BEST MALE PERFORMANCES of 2017

The year 2017 has been great for the leading men of Kollywood with many of them scoring in the acting department and sending their fans into a frenzy. There are all round good performances not only in films of substance but also in the commercial one too.

Kalaiyarasan - Athey Kangal & Uru

Kalaiyarasan nailed it this year with his performance as a blind man duped by a charming girl in ‘Athey Kangal’ and also followed it up with another notable character with gray shades in 'Uru'

Jayam Ravi - Bogan

If Arvind Swamy overshadowed Jayam Ravi in 'Thani Oruvan', here it is reversed as Jayam Ravi cooly handled the role of the earnest cop on the trail of a mysterious criminal and perfectly imitated Arvind’s body language when the body swapping happens.

Jai - Enakku Vaaitha Adimaigal

Jai nails the character of the confused self centered hero Krishna to perfection and he is an absolute delight in the final action duet he has with Mottai Rajendran.

Vijay Antony - Yaman

Vijay Antony again has played to his strength and is uniformly good as Tamilarasan whether it is showing his love to his grandfather, maintaining a dignified approach to lover Mia George or dealing fire with fire in his political ascendancy. He is especially good in the near realistic action sequences

Arun Vijay - Kuttram 23

Arun Vijay fits the role of a young AC to the T and has given one of his career best performances and he is excellent when he becomes a normal family man when interacting with his sister in law and family. He is one of the best action exponents in Kollywood and Stunt Silva has provided ample opportunities to showcase his talent to the hilt.

Sri & Sundeep Kishan - Maanagaram

Shri comes up with a brilliant performance as he conveys, the shock, desperation and dejection without going overboard anywhere. Sundeep Kishan as a rugged youngster is quite apt in the action scenes and does a pretty decent job otherwise.

Rajakumaran - Kadugu

Rajakumaran has the perfect look for his role and credit to him for putting in a huge effort to convincingly pull off the Pulivesham dance and the climax fight.

Shakti Vasu - Shivalinga

Sakthivel Vasu has given a truly convincing account of himself throughout the film, especially in the emotional scenes. His dance moves are also pretty good and one can hope that he gets the much needed break with this film.

Kreshna - Pandigai

Krishna has worked really hard to nail the character of Velu through his body language and with his eyes projecting the seething rage hidden deep inside. This will be a film for him to cherish for a long time as he comes across as near flawless.

Bobby Simha - Thiruttu Payale 2

Bobby Simha as Selvam has got a role that has many shades and one should say that he has done full justice to it. He is subtle in the romantic scenes with Amala Paul, playing it out naturally and switches face when dealing with his enemies ruthlessly. There is also a scene that he steals from Amala and Prasanna when all three meet and have to act to one another.

Arjun - Nibunan

Arjun displays a fantastic understanding of this multi-layered character. There are scenes that require him to behave matured for his age and in others he should be as effective as a young and fresh officer. The highly experienced actor has shouldered this challenge quite impressively. The actor and the character supplement and complement each other resulting in lifting the film.

Gautham Karthick - Rangoon Ivan Thanthiran Hara Hara Maha Devaki

2017 has been a good year for young Gautham Karthick and he has impressed as a slum boy in 'Rangoon' a engineering dropout in 'Ivan Thanthiran' and carried of Tamil cinema's first out and out adult comedy with the right zest which helped all three films to score with the critics and the box office.

Aadhi - Maragadha Naanayam

Aadhi is one artist who is consistent in his hard work and dedication to his roles in films such as ‘Mirugam’ and ‘Aravaan’. In this one his natural acting comes to the rescue, he doesn’t try to fit into that HERO material with desperation, instead becomes that director’s artist.

Meyaadha Maan - Vaibav

Vaibav,one of the most versatile and under used an actor in Kollywood turns in another great performance after his scene stealng one in 'Chennai 600028 2'. His comic timing is perfect and he keeps it going throughout the film. Likewise, he is also in top form in the emotional scenes, especially in the hospital when he realized that his friends had duped him into believing his girl as a bad person.

Rajkiran - Pa Paandi

Rajkiran carries the entire film on his broad shoulder and shines in every frame emoting effortlessly be it charged up for the fight sequences or becoming a child when playing with his grandchildren. He displays extraordinary chemistry when interacting with young hipster (Rinson of Nanban fame) next door and with Revathi when he himself turns into a love smitten teenager.

Prabhas - Baahubali 2

Prabhas uproots trees, kills a hundred men in every war sequence, but for not even a second, you doubt the credibility and that is the victory for the five years of hard work. In the first part Prabhas's dedication in the risky war sequences and his romancing skills with Tamannaah were on display and endeared him to the viewers. Here it is his emotions that rule in his impeccable performance. His playful interactions with Sathyaraj are natural and heartwarming and every frame he shares with Ramya Krishnan is sheer poetry on celluloid.

Madhavan - Vikram Vedha

Madhavan as Vikram has put in a lot of efforts to get the body language of the seasoned encounter cop to perfection. He is a class act in the way he handles the gun, the casual manner in which he dresses up a crime scene to suit his team, the seething rage he displays when hunting the criminals or starting to break down bit by bit as Vedha shakes up his beliefs - Hats off.

Vijay Sethupathi - Kavan & Vikram Vedha

In 'Kavan' Vijay Sethupathi has expressed one more dimension of acting from his rich repertoire.. In ‘Vikram Vedha’ there are very few scenes to establish who he his but by his acting alone he fills in the rest. He is at his vulnerable best when interacting with his loving brother and ruthless when slaughtering or stabbing his enemies and also manages the tightrope walk of the guy the audience root for with his many hard hitting existential anecdotes.

Sivakarthikeyan - Velaikkaran

The Mohan Raja social drama has shed light on Sivakarthikeyan the performer as unlike his previous films he rose above the humor coated acting and fitted right in to the role of Arivu the social crusader delivering his relevant dialogues to very good effect emerging a clear winner.

Ajith - Vivegam

Thala Ajith once more proved that his charisma alone can elevate a role and as Ajay Kumar the former counter-terrorist agent who faces treachery he once again gave a towering performance which was the sole reason the film managed to hold on in spite of negative reviews.

Vijay - Mersal

Vijay donning triple roles for the first time in his career plays to the gallery in all of them and scores big. As Maaran he displays class and subtleness along with a playfulness with the scenes involving Samantha and Yogi Babu. As Vetri the magician he is all flamboyant,fun and entertaining and turns into a tornado in the fight scenes. In the much anticipated village head role the Thalapathy rules the hearts with his innocence,his surrender to a dominant wife and his social conscience. In all three roles Vijay connects to his fans strongly and also conveys his political stand boldly.

Karthi - Theeran Adhigaram Ondru

Karthi rocks as Theeran with his fit body and fluid body language aiding him greatly in bringing to life a close to the real character. The director has made use of his playfulness to good effect in the initial scenes when he falls for his mother's neighbour Rakul Preet and woos her. However, once he sets his sight on the case his eyes turn steely with determination and has transformed into a virtual eagle who hunts the wily snakes come what may.

The year 2017 has been great for the leading men of Kollywood with many of them scoring in the acting department and sending their fans into a frenzy.