Happy New Year to all those who love Kollywood and

Tamil cinema is going to become bigger in 2010. There are plenty of things to look forward to this year. Some big budget superstar films and new multiplexes in Chennai are on the anvil.

Many small budget movies from debutant directors with new ideas are sure to hit the screens. The boom in production will continue and it looks like Tamil films are going to get bigger.

Here we list 5 mass movies with superstars which the fans are eagerly looking forward and may set the box office on fire. We are also listing five films that may provide something different for audiences who are looking out for a new kind of cinematic experience.

Mass Movies

1.Endhiran (Robot)

Cast: Rajinikanth, Aishwarya Rai, and Danny Denzongapa.
Director: Shankar. Music: AR Rahman.
Producer: Sun Pictures Kalanithi Maran.
Why it’s big- Superstar Rajinikanth and Showman Shankar the hit combination of Sivaji (2007) is back for the first time with the marketing guru Kalanithi Maran. The film with a budget of Rs 120 crore is one of the costliest films ever made in India. It will be having state-of-art special effects and graphics. .

Release Date- Probably on Deepavali (Diwali) day- Friday, November 5.

2. Film- Aayirathil Oruvan
Cast: Karthi, Reema Sen, Andrea, Parthipan. .
Director: Selvaraghavan. Music: GV Prakash. .
Producer- R Raveendran.
Why it’s big- It’s Selvaraghavan’s magnum opus that took three years to make and over 250 days to shoot. It has all the trappings of a big budget action extravaganza with all its grandeur and spectacle.

Release Date- Pongal day, Thursday January 14.

3. Film- Aasal

Cast- Ajith, Sameera Reddy, Bhavana, Suresh
Director- Saran. Music- Bharadwaj
Producer- Ramkumar and Prabhu.
Why it’s big- ‘Ultimate Star’ Ajith Kumar is back with his all time favourite director Saran .The stills from the film looks awesome, and our ‘Thalai’ as a stylish don is going to be a treat for his fans who are looking forward to the release of the film.

Release Date- Friday, February 5.

4. Film- Singam

Cast- Suriya, Anushka, Vivek, Prakash Raj
Director- Hari. Music- Devi Sri Prasad
Producer- Gjnavel Raja
Why it’s big- Suriya is back as a cop, nearly seven years after the film that made him Gautham Menon’s Kaakha Kaakha. The film directed by mass masala specialist Hari has all elements for Suriya to reach the B & C segments.

Release Date- Friday April 2.

5. Film- Sura

Cast- Vijay, Tamannaah, Vadivel
Director- SP Rajkumar. Music- Mani Sharma.
Producer- Sangli Murugan
Why it’s big- It’s Ilayathalapathy’s 50th golden jubilee film and has all elements that his fans love.

Release Date- May or June, probably nearer to the star’s birthday on June 22.

Future Dhamakas- Trendy & different

1.Raavan in Hindi/ Tamil/ Telugu
Cast: (Tamil)- Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Pritviraj, Prabhu, Karthik, Priyamani
Director- Mani Ratnam. Music- AR Rahman
Producer- Mani Ratnam’s Madras Talkies
Why it’s going to be different- Magic of Mani sir’s moviemaking and story telling methods along with his A team of technicians- ARR’s music, Santosh Sivan’s camera, Sreekar Prasad’s editing. Plus the mouth watering prospect of seeing the most consummate actor in Tamil cinema Vikram being directed by India’s best director!

Release Date- The big summer of 2010 release, Friday, May 21.

2. Film- Aval Peyar Tamilarasi

Cast- Jai, Nandiga, Santhanam
Director- Meera Kathiravan. Music- Vijay Antony
Producers- Moserbaer and Blue Ocean Entertainment
Why it’s going to be different- Set in a rural milieu debutant director Meera Kathiravan explores the frontiers of love and how a guy goes in search of his true love. It could be an altogether new experience.

Release Date- Friday, February 5.

3. Film- Vinnai Thandi Varuvaaya

Cast- Silambarasan, Trisha.
Director- Gautham Vasudeva Menon. Music- AR Rahman.
Producers- Madan, Ganesh, Kumar, Jayaram.
Why it’s going to be different- The master of soft romantic love stories is telling the story in his own unique style. For the first time he is teaming up with the academy award winning music director AR Rahman, after a public spat with his regular music director Harris Jayaraj. The exciting new team of Simbu and Trisha heighten the expectations.

Release Date- Valentine Weekend- Friday, February 12.

4. Film – Aadukalam

Cast- Dhanush, Tapasee, Kishore.
Director- Vetrimaran. Music- GV Prakash.
Producer- Kathiresan.
Why it’s going to be different- Vetrimaran is one of the most promising directors and this is his second film after Polladhavan with Dhanush. The film is set in rural Madurai and deals with the bloody sport of cock fighting. Watch out for the new ‘Punjabi Kudi’ Tapasee who is debuting in films.

Release Date- Tamil New Year- April 14, Wednesday.

5. Film- Nagaram (working title)

Cast- All newcomers, veteran producer AL Alagappan debuting as a 55 year old hero
Director- Sasikumar. Music- James Vasanth
Producer- Vikram’s Reel Life Entertainment

Why it’s going to be different- It’s the second film of the trendsetting director M Sasikumar who with his Subramaniapuram (2008) brought about a change in filmmaking. Sasikumar is an actor and a producer who makes meaningful films too and ‘Chiyaan’ Vikram is producing the film, which makes it a must see.

Little superstar Silambarasan will now be known as Young Superstar. The ads of his new film Valliban, calls Simbu by his new modified title. Asks Simbu with a smile: “I am no longer “Little”, so my fans decided to change my title and I thought that it is a very good decision”.

From the mass hero everyone loved to hate, Simbu has metamorphosed into a soft romantic hero. Quiz him on this image make-over and he will tell you- “Yeppadi Irundha naan Ippadi ayithain”.(what I was and see what I’ve become now- a punchline made famous by comedian Vivek).

Tell him about this reincarnation to Mr. Nice Guy, Simbu says: Normally everyone comes into the industry as a romantic hero and then changes path to become an action hero. In my case it is the reverse, as after all the mass films that I’ve done, all my future films are going to be breezy romantic entertainers”.

Talking about Vinnathandi Varuvaaya, he says: “It is a simple love story. It’s not a path breaking film but everyone will love watching it. I completely trust Gautham and that along with AR Rahman’s songs can create magic. I’m looking forward to the audio launch in London on Dec 19”. Come January and Simbu will start shooting with KV Anand the director who churned out the only blockbuster of this year, Ayan. Once again, it is a very straight realistic action entertainer, which Anand feels that Simbu is the right choice.