These days, we all are going through a prolonged Lock-down and probably by now out of good content to watch. Netflix’s gone stale, TV Channels are showing their movies repeatedly and chances are, by now you’re looking out for fresh content. And what’s better than watching action-packed, meaningfully plotted and sensibly created South Indian movies. South Indian Cinema has given the Indian Film Industry some classic blockbusters like the Baahubali Series, the Robot Series, and K.G.F. But it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
South Indian Cinema has a lot to offer. Most of the movies from their Industry always deliver a message on the big screen, while influencing masses to become better, honest, and brave citizens. Yeah, you’re brave if you can beat 50+ bad guys in one go. But most of the time, their content can’t attract enough audiences because of the language barrier, poor dubbing, and uninformed viewers. South Indian cinema has been present for quite a while but until the 21st century it mostly flew Under the radar as it lacked movies for masses. However, the current scenario of South Indian cinema is filled with box office wonders.
So, today we’ll be listing the best 15 South Indian Movies that you must watch and are successful in other states of India as well because of them being dubbed properly in Hindi. We have decided not to include Bahubali and Robot series, as they are too mainstream to be classified only as South Indian cinema.
1. Sivaji-The Boss
Superstar Rajinikanth as the lead, this action movie is an example of how hard it is trying to help the poor in a nation where capitalism and corruption have pushed people into poverty. A self-made software engineering professional earns and saves millions in the USA and comes back to India to establish charitable non-profit institutions for the poor. The corrupt governance and a greedy capitalist turns against him and use all the means to deter his initiative so that they keep making their profits and further exploit the helpless. This movie has it all, action, romance, humor, values, and a message. It will make you rethink your opinion about corruption and you’d want to watch it again for sure.
2. I
An action thriller that’ll leave you entertained and emotional by the end. Action, True Love, Comedy, Revenge, this movie has it all. Lingesan, the lead, is an innocent bodybuilder from Chennai whose ambition is to become Mr. India. He wins the Mr. Tamil Nadu title and becomes a local model in Chennai. With his honest hard work, he goes onto shooting alongside his celebrity crush. After a lot of ups and downs, they both fall in love and get engaged. He soon gains popularity and becomes a known face among the audience. His enemies infect him with the I-virus that leaves him looking like a monster. Follows a tale of revenge and true love and thus this movie is a must-watch.
3. DJ
Duvvada Jagannadham Shastri aka DJ is a priest by profession. But he also works as an undercover agent for a cop and they both fight crime locally. DJ is vigilant who has strong adhesion to punishing criminals his own way. But in the priest mode, he is a shy and innocent man who is believed by his parents to be very non-violent. While his close relative, a senior citizen suicides in a housing scam by Agro Diamond, he decides to take the law into his hands. This pursuit of the culprit all while keeping his image clean in front of his parents is funny yet thrilling to watch.
4. Sarrainodu
Sarrainodu in Telugu means the right guy. Allu Arjun as the lead, is a guy who has left military and is looked down on by his own father who appears to be a respected officer in his locality. Off his parent’s radar, he helps his paternal uncle in fighting crime in the city as he believes that the legal system in India is broken. He’s asked by his father to marry his ex-IAS and politician best friend’s daughter. He visits her just for the sake of his father and is actually in love with the MLA of their area. While this love triangle continues, he comes across a criminal who has slaughtered a village just for the sake of their land. Our right guy takes the matter into his own hands and thus fights for what’s right.
5. Dhruva
Ram Charan is the lead in the movie who is an IPS Officer. It’s his childhood dream to be a police officer and from his days in the academy, he has been sorting out the targets he wants to take down as soon as he gets commissioned out of the academy. His first target is a bio-scientist who has developed a vaccine that he wants to patent. This scientist is out of a child detention center for killing political work as a kid. His assassins have already killed anyone who wants to make his invention’s counterparts generic. Thus Dhruva chases this scientist before he risks another life. The story leaves us with a message of how an intellectual criminal can be far more dangerous than a normal bad guy. A must watch especially when Hindi dub of Ram’s Voice is done by Ajay Devgn.
6. Janatha Garage
The plot of the movie revolves around Anand portrayed by NTR Jr. and Sathyam. Anand is an environmental activist and Sathyam operates a large automobile service center named ‘Janatha Garage’. Both these undertake law enforcements through their group of automobile mechanics because as per them the legal authorities aren’t doing their jobs well. It’s another vigilante action movie that imparts the lesson of honesty, helpfulness, and kindness. The dialogue delivery is just perfect and the action scenes are breath-taking.
