Bigil

Michael was a good footballer once. His father Rayappan is a known crime boss in North Chennai and wants the boy kept out of that life. When the father is killed, Michael leaves the pitch and takes over the neighbourhood. Years later, after his friend is injured, he takes on coaching the state women's football team and travels to the national tournament with sixteen players. The story is less interested in matches than in what each woman risked at home to get on the field: one survived an acid attack, one plays without her husband knowing, one is pregnant. The film tells each of these, which is also where its length comes from. Atlee directed. Vijay plays both Michael and his father Rayappan, Nayanthara has the female lead, and the score is by A. R. Rahman. It opened on Diwali, 25 October 2019, passed two hundred crore rupees worldwide within five days, and finished above three hundred crore to become the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019. Who it is for: anyone who wants Tamil star cinema, a crowded ensemble and sports drama at once. Who it is not for: anyone looking for restraint. It runs close to three hours, the gangster half and the football half never quite lock together, and the women's stories sometimes become material for the hero's stature.