Guns down, emotions up: The return of family dramas in Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema in 2025 witnessed a strong resurgence of family dramas focusing on emotional storytelling. This shift reflects evolving audience preferences and a move away from spectacle films towards authentic, relatable narratives.
It was a January afternoon when director Lokesh Kanagaraj called for a press meet and explained why he had to opt out of a film that brought together two pillars of Tamil cinema, Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. Despite working on the script for around a month and a half, he had to drop the project because Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan did not want to do an action-heavy film, a genre that has helped him establish his footing in Tamil cinema.
Instead, the duo asked him to come up with a light-hearted entertainer. "Such films aren't my cup of tea," he admitted, explaining why he chose to step aside from the film.
This honest admission indicates a changing trend. Not just audiences, even actors as big as Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, are tired of doing full-fledged actioners. They wanted a rather lighter-hearted approach to a commercial cinema. The kind of films they once did before parting ways to become the legends of Tamil cinema.
This brings us to a bigger question: Does Tamil cinema need a breather from action-heavy films?
Tamil cinema and its tryst with family dramas
Over the past two decades, Tamil cinema has embraced bold experimentation, pushing creative boundaries with a diverse range of genres. While not every venture has succeeded, the industry has become known for spectacle films and grand entertainers. Yet amid these blockbusters, 2025 marked a pivotal shift. What really changed?
Kollywood, in the late 80s, 90s and 2000s, explored family dynamics in films like Veedu, Samsaram Adhu Minsaram, Suryavamsam and Anandham, to name a few. Filmmakers like Visu, Bharathiraja and Balu Mahendra pioneered the genre and presented a variety of films that represented middle-class family dynamics, which are hardly relegated to supporting roles.
However, 2025 saw the resurgence of emotionally driven family dramas – films that prioritised relationships over spectacle, everyday struggles over grandeur, and character study over excessive violence and action. Tamil cinema is slowly and steadily rediscovering its love for family dramas, a genre that reigned supreme. This return to emotional storytelling signals not just nostalgia but a genuine response to evolving audience preferences.
The weight of being the family man
Leading the charge is Kudumbasthan, starring Manikandan and directed by Rajeshwar Kalisamy. The film examines the crushing pressures faced by men who are expected to be breadwinners while living in a joint family. The story follows Naveen, who loses his job after refusing to apologise following an argument at work, putting him in a difficult position as his family's only source of income. His wife is pregnant, and mounting financial pressures give him a hard lesson in life.
Watching Kudumbasthan feels like an endless running game where Naveen is constantly fielding obstacles, from loan sharks to an ostentatious brother-in-law. When he breathes a sigh of relief, you relate to it. And when he begins to run again, you gear up for the ride. Released in January 2025, the film opened to positive reviews and was appreciated for infusing comedy into financial quicksand without becoming melodramatic or preachy.
Manikandan's performance anchors what could have been a depressing narrative, with the film asking tough questions about how men's worth is measured by their wallets while maintaining a light-handed approach.
The refugee family that captured hearts
Shifting from financial struggles to questions of identity, debutant director Abishan Jeevinth's Tourist Family took Tamil cinema by storm. The film follows a Sri Lankan Tamil family – Dharmadas, his wife Vasanthi, and their two sons – forced to flee their homeland after the economic crisis. Arriving in Rameswaram and then settling in Chennai, they must conceal their identity as Malayalis to avoid legal trouble.
Tourist Family tackled a sensitive topic with a harmless comedy. The film became one of 2025's most profitable releases, grossing approximately Rs 90 crore worldwide against a Rs 7 crore budget. Its success validated a genuine hunger for stories reflecting lived experiences with authenticity rather than relying on drama.
The dream of four walls
3BHK, directed by Sri Ganesh, tackles another universally relatable struggle – the middle-class dream of owning a home in the city. The film follows Vasudevan and his family from 2006 onwards as they navigate the prolonged struggle to purchase a three-bedroom house while dealing with the family's financial and medical commitments spanning twenty-five years.
The film, while being melodramatic, captures the middle class's financial hardships with striking realism, showing how attempts to play it safe often backfire. The film showcases the family's struggle, where they are not able to enjoy tender moments together due to mounting financial commitments. Starring Siddharth, R. Sarathkumar, Devayani, and Meetha Raghunath, the film demonstrated that mid-budget family dramas exploring financial anxiety found both critical acclaim and commercial viability.
Challenging traditions and expectations
Geetha Kailsam's Angammal, directed by Vipin Radhakrishnan and adapted from Perumal Murugan's short story, Kodithuni, pushes the family drama into more challenging territory. The film follows Angammal, who refuses to wear the blouse of her sari when her newly returned doctor son, Pavalam, wants to introduce his girlfriend to the family. The film explores the life of a matriarch in her 50s, whose right to choice is taken away from her.
