Paruthiveeran

Ameer's 2007 Tamil film is set in villages around Madurai and changed the direction of rural Tamil cinema. Veeran, a village tough, finally answers the unconditional love of his cousin Muthazhagu, but the relationship cannot proceed because of family opposition, caste pressure and his own criminality. The film builds a romance and then dismantles it systematically. It was Karthi's first film, and Priyamani won the National Film Award for best actress for the role. Ameer does not aestheticise rural violence; village life here is neither pastoral nor innocent. Its final section is considered one of the harshest endings in Tamil cinema and the level of violence caused argument on release. The use of the local Madurai dialect started a trend for the following decade. Who it's for: viewers interested in rural Tamil cinema and realist romantic tragedy. Who it's not for: anyone avoiding sexual violence and graphic content, or unprepared for the harshness of the ending.