Kollywood has a rich history of storytelling that goes beyond just romance and family drama. One of the engaging themes is the concept of bromance. This term refers to the deep, platonic friendship between men, characterised by affection, loyalty, and shared experiences. In Kollywood, bromance has become a popular narrative device, reflecting cultural nuances and resonating with audiences. Let us take a look at some of the popular movies based on bromance in Tamil Cinema.
‘Thozha’:
After becoming a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, Nagarjuna, a millionaire hires a young man Karthi from the local area to be his caretaker, How does their bond/relationship grows and to what extend is shown in the film. The film directed by Vamsi Paidipally, the film banks on the bromance between Karthi and Nagarjuna. The Film has right mix of comedy, emotion, sentiments and feel good moments.
‘Meiyazhagan’:
Arvind Swami and his family are forced to sell their shares in the family house and relocate to Madras. Much into his 40s, Arvind Swamy gets an opportunity to go to his village, Needamangalam, to attend his favourite cousin sister’s wedding. While Arvind Swami plans to just ‘show his face’ at the reception, he meets his relative Karthi. At first, he hates his company. The rest of the film directed by Prem Kumar is about their bromance and Arvind Swami’s journey of self-discovery.
‘Anbe Sivam’:
The film tells the story of Kamal Haasan and Madhavan, two men of contrasting personalities who undertake an unexpected journey from Bhubaneswar to Chennai. Anbe Sivam takes on themes such as communism, atheism, and altruism and depicts Haasan’s humanist views. At the 51st Filmfare Awards South, it received a Special Jury Award and nominations in the Best Film and Best Actor (Haasan) categories. Madhavan was awarded Best Actor at the 2003 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. The movie is directed by Sundar C and has music by Vidyasagar.
‘Arinthum Ariyamalum’:
Navdeep comes to Chennai from Nagercoil to pursue his studies. In a shootout between two groups, one headed by Arya, Navdeep’s girl friend Sandhya gets shot in her leg and is hospitalised. By turn of events it turns out that Navdeep is the original son of Prakash Raj and Arya is his elder brother. The bonding and conflict between the brothers and what happens next forms the core plot of this movie directed by Vishnu Vardhan.
‘Pithamagan’:
The film directed by Bala stars Vikram, Suriya, Laila and Sangeetha. Based on Jayakanthan’s short story Nandhavanathil Oru Aandi, it revolves around a man who grew away from civilisation with minimal human contact, and as a result is animalistic. The bonding between Vikram and Suriya is one of the major highlights of the movie. The film became a success and Vikram won numerous accolades for his performance, including the National Film Award for Best Actor.