With Aditya Dhar’s ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026)’ smashing records and crossing the Rs 1,000 crore mark worldwide, the spy-thriller genre is officially the “flavour of the decade.”
While Bollywood is currently celebrating Ranveer Singh’s dominance, Kollywood has long been a pioneer in delivering high-stakes espionage dramas.
From sophisticated undercover RAW agents to gritty sleeper cell hunters, here are the top 5 spy-based movies in Tamil cinema that paved the way for this massive trend.
‘Vishwaroopam’:
Kamal Haasan’s magnum opus remains the gold standard for spy cinema in India, blending international scale with a deeply researched narrative. The film follows Wisam Ahmad Kashmiri, a RAW agent who infiltrates Al-Qaeda under the guise of a soft-spoken Kathak teacher in New York. Its technical brilliance and the iconic “transformation scene” set a benchmark for the genre, moving away from loud heroics toward a more realistic, gritty portrayal of counter-terrorism and global espionage.
’Thuppakki’:
Directed by A.R. Murugadoss, this film brought the concept of “Sleeper Cells” into the mainstream Tamil vocabulary. Thalapathy Vijay stars as Jagadish, an Army captain on leave who uses his intelligence training to dismantle a massive terrorist network in Mumbai. It is celebrated for balancing high-stakes brain games with commercial “mass” elements, particularly the sequence where 12 agents take down 12 terrorists simultaneously, which remains one of the most well-choreographed moments in Kollywood.
‘Vikram’:
Lokesh Kanagaraj didn’t just make a movie; he launched a cinematic universe (the LCU) that redefined the aging spy trope. Kamal Haasan returns as Karnan/Vikram, a former commander of a black-ops squad who resurfaces to take down a massive drug syndicate. The film succeeds by blending “old-school” spy grit with modern, high-octane action and a non-linear narrative, proving that the legacy of a “forgotten” agent can still dominate the modern box office.
’Sardar’:
P.S. Mithran’s Sardar took a deep dive into the personal sacrifices and the “ghost” life of a spy. Karthi plays dual roles, most notably the titular Sardar, a disgraced RAW agent who has spent decades in a foreign prison for a mission that cost him his reputation. The film explores a global conspiracy involving the water mafia, emphasizing that a spy’s greatest weapon isn’t just a gun, but his ability to vanish into any identity and endure years of isolation for the sake of his country.
’Kuruthipunal’:
Long before modern CGI and massive budgets, this intense, claustrophobic masterpiece set the foundation for the genre. Starring Kamal Haasan and Arjun, the story focuses on Operation Dhanush, where two police officers go undercover to infiltrate a terrorist group. It remains the most “human” spy film ever made in Tamil, choosing to skip the glamour and instead focus on the brutal emotional and physical toll that living a lie takes on an agent and his family.
