Sightlines · a viewing thread

First Day, First Show

A run of maximalist, movie-drunk crowd cinema best taken loud and communal — spectacle, folk myth, gangster swagger, and lads-on-a-trip mayhem that all believe in the front row.

These are the recent South Indian breakouts everyone's talking about — mostly pure crowd-pleasers you can hand anyone, with Jigarthanda DoubleX and Superboys of Malegaon rewarding film buffs and Viduthalai the demanding, brutal exception.

• RRR (2022)
• Kantara (2022)
• Manjummel Boys (2024)
• Aavesham (2024)
• Jigarthanda DoubleX (2023)
• Superboys of Malegaon (2025)
• Viduthalai: Part I (2023)
• Vikram (2022) — The recent Tamil blockbuster to pull down next if these landed — a Kamal Haasan mass-action juggernaut engineered for the front row, all interval-block reveals, gangster swagger and whistle-worthy spectacle in the same movie-drunk crowd register.