AND THE AWARD GOES TO... (2001 edition)

It is time now to reward the best of the fare that was offered during 2001. The awards here will be along the lines of the Academy Awards presentation in the US, with five nominations followed by declaration of the winner. The nominees will be listed in alpabetical order.

Note: As was the case with the 2001 yearly recap, these awards deal only with the movies that I watched between 1/1/01 and 12/31/01 (even if they were released in 2000). Deserving candidates that may have been released in 2001 but which I was able to watch only in 2002 will therefore not be considered. Ofcourse, they will make it to the awards presented in 2003.

BEST PICTURE

The nominees : 12B
Aalavandhaan
Dhil
Kutty
Nandhaa

The Winner : Kutty
No other movie in 2001 came even close to the effect Kutty had on the viewer. The movie brought alive a middle-class family and the young girl hired as their servant maid and forced us to look closely at the issue of young girls being (ab)used as domestic help. The shocking climax exploded on us and left us thinking about the movie long after the end credits.

BEST DIRECTOR

The nominees : Bala ( Nandhaa )
Cheran ( Paandavar Bhoomi )
Dharani ( Dhil )
Janaki Viswanathan ( Kutty )
Jeeva ( 12B )

The Winner : Jeeva
Cinematographer-turned-director Jeeva displayed enormous confidence in both himself and the viewer as he tackled the issue of alternate timelines in his very first movie. He held a firm grip over the screenplay and there was little confusion as he switched between two storylines that merged and diverged at various points. Closure was provided with an is it the beginning or the ending? climax that made us think by not revealing too much.

BEST ACTOR

The nominees : Ajith ( Citizen )
Kamalhassan ( Aalavandhaan )
Mammootty ( Aanandham )
Surya ( Nandhaa )
Vikram ( Dhil )
The Winner : Kamalhassan
Over-the-top was the way in which Kamalhassan decided to portray the psychopathic, twin brother Nandhu in Aalavandhaan and in that he succeeded completely. With unique gestures, facial twitches, expressions and voice modulations, he succeeded in creating another memorable character. The other twin was just a mute spectator as Nandhu took over the movie.

BEST ACTRESS

The nominees : Baby Shwetha ( Kutty )
Jyotika ( 12B )
Laila ( Nandhaa )
Shalini ( Piriyaadha Varam Vendum )
Shamita ( Paandavar Bhoomi )

The Winner : Baby Shwetha
Shwetha taught the other, much older actresses a lesson or two in acting as she melted our hearts playing the innocent servant maid. Her feelings, be they hopes about the future or sadness about the present, were conveyed effortlessly through her eyes and voice and she had us genuinely feeling and rooting for her.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

The nominees : Murali ( Aanandham )
Murali ( Dum Dum Dum )
Napolean ( Manuneedhi )
Rajkiran ( Nandhaa )
Vivek ( Kutty )

The Winner : Rajkiran
Rajkiran came out of oblivion to notch up two good performances in Paandavar Bhoomi and Nandhaa in 2001. His character as Surya's godfather in Nandhaa was a good mix of affection and violence and he managed to bring out all nuances of the role, convincing whether delivering a chilling discourse to Surya on his brand of justice or playing with his grandchildren.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

The nominees : Deepa Venkat ( Dhil )
Kaveri ( Samudhiram )
Rajasri ( Nandhaa )
Simran ( 12B )
Suhasini ( Chocklet )

The Winner : Rajasri
Rajasri was another little-known actress who bagged a high-profile role in Nandhaa and did full justice to it. Her character of the mother who hated her son because of his lifestyle was difficult and the fact that she was mute made it more so.

BEST VILLAIN

The nominees : Ashish Vidyarthi ( Dhil )
Pasupathy ( Maayan )
Raghuvaran ( Dhosth )
Sureshbala ( Pottu Amman )
Yugendran ( Poovellaam Un Vaasam )

The Winner : Ashish Vidyarthi
Award-winning actor Ashish Vidyarthi was the perfect choice for the foul-mouthed police inspector itching for revenge on Vikram in Dhil. His portrayal was right on the mark as he earned our revulsion with his rowdyism and scant respect for his job and position and we found ourselves cheering when he got his due in the end.

BEST COMEDIAN

The nominees : Karunas ( Nandhaa )
Koundamani ( Kunguma Pottu Goundar )
Vadivelu ( Friends )
Vivek ( Dhil, Lovely )

The Winner : Vivek

As in 2000, this once again turned out to be the most lopsided contest of the year as Vivek strode like a giant on the comedy scene. Other comedians barely made an impression as Vivek hit the bull's eye in film after film with routines that he scripted and executed with perfect comic timing.

BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR

The nominees : Harris Jayaraj ( Minnale )
Ilaiyaraja ( Kutty )
Karthik Raja ( Dum Dum Dum )
Vidyasagar ( Poovellaam Un Vaasam, Dhil )
Yuvan Shankar Raja ( Nandhaa )

The Winner : Harris Jayaraj
The impact Harris Jayaraj made with his tunes for Minnale reminded us of the splash A.R.Rehman made with Roja a decade back. The blockbuster soundtrack was a great mix of melody and catchiness and Vaseegara... had us all swaying to its mesmerizingly sweet tune.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The nominees : Jeeva ( 12B )
Ramji ( Dum Dum Dum )
Rathnavelu ( Nandhaa )
Thankar Bachan ( Kutty )
Thiru ( Aalavandhaan )

The Winner : Rathnavelu
With technical aspects being one of the few departments where quality is actually improving in Tamil cinema, this turned out to be a category with several strong contenders. Rathnavelu's camera captured Rameswaram like few have before and several scenes in the film took on a lyrical quality due to his locations and camera angles.

