Subramaniapuram

M. Sasikumar's 2008 Tamil film is set in Madurai in 1980 and follows five friends who spend their days on the street being used in the calculations of local politics. A murder is arranged for these young men to carry out; when it is done, nobody appears to protect them. The film is taken as the beginning of a wave in Tamil cinema: a cast without stars, real locations, local speech and ordinariness in place of heroism. Sasikumar directs and acts. Its strength is showing how friendship becomes useless under the pressure of class and politics. The violence is harsh and the ending merciless. The woman character is thinly written. Who it's for: viewers who like Tamil independent cinema and period crime drama. Who it's not for: anyone avoiding violent content, or wanting a hopeful close.