Top Malayalam Movies of 2021 | nowrunning (2024)

Martin Prakkat's new thriller Nayattu is about a flawed law and order system where the cops are mere pawns for an authoritarian government. The film's politics may not satisfy everyone's sensibilities, whereas its lack of conventional cop film formula elements may unsettle some. But for the most part, this is a high-concept, high-octane thriller that delivers the goods. Read Review

Manu Warrier's Amazon Prime film Kuruthi uses a home invasion thriller as a template to explore deeper themes. It is well made as well as works as an entertaining thriller film and one that treats deeper issues carefully and delicately. Read Review

Writer-director Jeethu Joseph strikes gold with Drishyam 2, his sequel to the 2013 thriller film. Jeethu adeptly guides the viewers through its ingenious narrative before leaving the movie and us in existential dread. Replace Drishyam's sappy morality with the film's serious existentialism, and there you have it - The perfect sequel. Read Review

Malik from writer-director Mahesh Narayanan is an intense co*cktail of politics, romance and religion. The movie tells the story of a village and its de facto leader. Few recent films match Malik in terms of grandiosity and ensemble cast. I recommend viewing it on the biggest screen possible. Read Review

Director Manu Ashokan's Kaanekkaane is a film that has an emotional wallop of an impact. In Tovino and Suraj, it has two actors playing conflicting characters with poise and exquisiteness. Read Review

Jan.e.Man is a hilarious dark comedy about the three certainties in life: birth, loneliness and death. It is so hard to get a situational comedy right in Malayalam. With a stellar ensemble cast, excellent characterization, and many funny moments, Jan.e.Man has everything going for it. Read Review

Rohit VS's Kala is an immersive theatrical experience. You do not merely watch this film unfold. Instead, you would feel like being in the midst of these characters who bay for each other's blood. Writer Yadhu Pushpakaran and writer-filmmaker Rohith give us insights into man's need for revenge and one-upmanship even in a film with more fights than anything else. Read Review

Even if you watch it without all the comic book elements, Basil Joseph's superhero movie Minnal Murali may still work for you. Basil Joseph and Tovino Thomas have a winner in Minnal Murali, a film with its heart in the right place. Read Review

What makes Joji so fascinating is Dileesh Pothan's handling of the script, plus Fahadh Faasil in the titular role. Fahadh has an amazing ability to enact contrasting emotions in a matter of moments. In many moments here, he behaves like an innocent boy who lost his favorite toy as well as a menacing and conflicting person simultaneously. Read Review

Rojin Thomas's #Home is a straightforward drama about the emotional distance between a father and his son. For the most part, #Home seems all too familiar, and it sometimes feels contrived. Nevertheless, the performances and the seldom-boring nature of the film make it a passable watch. Read Review

Ahammed Kabeer's Madhuram is a subtle, heartfelt and poignant love story of a middle-aged couple. It is the first film that best uses food as an element showing how it unites people after Ritesh Batra's Hindi film 'The Lunchbox'. Read Review

At the heart of this dramedy is a conflict between an adamant father, who feels his elder daughter brought disgrace on his family, and a woman fighting for her choices. It is easy to make the audience sympathize with one or two characters in this kind of film. But Senna Hedge and his co-writer Sreeraj Raveendran create a script that treats the characters in a non-judgemental manner while mining comedic gold out of this material. Read Review

With The Great Indian Kitchen, writer-director Jeo Baby has taken his artistic sensibilities to the next level. His film works as a slap on the face of misogyny and patriarchy in Kerala society. Do find time to see it. Read Review

Balu Varghese and Lukman Lukku jump from one crime scene to the other to solve cybercrime and touch lives in the episodic 'Operation Java'. Tharun Moorthy's debut film excels in casting and the treatment of police work, but falls short in writing. Even if this series of operations never comes full circle at the end, it has its moments that make it worthwhile. Read Review

Jayasurya and Samyuktha Menon excel in a decent tale of an alcohol addict. More than the performances in Vellam, it is the casting that does wonders here. For instance, Murali is a man committed to overcoming his flaws played by an actor who is so committed to his craft. Read Review

The characters express deep thought for each other for a long time in the meditative and understated gem that is Aarkkariyam. This is not a plot-driven film but rather a contemplative one that shows how human beings behave in a particular way under some circ*mstances. Read Review

Ranjith Sankar's Sunny on Amazon Prime is about a man who gradually self-heals and gets back to the rails of a life he has long deviated from. Shankar uses a one-character/one-actor situation to tell a fairly complex story skillfully. Read Review

Chathur Mukham's basic elements are the same as in many old horror films, but the movie is presented in a new way. For instance, there is a newness in how the makers have adapted conventional elements like exorcism to the techno setting of this film. It is not the best film it could have been but is unique and fascinating throughout. Read Review