If you liked Gharshana, target these best South Indian cop thrillers next

Cop thrillers are that genre of movies which have our attention throughout their runtime. Though it is a widely explored theme, not many have succeeded in perfecting it. Nevertheless, a handful of cop thrillers have been produced in South Indian languages which stand as some of the best ones in this stream of movies. Be it the engaging scripts or the apt portrayal by the chosen cast, these movies have cracked the formula in every aspect.

Here is a list of the best cop thrillers made in South Indian languages.

Thani Oruvan

Thani Oruvan is a Tamil action cop thriller starring Jayam Ravi in the lead role. Nayanathara plays the female lead while Aravind Swamy shined as the antagonist. The film has received good critical acclaim and it was later remade in Telugu as Dhruva, starring Ram Charan. Aravind Swamy reprised his role as Siddharth Abhimanyu, a criminal-minded scientist. The Telugu remake was directed by Surender Reddy while the original was directed by Mohan Raja. Hip Hop Tamizha has composed music for both versions. The mind games between the cop and the criminal make it worth watching. Thani Oruvan is available on Sun NXT and Dhruva on Zee5.

Gharshana

If one is listing the best cop thrillers made in South India, it is definitely incomplete without this masterpiece by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The role of DCP Ram Chandra is forever etched in our hearts and the perfection with which Venkatesh portrays the character makes it even better. The original version, Kaakha Kaakha, stars the versatile actor Suriya in the lead role. Jyothika and Asin have played the female leads in Tamil and Telugu versions respectively. It is safe to say that the music album composed by Harris Jayaraj is one of his finest works. Gharshana and Kaakha Kaakha are available on YouTube.

Vikram Vedha

Vijay Sethupathi’s career can be marked as ‘before Vikram Vedha’ and ‘after Vikram Vedha’. No other actor could have pulled off the role better than the Makkal Selvan. The portrayal of the cop role by yesteryear’s chocolate boy Madhavan is no less than the gangster role by Sethupathi. Not just for the performances, but Vikaram Vedha has also received huge critical acclaim for its technical aspects. The narration style adapted for Vikram Vedha is unique and has the word of its brilliance has spread like wildfire back in the day. This thriller was directed by K Manikandan and the music was composed by Sam CS. Remakes of Vikram Vedha into Telugu and Hindi languages are on the cards. This movie is available on Zee5. 

Nayattu

Nayattu is a Malayalam thriller directed by Martin Prakkat and stars Kunchako Boban, Joju George, and Nimisha Sajayan in important roles. This movie is about a rift between two police officers and a local goon with political influence. Things escalate quickly as the police officers accidentally kill a friend of the goon and are now on the run to save themselves from being arrested. Nayattu is available on Netflix.

Eenadu

We all know how Venkatesh Daggubati perfects any role he does. But what if he is joined by another perfectionist? Eenadu is a thriller, starring Kamal Hassan and Venkatesh in the lead roles. How Kamal Hassan tricks the entire police department and gets his work done just to prove the power of a common man summarizes the plot of the movie. With gripping narration and excellent performances from the entire cast, Eenadu effortlessly makes it to this list. The movie is available on YouTube. 

Khakee

Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru, dubbed into Telugu as Khakee, casts Karthi as a police officer. It is the story of a dedicated police officer facing criticism, undergoing trouble for being sincere, and investigating an illegal activity by a powerful gangster. The film co-stars Rakul Preet Singh as the female lead and Abhimanyu Singh as a supporting artist. Khakee was directed by H Vinoth and the music was composed by Ghibran. The movie is available on Aha.