2009's Top Tamil Actors

Out of the hundreds of films released in 2009, only a handful had good performances. But not a single performance can be described as spectacular.

Yet, these Tamil actors have managed to impress us quite a bit. Take a look:

Surya

Film: Ayan
Director: K V Anand

Surya is the star of 2009. He had two releases, Ayan and Aadhavan, but was impressive only in Ayan, the year's only blockbuster, directed by K V Anand.

Surya was delightful while dancing and romancing the beautiful Tamannah, bashing up villains and rescuing the poor from the clutches of the bad.

He did all that with panache of a complete entertainer. Hats off to the actor for making the film so believable and exciting.

Film: Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu
Director: Susindran

In the conventional sense, Kishore is not the hero of Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu. He plays a kabadi coach, who makes a losing team win, just like Shah Rukh Khan made the underdog girls hockey team win in Chak De! India.

Kishore was believable, sensitive and subtle, giving a new dimension to the character.

Film: Unnaipol Oruvan
Director Chakri Toleti

It has been said how great an actor Mohanlal is. In Unnaipol Oruvan, reprising Anupam Kher's role in the Hindi original A Wednesday, Mohanlal gave the role a new dimension and made it look different.

He gave a subtle, understated performance, delivering dialogues with a pinch of sarcasm and wowed the Tamil audience. This may not be Mohanlal's best performance -- he has done many astounding roles in Malayalam cinema -- but he brought a breath of fresh air to Tamil cinema.

Film: Achamundu, Achamundu
Director: Arun Vaidyanathan

Unlike many young actors, Prasanna is not scared to experiment with his roles. Not many actors would have accepted the role of Senthil Kumar, a married man with a six year old daughter, as he did in Achamundu Achamundu.

The chemistry between Prasanna and Sneha -- playing a married couple -- made the film extremely believable. An excellent performance by the young actor.

Film: Peraanmai
Director: S P Janannathan

National award winning director Jananathan's Peraanmai tread new areas hitherto not seen in Tamil cinema and it was an extremely new experience for Tamil movie-goers.

The director could transform a commercial hero into someone very different. Jayam Ravi, the quintessential commercial hero was not Jayam Ravi in the film, he was transformed into Dhiruvan, a forest guard belonging to a lower caste.