Tamil cinema had a decent year that felt pale compared to its success in 2023. However, the industry proved that content is king because even big-budget releases featuring the likes of Rajinikanth and Vijay were overshadowed by films that told heartfelt stories and connected with the audience. (Also Read: HT Rewind: From Poonam Pandey's return from dead to Allu Arjun's arrest, Indian cinema's biggest controversies of 2024 ) A better 2023 Tamil cinema shone in 2023, with its highest-grossing films that year, the Vijay-starrer Leo and Rajinikanth-starrer Jailer, bringing in a business of over ₹ 600 crore each.
The multi-starrer Ponniyin Selvan 2 made over ₹ 340 crore, and films like Vaathi , Maaveeran, and Por Thozhil also made it to the highest-grossing films list that year while impressing the audience with their stories. Jailer and Leo were even among the highest-grossers in Indian cinema that year. Films like Viduthalai Part 1, Jigarthanda Double X, Chithha, and Maamannan broke barriers.
Superstar films get mixed reviews in 2024 Jailer and Leo were not considered flawless films, and Rajinikanth and Vijay’s 2024 releases Vettaiyan and The Greatest of All Time (The GOAT) disappointingly continued in the same vein, with even fans debating if the actors’ last year’s films were better. They made ₹ 253 crore and ₹ 457 crore respectively. There were high expectations for Rajinikanth’s Lal Salaam, Kamal Haasan's Indian 2 and Suriya's Kanguva , but neither film lived.