Kodi

A protégé of superstar Dhanush like his teacher Vetri Maaran (Ruthless Man and Arena), Durai Senthilkumar carved out a niche for himself by way of two dramas with a fine sense of comedy. Which made Kodi a massive surprise when it hit the screens: nobody expected a work so unrepentantly serious and unrelentingly tough as this tale of twin brothers: one a teacher, the other a political firebrand whose whole world collapses when he finds out his organization was partly behind a toxic waste scandal it officially protested against.

Dhanush once again shows his extraordinary abilities, himself playing both brothers – quite literally embodying the Janus-faced nature of Tamil Nadu’s body politic. Make that: organised politics anywhere in an age where trust in elected representatives is probably at an all-time low. A film for our times.