The nominees :	12B Aalavandhaan Dhil Kutty Nandhaa
The Winner :	Kutty
No other movie in 2001 came even close to the effect Kutty had on the viewer. The movie brought alive a middle-class family and the young girl hired as their servant maid and forced us to look closely at the issue of young girls being (ab)used as domestic help. The shocking climax exploded on us and left us thinking about the movie long after the end credits.

The nominees :	Bala ( Nandhaa ) Cheran ( Paandavar Bhoomi ) Dharani ( Dhil ) Janaki Viswanathan ( Kutty ) Jeeva ( 12B )
The Winner :	Jeeva
Cinematographer-turned-director Jeeva displayed enormous confidence in both himself and the viewer as he tackled the issue of alternate timelines in his very first movie. He held a firm grip over the screenplay and there was little confusion as he switched between two storylines that merged and diverged at various points. Closure was provided with an is it the beginning or the ending? climax that made us think by not revealing too much.

The nominees :	Ajith ( Citizen ) Kamalhassan ( Aalavandhaan ) Mammootty ( Aanandham ) Surya ( Nandhaa ) Vikram ( Dhil )
The Winner :	Kamalhassan
Over-the-top was the way in which Kamalhassan decided to portray the psychopathic, twin brother Nandhu in Aalavandhaan and in that he succeeded completely. With unique gestures, facial twitches, expressions and voice modulations, he succeeded in creating another memorable character. The other twin was just a mute spectator as Nandhu took over the movie.

The nominees :	Baby Shwetha ( Kutty ) Jyotika ( 12B ) Laila ( Nandhaa ) Shalini ( Piriyaadha Varam Vendum ) Shamita ( Paandavar Bhoomi )
The Winner :	Baby Shwetha
Shwetha taught the other, much older actresses a lesson or two in acting as she melted our hearts playing the innocent servant maid. Her feelings, be they hopes about the future or sadness about the present, were conveyed effortlessly through her eyes and voice and she had us genuinely feeling and rooting for her.

The nominees :	Murali ( Aanandham ) Murali ( Dum Dum Dum ) Napolean ( Manuneedhi ) Rajkiran ( Nandhaa ) Vivek ( Kutty )
The Winner :	Rajkiran
Rajkiran came out of oblivion to notch up two good performances in Paandavar Bhoomi and Nandhaa in 2001. His character as Surya's godfather in Nandhaa was a good mix of affection and violence and he managed to bring out all nuances of the role, convincing whether delivering a chilling discourse to Surya on his brand of justice or playing with his grandchildren.

The nominees :	Deepa Venkat ( Dhil ) Kaveri ( Samudhiram ) Rajasri ( Nandhaa ) Simran ( 12B ) Suhasini ( Chocklet )
The Winner :	Rajasri
Rajasri was another little-known actress who bagged a high-profile role in Nandhaa and did full justice to it. Her character of the mother who hated her son because of his lifestyle was difficult and the fact that she was mute made it more so.

The nominees :	Ashish Vidyarthi ( Dhil ) Pasupathy ( Maayan ) Raghuvaran ( Dhosth ) Sureshbala ( Pottu Amman ) Yugendran ( Poovellaam Un Vaasam )
The Winner :	Ashish Vidyarthi
Award-winning actor Ashish Vidyarthi was the perfect choice for the foul-mouthed police inspector itching for revenge on Vikram in Dhil. His portrayal was right on the mark as he earned our revulsion with his rowdyism and scant respect for his job and position and we found ourselves cheering when he got his due in the end.

The nominees :	Karunas ( Nandhaa ) Koundamani ( Kunguma Pottu Goundar ) Vadivelu ( Friends ) Vivek ( Dhil, Lovely )
The Winner :	Vivek

The nominees :	Harris Jayaraj ( Minnale ) Ilaiyaraja ( Kutty ) Karthik Raja ( Dum Dum Dum ) Vidyasagar ( Poovellaam Un Vaasam, Dhil ) Yuvan Shankar Raja ( Nandhaa )
The Winner :	Harris Jayaraj
The impact Harris Jayaraj made with his tunes for Minnale reminded us of the splash A.R.Rehman made with Roja a decade back. The blockbuster soundtrack was a great mix of melody and catchiness and Vaseegara... had us all swaying to its mesmerizingly sweet tune.

The nominees :	Jeeva ( 12B ) Ramji ( Dum Dum Dum ) Rathnavelu ( Nandhaa ) Thankar Bachan ( Kutty ) Thiru ( Aalavandhaan )
The Winner :	Rathnavelu
With technical aspects being one of the few departments where quality is actually improving in Tamil cinema, this turned out to be a category with several strong contenders. Rathnavelu's camera captured Rameswaram like few have before and several scenes in the film took on a lyrical quality due to his locations and camera angles.