Five beautiful women portraying five spectacular roles. The Best Actor (Female) category in Tamil films is a closely contested category, one where each role is high on quality. Not just that, it even features veterans like Gouthami and Jyotika making strong comebacks to movies after many years. Taking a pick for a winner should be a sure shot tricky affair.
Ishwarya Rajesh - Kakka Muttai
It takes guts to be a simple de-glam girl early on in your career. Especially when you’re so beautiful and glamorous like Ishwarya Rajesh in real-life. But Kakka Muttai was a simple tale of two young boys from the streets chasing pizza. Yet, in this little endearing film Ishwarya brought in maturity and gravitas well beyond her years. Her performance was definitely one of the year’s strongest.
Gouthami - Papanasam
Gouthami had the added advantage of performing next to her good-friend and partner Kamal Haasan in Papanasam, but that does not discount the fact that she was making a return to the big screen after a decade. Her portrayal of the innocent and concerned mother in this remake of Drishyam was just as good as any before. The best scene is where she eavesdrops on her daughter’s conversation.
Jyotika - 36 Vayadhinile
Returning to a leading movie role after seven years is no walk in the park. Let alone, when the story is based completely on your character and you are the main performer in the film. That’s what made Jyotika’s act in 36 Vayadhinile so special. She got portions of high drama bang on. Jyotika’s underplay added value to the themes of women empowerment in this film.
Nayantara - Naanum Rowdy Dhaan
The role of Kaadhambari, the hearing impaired girl in Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, was the perfect challenge for Nayantara’s acting chops. The stutter in her speech, her frustrating and sometimes embarrassing situations allowed the actor to dig deep and perform with verve and great impact. Naanum Rowdy Dhaan is a black comedy so there was the added difficulty of conveying tragedy with a pinch of ironice humour. And Nayantara was effortless through it all.
Nithya Menon - Ok Kanmani
Nithya’s act as a fiercely independent and career oriented girl was a terrific opportunity for the actor to display her skills. That she places more importance on her ambition over her need for love and relationship added depth to the role. Young Nithya looked beautiful and performed like a pro in her role.
Next Story