7. Geetha Govindam
For those who think south Indian cinema can only produce pro-action drama, this one will change your mind. A perfect romantic movie with all the ingredients of a love story. The flirting part, the wooing sequence, and the togetherness part all are up to the mark. The story revolves around a young lecturer in a college who is good-looking and has a personality that has made him a heartthrob amongst many girls he teaches. He tries to woo a girl who is independent and level headed and thus this the story travels into the romantic phase.
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8. Vikram Vedha
As the name suggests, this movie is inspired by the legendary Vikram Betal plotting. Vikram is a disciplined police officer and with his partner Simon, they both set sails to capture Vedha, a smuggler, and a murderer. On getting caught, Vedha narrates a story to Vikram that boggles with his mind and leaves him in conflict with his conscience. In this Vikram-Betal kind of chase, Simon gets shot dead. Afterward, Vedha narrates another story that unfolds a lot of suspense. This one is a family movie and a suspense-thriller, a must watch on our list.
9. Ala Vaikunthapurramloo
This is the recent most in the list and was released just before the lockdown 1.0. This movie unfolds all the everyday aspects like discrimination, kindness, etc. with a story that travels around how a jealous clerk secretly switches his new-born son with his millionaire friend’s temporarily stillborn son. Both the kids experience different childhoods and thus the story ends up teaching some serious lessons on humanity in a fun way. Available on Netflix, this one is an Allu Arjun blockbuster with amazing dialogues in the Hindi dub.
10. Son of Satyamurthy 2
Surya is protective of his father, who is an honest government officer. This officer is in his last months of retirement and has a clean track record of honesty and no corruption in his service. He wants to retire with this tag of an honest government officer, which as per him would be a big achievement in times when most of the government officials are corrupt. But he comes across a corrupt builder who has criminal records, Thus to save his father’s dignity, Surya handles it his way.
11. Ragada
‘’Satya se panga matlab…. Ragada’’ used to be a dialogue that we all have rehearsed once as kids. If you haven’t watched the movie yet, do it and you’ll find out why this dialogue rules all the south Indian millennials. The story is about a fighter Satya who fights only for money. He saves a gangster, GK and in the process ends up on the radar of the rival gang. Their leader throws a lot of hurdles in Satya’s way to weaken GK’s reign as a goon. Soon the fight gets personal and Satya goes on to beat every bad guy probably in Andhra Pradesh. An action-packed thriller with fun elements of Nagarjuna’s acting skills makes it worth a watch.
12. Meri Jung- One Man Army
The movie that made every kid believe that Nagarjuna’s real name is Mass. Mass is an orphan, who is like a brother to his landlord’s son Adi. He falls in love with the daughter of Vizag city’s Mafia don. While her dad is not happy with the bond her daughter shares with an orphan. While Adi is being supportive in their love story, his goons kill him. Mass sets on a journey of revenge and thus this a story of one’s love for their partner and friend and leaves you awestruck with the entertaining action scenes.
13. Main hu Lucky the racer
Another Allu Arjun masterpiece, this movie is a roller coaster ride. Lucky and Ram are brothers. By their behavior, both are poles apart. One is an ACP while the other one is a happy go lucky kind of an unemployed youth who claims to be a daring racer. They come across a gangster who wants to be a politician and because his criminal records are under Ram, he plans to kill him. Lucky that day as a result of a brawl steals Ram’s jeep and thus comes to know about the case. The movie takes you to a journey of revenge, betrayal, allegations, and brotherhood. A must watch a family movie.
14. Dashing CM Bharat
As the name suggests, this movie is about a young CM with a great personality. He is an Oxford University graduate, who returns to India following his father’s sudden demise as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. When he digs deeper into the system, he finds out that the system is corrupt to its core and thus decides to bring reform by being the next CM. In the process he makes new enemies and thus this is a story of a fighter who wants to bring change. A must watch family movie which leaves you entertained and refreshed.
15. Vivegam
If you think only Hollywood can make movies like Mission Impossible, then this movie will make you reconsider your opinion. Packed with action and plot twists, this movie is worth a watch. The lead is a former counter-terrorism agent and is now living happily with his wife who manages an Indian Restaurant. His smooth normal life is interrupted by a mission in which they have to trace a hacker, who is responsible for cracking the security codes of the plutonium weapons.
So, these were our top 15 picks for the South Indian movies that are popular in other states as well and you must watch. All these movies deal with important topics like change, honesty, fighting the wrong and leave us with a social message and thus many of these will surely make it your favourites list. If you have any other name popping in your head by now, let us know in the comments section. We’ll add them to our list.
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