat Prabhu, and it is expected to right both their previous sci-fi attempts. Standing toe-to-toe is Karthi, whose Sardar 2 is expected to surpass the success of the original. He also has Marshal with Taanakkaran director Tamizh, which is already one of the most anticipated films of the year. There are also reports about a sequel to Theeran: Adhigaaram Ondru being in the works that might just make people move past the never-ending wait for Kaithi 2. And as always, Vijay Sethupathi is doing Vijay Sethupathi things and walking on a path that only he is travelling in, but is one that many more could travel on. He is playing a pivotal role in Vetri Maaran-STR’s Arasan.
The box-office darling Pradeep Ranganathan, who only has LIK in the waiting, is expected to return to the director’s chair with his next for AGS Productions. It would be interesting to see the longevity of his Midas touch.
Meanwhile, Kavin is showing strong signs of being an actor, who doesn’t mind being a star, as long as it serves his quirky script choices. His lineup includes Vishnu Edavan’s next, Hi, with Nayanthara. Manikandan is going through a purple patch, and he would love to extend it to 2026, as well. The same holds good for Ashok Selvan, who has had a mixed bag in the past couple of years, but will look to consolidate his position with some carefully chosen films and web series. We also have Vishnu Vishal joining hands with his Ratsasan filmmaker Ramkumar for Irandu Vaanam. Soori, Rio Raj, and Kishen Das struck gold with Maaman, Aan Paavam Polladhadhu and Aaromaley, respectively, and would give their upcoming films a huge impetus to bring audiences to the theatres in 2026.
Selvaraghavan is one of the many directors GV Prakash Kumar is working with in 2026, and their Mental Manadhil might just be the return to form for a master filmmaker. We also have Meyaadha Maan director Rathna Kumar returning to romantic territory with 29. Hopefully, many more actors and directors come up with surprises of their own!
Oh, and Arya is back with a love story, written by Halitha Shameem. Good times, I guess.
Women of next year’s cinema
It was a rather sombre year for women-fronted films in 2025, especially since some promising releases didn’t exactly find its discerning audience. However, things might just look up next year with Nayanthara having a slew of releases across genres. There is a spiritual fantasy (Mookuthi Amman 2), a romantic drama (Hi), a rural action drama (Rakkayie), a comedy (Mannangatti Since 1960). She is also part of big-ticket multilinguals across languages like Kannada (Toxic), Malayalam (Patriot and Dear Students), and Telugu (Mana Shankara Varaprasad Garu). While Trisha had a mixed bag of releases in 2025, things might just look up for her in 2026 with Karuppu, alongside Suriya, and Chiranjeevi’s Vishwambhara. Sreeleela’s Tamil debut with Parasakthi might open the floodgates for her in the industry. Actors like Rukmini Vasanth and Chaitra J Achar, who had breakthrough releases in 2025, will carry on the goodwill in 2026, juggling projects across various languages.
If 2025 taught us something… it is to lower the expectations from Tamil cinema. But let’s not be cynical, especially on the first day of the New Year. Let’s hope everyone finds something to love about everything in Tamil Cinema.
Basically, Happy New Year, and see you at the movies!