Best Female Performances of 2018

Gone are the days when heroines were just required to look pretty and dance around the trees with the heroes. In the past few years, filmmakers are writing meaty roles for the leading ladies who are grabbing the opportunities with both hands and delivering some of the finest performances in the history of Kollywood.

Chandini Tamilarasan - Raja Ranguski

Chandini Tamilarasan as a novel writer inspired by Sujatha once again proves that she is a capable actress and from an ordinary looking girl who has nothing much to do in most of the screenplay gets to shine in and own the climax.

Indhuja - Mercury

Indhuja has the meatiest role in 'Mercury' and like her debut 'Meyaadha Maan' she impresses as the deaf mute with her expressive face and body language. The pre-climax where she communicates with Prabhu Deva and the climax when she goes to meet Remya Nambesan belong to her.

Raiza Wilson - Pyaar Prema Kadhal

Raiza Wilson as the headstrong but equally confused Sindhuja walks the tightrope confidently and makes the character utterly believable. Her best scene is when Harish insults her in front of their colleagues at a party and on the whole its a solid debut vehicle for her as a leading lady.

Poorna - Savarakaththi

Poorna has got a once in a lifetime character of a stone deaf pregnant woman and has done full justice to it. Her tone switches to lovey dovey when talking about her brother and then turns mocking when her husband fails and she even uses expletives often (Muted by the censors). Most of the comedy scenes are provided by her and you can be sure to see her on many awards list next year for Subathra.

Andrea - Vishwaroopam 2

Andrea as the firebrand raw agent has given her all to her role and comes out in flying colors be it her playful taunts on Pooja Kumar or switching into business mode the moment her boss needs her. Her final shot in the movie stuns the theater into silence.

Varalaskhmi Sarathkumar - Mr. Chandramouli

Varalakshmi Sarathkumar in a cameo is a breeze and she shows a vulnerable side that is cute and very different from her authoritative screen presence shown so far. She definitely owns the scenes that she shares with Karthik.

Manisha Yadav - Oru Kuppai Kathai

Manisha Yadhav has gotten a meatier role in ‘Oru Kuppai Kathai’. Her portrayal of the character’s shaky decision and the regret that she experiences due to the decision are commendable. Especially towards the climax, Manisha Yadhav dishes out a performance that is sure to make the eyes of the viewers well up.

Sai Pallavi - Maari 2

Sai Pallavi. She steals the performance in every aspect; body language, local slang and especially when she troubles Dhanush with her cupid love. It's time Tamil cinema directors lose their focus on north Indian actresses who hardly can utter a line in Tamil and look for heroines like Sai Pallavi who can take the character altogether on a different level.

Nivetha Pethuraj - Thimiru Pidichavan and Tik Tik Tik

Nivetha Pethuraj has got a chance to play a really different kind of heroine and she grabs the opportunity with both hands to bring to life the corrupt but lovable Madonna to life. In India's first space movie 'Tik Tik Tik' Nivetha made her mark with a convincing portrayal of a professional astronaut both with her physique as well as impeccable acting.

Jyothika - Kaatrin Mozhi

Jyothika, in the beginning, plays Vijayalakshmi in her usual over the top style which almost sinks her character but then as the film progresses she settles into a nice rhythm to give one of her career-best performances. Those wide eyes of hers express the joys, victories and the defeats of Vijayalakshmi especially in the sequence when she has a fallout with her husband and he speaks to her on air.

Nayanthara - Imaikka Nodigal and Kolamavu Kokila

Nayanthara as Kokila carries 'Kolamavu' on her shoulders more by her star power screen. The scene where she maintains her meek demeanor even as she orders the killing of two people gets the applause as well as her outwitting both the villains and the cops in the end. In 'Imaikka Nodigal' Nayan dominated as Anjali Vikramadityan the cop on the hunt for a serial killer exhibiting the perfect body language and attitude that propelled the film to become one of the highest grossing women centric subject.

Trisha - 96

Post interval its all Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha and the evergreen star actress holds her own against him and her best moments are when she tells the students of VJS how he would have proposed to her had he been a confident man and when she chides him about his virginity. Trish now holds the distinction of acting in the two best love stories of this millennium and in both she is irreplaceable as Jessie and Janu.

Aishwarya Rajesh Kanaa and Vada Chennai

We saw her convince us as the mother of preteen boys and this time in 'Kanaa' the never-fails to amaze Aishwarya Rajesh pulls off her character growth from a tenth standard girl to a team India cricketer as if it's just another walk in the park. Especially remarkable is the cricketing skills that Aishu has trained hard to perfect that she never seems out of place among professional cricketers both Indian and Australian in the film. She is outstanding in expressing the soft natured relationship with her dad Sathyaraj and the turbulent one with her mom (Rama). Aishwarya's hands are going to get sore again handling awards statutes instead of cricket balls early next year. Who better than Aishu to play Padma in 'Vada Chennai' bringing the North Madras girl to life in all her sensuality complete with expletive explosions too.

Keerthy Suresh - Nadigaiyar Thilagam

Savithri has been named as the inspiration for dozens of good actresses in every generation after her and one can imagine what a burden it must have been on Keertthy Suresh to play her on screen. Well it is an understatement to say that Keerthy Suresh has nailed her character to perfection. It would be more apt to say that Keerthy has played Savithri exactly like how Savithri herself would have acted in her own biopic. Right from that innocent twinkle in Savithri's eyes in a happy mood to the quivering of her chin when she cried Keerthy has absorbed all her mannerisms and recreated them brilliantly. The changes in her body from a lean teenager to a bulky middle aged woman has been rendered to the minutest detail warranting kudos to the makeup artiste and the entire team as well. In the scene where Keerthy catches Dulquer with another woman and for the first time loses her cool and becomes hysterical and the scene when she hugs the liquor bottle even when her room is on fire are just two of many moments in the film in which she dominates and owns the screen.

Best Female Performances of 2018