With popular comedians, part of commercial entertainers until a few years ago in Kollywood, venturing to do hero and character roles, there is a host of new artistes playing comedians.
With their one-liners and unique body language, they have managed to strike a chord with the audience.
Remember, Vadivelu took to playing lead roles in ‘Imsai Arasan‘ and ‘Eli’ among others. Santhanam has three movies in his kitty as hero that includes a Selvaraghavan film. Vivek is flooded with offers to do character roles.
Here is the list of top five comedians in Tamil cinema now:
SOORI
After a decent start to his career in ‘Vennilla Kabaddi Kuzhu’, Soori is fast rising the ladder of success as comedian in Tamil cinema. A sidekick to all lead heroes, he has his hands full, including Sivakarthikeyan’s ‘Seema Raja’. The year 2017 saw him act in nearly a dozen movies. His catchy dialogue delivery and a funny way of pronouncing a few words in English have won him fans. His earthy comedy is very popular among movie-lovers. Though several offers came his way to play the hero, Soori turned them all down and said comedy was his forte. He was last seen in the blockbuster ‘Kadai Kutty Singam’, released a few weeks ago.
YOGI BABU
He rose to fame following his performances in ‘Maan Karate’ and ‘Yaamirukka Bayameye’. Today, he is part and parcel of every third film hitting the screens during the weekends. In 2015, he appeared in over a dozen films and won positive reviews for his work in ‘Kaaka Muttai’ and ‘Kirumi’. Yogi Babu acted in 20 films, and won critical acclaim for his role alongside Vijay Sethupathi in ‘Aandavan Kattalai’. His performance in Vijay Sethupathi’s ‘Junga’ was also appreciated. Currently, he is part of ‘Kola Maavu Kokila’ and he is featured in a song alongside Nayanthara (‘Kalyana Vayasu’). His 100th film is ‘Visvasam’ alongside Ajith.
SATHISH
Sathish worked with Crazy Mohan in his drama troupe for several years. He made his start as co-dialogue writer in A L Vijay’s ‘Poi Solla Porom’ (2008), before making his acting debut with ‘Madrasapattinam’. Sathish received rave reviews for his role in ‘Ethir Neechal’. It was followed by an IT professional Sandy in ‘Maan Karate’, written by A R Murugadoss. He played an important role in Vijay-starrer ‘Kaththi’. He has 13 films, featuring him as comedian, hitting the screens this year that includes ‘Ghajinikanth’, ‘Mr Chandramouli’, ‘Pakka’, ‘Hara Hara Mahadevaki’. He is now acting in Vijay’s ‘Sarkar’.
KARUNAKARAN
A popular comedian, Karunakaran made heads turn with ‘Soodhu Kavvum’. His role of Arumai Pragasam, son of a politician, was a big hit. He was part of movies like Rajini’s ‘Kaala’, and ‘Jigirthanda’, among others. He has been having a golden run in Kollywood much recently with films like ’Vidhi Madhi Ultaa’, ‘Nimir’, ‘Iruttu Araiyil Murattu Kuththu’, ‘Semma Botha Aagatha’ and ‘Ghajinikanth’. His upcoming films include ‘R K Nagar’, ‘Jeyikkira Kuthira’, ‘Silukkuvarupatti Singam’, ‘Shaitan Ka Bachcha’ and ‘Vallavanukku Vallavan’.
KAALI VENKAT
A native of Kovilpatti, he played a major role in the thriller ‘Thegidi’ and followed it up with films like ‘Mundaasupatti’,’Kaathadi’, ‘Urumeen’, ‘India Pakistan’ and ‘Eetti’. Kaal’ won critical acclaim for his portrayal of a drunkard father in ‘Irudhi Suttru’ and as a loyal friend of a politician (Dhanush) in ‘Kodi’. His performance in the recent release ‘Irumbu Thirai’ was appreciated. Kaali Venkat is part of ‘Ghajinikanth’, ‘Nagesh Thiraiarangam’ and half-a-dozen other movies.