Comedies are a difficult genre to pull off in today's day and age, thanks to the audiences' increasing exposure to diverse content and dwindling attention spans.
Still, there are quite a few Tamil movies that can bring on the laughs. Arjun Menon lists the recent releases you can watch at home.
Good Night (2023)
Director: Vinayak
Featuring: Manikandan, Meetha Raghunath and Ramesh Thilak
Where to Watch? Amazon Prime Video
There is nothing inherently funny about the central conceit of the Manikandan-starrer Good Night, which deals with a man with snoring issues facing trouble in his married life, and a woman who considers herself to be a harbinger of bad luck, who enters into a relationship.
But writer-director Vinayak Chandrasekaran infuses the subject matter with charm, elegance and a sprinkle of humour.
Good Night is the kind of comedy that reflects some less explored aspects of modern-day relationships, boasted by great performances from the central cast and well-rounded character writing.
Mark Antony (2023)
Director: Adhik Ravichandran
Featuring: Vishal, S J Suryah, Ritu Varma
Where to Watch? Amazon Prime Video
Primarily a pulpy science fiction time travel film with innovative action, Mark Antony also qualifies as an unhinged comedy, thanks to the performances and the giddy writing that almost belongs to another time in movie history.
Mark Antony veers towards the sort of campy, unfretted entertainment that is rarely seen in mainstream films these days.
The Vishal-starrer has a clever tagline of two gangsters stuck in a perpetual time loop, and a revenge subplot hanging about its main story.
The film belongs to S J Suryah, as the vengeful gangster, who sells the quirky time travel logic with a sort of no-holds-barred swagger.
Mark Antony is equal parts sleazy, unfiltered, and dynamic in the way it goes for maximalist masala movie fun that can either be overbearing or fun, depending on your taste.
Love Today (2022)
Director: Pradeep Ranganathan
Featuring: Pradeep Ranganathan, Ivana, Yogi Babu
Where to Watch? Netflix
Pradeep Ranganathan captured the concerns plaguing the youth culture with his comedy of a young couple, who is forced to swap their phones with each other for a week, by the bride's father, as the only condition to him agreeing to their union.
The film, also starring Pradeep Ranganathan, mines the depths of comedic misunderstandings and relatable revelations that would dawn on a couple, who get a peek into each other's private follies and problematic secrets.
Love Today examines the adverse effects of mobile phones and technology in modern-day relationships.
It also explores relatable issues associated with the younger generation, whose exceeding dependence on technology has hampered their ability to open up about themselves, to the ones they love. But the non-serious packaging and inherent silliness of the writing keep the film from being a didactic lecture.
Doctor (2021)
Director: Nelson Dilipkumar
Featuring: Sivakarthikeyan, Priyanka Mohan, Vinay Rai
Where to Watch? Netflix
Deadpan by way of its presentation, Doctor might just be the funniest film in the list for its laugh-out-loud characters and a wildly imaginative central premise.
The film, directed by Nelson, traverses the often complicated terrain of black comedy, a kind of humour driven more by idiosyncratic quirks and a mix of contrasting tones, that can be a hit and miss in the wrong hands.
But Sivakarthikeyan's stoic hero and his ragtag team of misfits leading a mission against a kidnapping mafia is one of the most hilarious stories about a serious issue ever captured in Tamil cinema.
The film makes use of almost a Wes Anderson-esque visual grammar and mostly inert acting performances to belt out one laugh-out-loud moment after another.
Oh My Kadavule (2020)
Director: Ashwath Marimuthu
Featuring: Ashok Selvan, Ritika Singh, Vijay Sethupathi
Where to Watch? ZEE5
This comedy about second chances is a deconstruction of a relationship under stress from the vantage point of a hero, who gets to re-evaluate his life's choices.
Anu and Arjun are best friends, who get married. But soon after, the problems surface.
The husband gets a chance from God to relive in an alternate timeline where he did not get married to his best friend and this gives him a chance to see his life unfold differently.
Oh My Kadavule presents some interesting ideas on paper, that examine some hefty themes with much levity.
Comali (2019)
Director: Pradeep Ranganathan
Featuring: Jayam Ravi, Kajal Aggarwal, Yogi Babu
Where to Watch? Disney + Hotstar
Comali deals with the tragic story of a person in a coma, waking up many years later to realise that the world has moved on without him.
Pradeep Ranganathan, on his directorial debut, manages to delve deep into the inherent pathos and comedic gold of the central idea and comes up with funny one-liners and observations, about a man who is forced to catch up with the ever-changing world after being in limbo for 16 years.
The film never takes the unfortunate predicament of its hero seriously and deals with broad strokes of humour about his attempts to reconnect with his past lover and come to terms with the new world.
Mookuthi Amman (2020)
Director: R J Balaji and N J Saravanan
Featuring: Nayanthara, R J Balaji, and Urvashi
Where to Watch? Disney + Hotstar
The only entry in the list that has elements of fantasy in its narrative, Mookuthi Amman, starring and directed by R J Balaji, is about an ordinary family whose very existence is upended when their local deity appears before the eldest son.
The film, which has Nayanthara playing the deity, is a successful riff on older films of a godly figure bringing about change in the life of the hero, but done with a satirical punch.
Mookuthi Amman questions inherent biases like religious fundamentalism and the role of women in the family, albeit in a funny vein.
The chemistry between the on-screen performances and the outlandish nature of the story never ceases to find the moments of fun.
Aandavan Kattalai (2016)
Director: M Manikandan
Featuring: Vijay Sethupathi, Yogi Babu and Ritika Singh
Where to Watch? Sun NXT
This satire based on the experience of hopeful emigrants, looking to build a life for themselves outside the country, is in equal parts a comedy as well as a study of the human experience.
Vijay Sethupathi leads the cast of this low-key comedy, which finds its moments of levity in the odd circumstances the characters find themselves in and the extent to which people are forced to go to make their dreams come true.
Aandavan Kattalai makes use of the quieter moments of human relationships and foster families to tell the immersive story of a few good people trying to make things work for them.
Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum (2016)
Director: Nalan Kumarasamy
Featuring: Vijay Sethupathi, Madonna Sebastian
Where to Watch? Amazon Prime Video
This remake of the Korean romantic comedy My Dear Desperado (2010) tells the unconventional story of two lost souls discovering each other in a big city.
The film, directed by Nalan Kumarasamy, infuses the quirky love story with his characteristic tongue-in-cheek humour and dramatic irony.
Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum follows a rogue aspiring to own a bar one day. Eventually, he warms up to his neighbour, an aspiring IT professional, who is fighting for a corporate job in the city.
Vijay Sethupathi and Madonna Sebastin's chemistry and fun on-screen banter is presented within the trappings of a buddy comedy.
You can't help but walk away with a big smile at the end.
Jigarthanda (2014)
Director: Karthik Subbaraj
Featuring: Bobby Simha, Siddarth
Where to Watch? Disney + Hotstar
The Karthik Subbaraj film explores how a random throwaway line pushes a gangster to make a film on his life to regain his lost clout.
Jigarthanda seamlessly integrates comedic moments derived from the oddball characters and total ridiculousness of the scenario, where a mob head plays along to the tunes of a clever filmmaker, who wants to get back at him.
Jigarthanda constructs a world filled with naive and animated people with quirks, who just happen to be leading a life of crime.