Released in December 2025, the film won critical acclaim for Vipin Radhakrishnan's minimalist direction and Geetha Kailasam's powerful performance. It uses a sari blouse to explore maternal sacrifice, generational conflicts, and bodily autonomy. The film needed more love from audiences theatrically.
The relatability of Maaman and Thalaivan Thalaivii
Maaman, directed by Prasanth Pandiyaraj and starring Soori, received mixed reviews from critics despite exploring the deep bond between a maternal uncle and his nephew. However, the audience lapped it up as it became one of the most profitable ventures in 2025. It is the same case with Vijay Sethupathi and Nithya Menen's Thalaivan Thalaivii, directed by Pandiraj. The film, which explored the life of a newly married couple struggling to keep their life going due to the over-indulgence of her mother-in-law, mother and sister-in-law.
Both films received mixed reviews from critics; however, their box office performances tell a different story. This indicates that a film which may not suit a particular sensibility, has the scope to strike a chord at the box office, who appreciate what the film is trying to convey.
Political satire wrapped in village life
2025 witnessed a bevvy of family dramas, more than what's listed in this piece, that received the audience's love. The trend seems to continue in 2026 with Jiiva's Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimayil (TTT). Directed by Nithish Sahadev in his Tamil debut, the film brings Malayalam sensibilities to Tamil family storytelling. The film follows Jeevarathnam, a village panchayat president who must maintain order after an unexpected death occurs next door on the eve of a wedding, creating a volatile clash between grief and celebration.
Though the film is centred on Jeevarathnam, it does a spectacular job of documenting the broken family dynamics between the two families. TTT blends dry comedy with low-key drama, working through its low-key nature and tonal consistency. The film's success during the crucial Pongal season proved that well-crafted satirical family dramas could hold their fort with bigger releases.
Why this shift matters
For Tamil cinema, this shift represents a return to storytelling strengths: finding universal emotions in specific cultural contexts, making the ordinary extraordinary with observation and authenticity. These films prove that in an industry often dominated by larger-than-life heroes and gravity-defying action, there's substantial space - and substantial audiences - for stories of families chasing dreams, dealing with everyday problems, enjoying life's simplest and little things.
In 2026, too, Kollywood is expected to witness many more family dramas that dig deep into diverse emotions. It is not about the genre staging a comeback; it's about the industry reclaiming its rightful place in a dynamic ecosystem.
It was a January afternoon when director Lokesh Kanagaraj called for a press meet and explained why he had to opt out of a film that brought together two pillars of Tamil cinema, Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. Despite working on the script for around a month and a half, he had to drop the project because Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan did not want to do an action-heavy film, a genre that has helped him establish his footing in Tamil cinema.
Instead, the duo asked him to come up with a light-hearted entertainer. "Such films aren't my cup of tea," he admitted, explaining why he chose to step aside from the film.
This honest admission indicates a changing trend. Not just audiences, even actors as big as Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, are tired of doing full-fledged actioners. They wanted a rather lighter-hearted approach to a commercial cinema. The kind of films they once did before parting ways to become the legends of Tamil cinema.
This brings us to a bigger question: Does Tamil cinema need a breather from action-heavy films?
Tamil cinema and its tryst with family dramas
Over the past two decades, Tamil cinema has embraced bold experimentation, pushing creative boundaries with a diverse range of genres. While not every venture has succeeded, the industry has become known for spectacle films and grand entertainers. Yet amid these blockbusters, 2025 marked a pivotal shift. What really changed?
Kollywood, in the late 80s, 90s and 2000s, explored family dynamics in films like Veedu, Samsaram Adhu Minsaram, Suryavamsam and Anandham, to name a few. Filmmakers like Visu, Bharathiraja and Balu Mahendra pioneered the genre and presented a variety of films that represented middle-class family dynamics, which are hardly relegated to supporting roles.
However, 2025 saw the resurgence of emotionally driven family dramas – films that prioritised relationships over spectacle, everyday struggles over grandeur, and character study over excessive violence and action. Tamil cinema is slowly and steadily rediscovering its love for family dramas, a genre that reigned supreme. This return to emotional storytelling signals not just nostalgia but a genuine response to evolving audience preferences.
The weight of being the family man
Leading the charge is Kudumbasthan, starring Manikandan and directed by Rajeshwar Kalisamy. The film examines the crushing pressures faced by men who are expected to be breadwinners while living in a joint family. The story follows Naveen, who loses his job after refusing to apologise following an argument at work, putting him in a difficult position as his family's only source of income. His wife is pregnant, and mounting financial pressures give him a hard lesson in life.
