Sightlines · reception

How Kattradhu Thamizh was received

2007 · Ram · Kattradhu Thamizh on Sightlines

The arc

Hailed by critics on release in 2007 but a box-office failure, it slowly hardened into one of Tamil cinema's definitive cult classics — the film people now cite when they say Tamil cinema was ahead of its time in the 2000s.

What’s debated

Fans still argue over whether its raw, seething anger at the IT-boom economy is uncompromising truth-telling or an overwrought misanthropic rant — masterpiece and 'too much' in the same breath.

Its footprint

Its unemployed 'Tamil MA' protagonist became cultural shorthand in Tamil Nadu for the humanities graduate left behind by globalization, and Yuvan Shankar Raja's 'Pon Maalai Pozhudhu' remains one of his most beloved songs.

Where it stands

A fixture of 'Tamil cult classics you must see' lists and the film that announced director Ram (later of Peranbu) as an auteur to watch.

Did you know? Jiiva won Best Actor at the Cyprus International Film Festival for playing the disillusioned Tamil graduate — international festival recognition for a film that flopped at home.