The carnival of South Indian films did not stop even in the face of the Corona epidemic. Along with all the great action, the filmmakers have presented mesmerizing screenplays in front of the audience. And yet the remnants of these storytellings remain in the hearts of movie lovers. This article will feature the best South Indian movies of 2021 that have gained popularity across South Asia.
Top 10 Most Popular South Indian Movies Released in 2021
Naandhi | Telugu | 19 February, 2021 | Rating 8.3 (IMDb)
This criminal drama film revolves around the life of Surya Prakash, a convict falsely accused of murder.
Vijay Kanakamedala entered the world of filmmaking through directing this movie produced by Nandi Satish Verma. Kanakamedala himself has scripted the film based on the story of Tom Venkat. Abburi Robi oversaw the dialogue editing with him. The film stars Allari Naresh, Varlakshmi Sarathkumar, Priyadarshi, Praveen, Harish Uthaman, and Binoy Barma.
A Hindi remake of this South Indian box office hit movie is already planned with popular Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn in the lead role.
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Drishyam 2 | Malayalam | 19 February, 2021 | Rating 8.6 (IMDb)
After the tremendous success of Drishyam in 2013, in 2021, Jithu Joseph brought the sequel of the movie with the title ‘The Resumption’. The horrific incident of Varun's murder in Drishyam still haunts the Georgekutty family. In the midst of thousands of dangers, George Kutty struggles to protect his family by all means.
The film stars Mohanlal, Meena, Ether Anil, and Ansiba Hasan.
Mohanlal especially for the narrative style and acting of the movie garnered wide acclaim from the critics of the film as well as the audience.
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Mandela | Tamil | 4 April, 2021 | Rating 8.5 (IMDb)
In his directorial debut, Madonne Ashwin has come up with this satire movie which is allegorically set against a famous political background.
The film, named after the late South African President Nelson Mandela, stars Yogi Babu, Sheila Rajkumar, Sangili Murugan, Kanna Robi, and GM Sundar.
The northern and southern groups received equal votes for the presidential election in Soorangudi village. Then everyone waited for the final result to be voted on by the village barbers.
It was enlisted in the 14 Indian films nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Oscars.
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Narappa | Telugu | 20 July, 2021 | Rating 8.1 (IMDb)
Directed by Srikanth Adala, the action-packed movie is a remake of the 2019 Tamil language film Vetrimaran-directed Asuran. The main source of the story of the movie is the Vekkai novel written by Pumni. Vetrimaran has scripted the movie.
The movie tells the story of a conflict between Dalits and Kamma zamindars, based on the Karamchedu genocide that took place in 1985.
The film stars Venkatesh, Ammu Avirami, Priyamoni, Nassar, Rajiv Kanakala, Rao Ramesh, Karthik Rathnam, and Brahmaji.
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#Home | Malayalam | 19 August, 2021 | Rating 9 (IMDb)
The comedy-drama film was simultaneously written, scripted, and directed by Rojin Thomas.
The story of the film, full of great humor, is about a middle-class family where the father knows little about technology and his sons are very technology-conscious.
The film stars Indran, Srinath Bhasi, Manju Pillai, Naslen K. Gafur, Johny Antony, and Vijay Babu. The performances of the actors in the movie based on the story of contemporary life have gained a lot of popularity all over India.
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Lanke | Kannada | 10 September, 2021 | Rating 9.4 (IMDb)
The action film is directed by Ram Prasad. Produced by Patel Srinivas and Surekha Ram Prasad, the film is basically an adaptation of the Ramayana in the 21st century.
Even though he is from a completely different horizon, Ram falls in love with Pavani. Mandara Devi, on the other hand, wants Pavani as the main attraction of her brothel by any means. Then the conflict began!
The film stars Yogesh, Sanchari Vijay, Kavya Sethi, Krishi Thapanda, Ester Naronha, Gayatri Jayaraman, and Suchendra Prasad.
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Rathnan Prapancha | Kannada | 22 October, 2021 | Rating 8.9 (IMDb)
This comedy movie is directed by Rohit Padaki. This Karthik and Yogi G. Raj production is filmed under the banner of KRG Studios.
The movie tells the story of a middle-class man named Ratnakar, in whose hard-earned family he and his mother live. When the situation got worse, Ratnakar got a phone call which changed his life completely.
The film stars Dhananjay and Malayalam actress Reba Monica. Monica made her Kannada film debut with this film. Besides, Panju, Umashree, and Ravi Shankar Gowda have acted in other roles.
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Jai Bhim | Tamil | 2 November, 2021 | Rating 9.3 (IMDb)
This legal-based movie blended with suspense is directed by TJ Gyanvel. Produced by Jyothika and Suriya under 2D Entertainment, the film focuses on a true incident in 1993. Justice K. Chandru fought a complex case on behalf of a couple Senjeni and Razakannur who belonged to a tribe called Irula.
The film stars Suriya, Lizomal Jose, Manikandan, Prakash Raj, Rajisha Vijayan, and Rao Ramesh.
The movie is currently in the highest user-rated position on IMDb with a score of 9.3/10. This is the first time any Indian film has achieved this honor.
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Maanaadu | Tamil | 25 November, 2021 | Rating 8.8 (IMDb)
This science-fiction film is written and directed by Venkat Prabhu. This thriller movie shows a common man and a police officer trapped in a time loop on the day of the Chief Minister's public meeting. As a result, they got to face the same rendezvous again and again to save themselves.
The film, produced by Suresh Kamachi, features S. A. Chandrasekhar, Karunakaran, Y. G. Mahendran, Premagi Amaren, Anjena Kirti, Arvind Akash, Silambarasan, Kalyani Priyadarshan and S. J. Suryah.
Venkat Prabhu is coming back soon with a sequel to this action sci-fi film with the same actors.
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Minnal Murali | Malayalam | 16 December, 2021 | Rating 8.2 (IMDb)
This superhero film is one of the notable blockbusters of 2021. Sophia Paul produced this action-comedy film. The director of the film was Basil Joseph and the screenwriters were Arun Anirudhan and Justin Matthew.
Jason is a young tailor who gets a superpower by being struck by lightning. Then the story of the movie revolves around its impact on his life.
Tovino Thomas has played the role of the superhero in the film.
The film has been released simultaneously in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English along with the original version in Malayalam.
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In a nutshell
So far, we have mentioned the top-rated South Indian movies released in 2021. The ratings may vary with the course of time. To keep the movie industry in its heyday, the Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Tamil film industry have brought some outstanding innovations in the realm of filmmaking. Moreover, in the continuation of the elite activities of the OTT platforms, the film stars have been able to appear in front of their fans with their best performances.