Watching Kudumbasthan feels like an endless running game where Naveen is constantly fielding obstacles, from loan sharks to an ostentatious brother-in-law. When he breathes a sigh of relief, you relate to it. And when he begins to run again, you gear up for the ride. Released in January 2025, the film opened to positive reviews and was appreciated for infusing comedy into financial quicksand without becoming melodramatic or preachy.
Manikandan's performance anchors what could have been a depressing narrative, with the film asking tough questions about how men's worth is measured by their wallets while maintaining a light-handed approach.
The refugee family that captured hearts
Shifting from financial struggles to questions of identity, debutant director Abishan Jeevinth's Tourist Family took Tamil cinema by storm. The film follows a Sri Lankan Tamil family – Dharmadas, his wife Vasanthi, and their two sons – forced to flee their homeland after the economic crisis. Arriving in Rameswaram and then settling in Chennai, they must conceal their identity as Malayalis to avoid legal trouble.
Tourist Family tackled a sensitive topic with a harmless comedy. The film became one of 2025's most profitable releases, grossing approximately Rs 90 crore worldwide against a Rs 7 crore budget. Its success validated a genuine hunger for stories reflecting lived experiences with authenticity rather than relying on drama.
The dream of four walls
3BHK, directed by Sri Ganesh, tackles another universally relatable struggle – the middle-class dream of owning a home in the city. The film follows Vasudevan and his family from 2006 onwards as they navigate the prolonged struggle to purchase a three-bedroom house while dealing with the family's financial and medical commitments spanning twenty-five years.
The film, while being melodramatic, captures the middle class's financial hardships with striking realism, showing how attempts to play it safe often backfire. The film showcases the family's struggle, where they are not able to enjoy tender moments together due to mounting financial commitments. Starring Siddharth, R. Sarathkumar, Devayani, and Meetha Raghunath, the film demonstrated that mid-budget family dramas exploring financial anxiety found both critical acclaim and commercial viability.
Challenging traditions and expectations
Geetha Kailsam's Angammal, directed by Vipin Radhakrishnan and adapted from Perumal Murugan's short story, Kodithuni, pushes the family drama into more challenging territory. The film follows Angammal, who refuses to wear the blouse of her sari when her newly returned doctor son, Pavalam, wants to introduce his girlfriend to the family. The film explores the life of a matriarch in her 50s, whose right to choice is taken away from her.
Released in December 2025, the film won critical acclaim for Vipin Radhakrishnan's minimalist direction and Geetha Kailasam's powerful performance. It uses a sari blouse to explore maternal sacrifice, generational conflicts, and bodily autonomy. The film needed more love from audiences theatrically.
The relatability of Maaman and Thalaivan Thalaivii
Maaman, directed by Prasanth Pandiyaraj and starring Soori, received mixed reviews from critics despite exploring the deep bond between a maternal uncle and his nephew. However, the audience lapped it up as it became one of the most profitable ventures in 2025. It is the same case with Vijay Sethupathi and Nithya Menen's Thalaivan Thalaivii, directed by Pandiraj. The film, which explored the life of a newly married couple struggling to keep their life going due to the over-indulgence of her mother-in-law, mother and sister-in-law.
Both films received mixed reviews from critics; however, their box office performances tell a different story. This indicates that a film which may not suit a particular sensibility, has the scope to strike a chord at the box office, who appreciate what the film is trying to convey.
Political satire wrapped in village life
2025 witnessed a bevvy of family dramas, more than what's listed in this piece, that received the audience's love. The trend seems to continue in 2026 with Jiiva's Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimayil (TTT). Directed by Nithish Sahadev in his Tamil debut, the film brings Malayalam sensibilities to Tamil family storytelling. The film follows Jeevarathnam, a village panchayat president who must maintain order after an unexpected death occurs next door on the eve of a wedding, creating a volatile clash between grief and celebration.
Though the film is centred on Jeevarathnam, it does a spectacular job of documenting the broken family dynamics between the two families. TTT blends dry comedy with low-key drama, working through its low-key nature and tonal consistency. The film's success during the crucial Pongal season proved that well-crafted satirical family dramas could hold their fort with bigger releases.
Why this shift matters
For Tamil cinema, this shift represents a return to storytelling strengths: finding universal emotions in specific cultural contexts, making the ordinary extraordinary with observation and authenticity. These films prove that in an industry often dominated by larger-than-life heroes and gravity-defying action, there's substantial space - and substantial audiences - for stories of families chasing dreams, dealing with everyday problems, enjoying life's simplest and little things.
In 2026, too, Kollywood is expected to witness many more family dramas that dig deep into diverse emotions. It is not about the genre staging a comeback; it's about the industry reclaiming its rightful place in a dynamic ecosystem.