Visaranai is a crime-drama film written and directed by Vetrimaaran. The film was based on the novel Lock Up By M. Chandrakumar and is said to have been inspired from his real life. The film was quite controversial for many reasons, including the beating up of actors in reality for a sequence.
A black comedy written and directed by Balaji Tharaneetharan, the film is based on a true story involving a young man who experiences retrograde amnesia after a cricket incident two days before his wedding.
A Tamil action thriller based on the incidents from the Operation Bawaria case, this film depicts the activity of dacoits and its eventual containment with the Tamil Nadu Police Squad.
Written, directed and produced by Mani Ratnam, Iruvar is inspired from the lives of M. G. Ramachandran, M. Karunanidhi and J. Jayalalithaa, is set against the backdrop of cinema and politics in Tamil Nadu.
A period-drama written and directed by Bala, this film is based on the novel Eriyum Panikadu, a Tamil translation of the novel Red Tea by Paul Harris Daniel and inspired by real-life incidents that took place before in the 30s before Indian Independence.
A Vetrimaaran film starring Dhanush may not be totally inspired from a real-life incident, it draws from historical events such as the 1986 visit of Pope John Paul II, death of MGR and Polladhavan in 2003.
A legal drama based on the 1992 Cuddalore incident that involves a legal case fought by Justice K. Chandru, this film about state violence against a marginalised community won several accolades.
While several other classics and acclaimed films in the Tamil film industry have drawn or have been directly inspired from real-life incidents, our list includes only a select few.
The Tamil film industry has been experimenting with several genres and mixing real-life incidents to them in order lend a deal of gravity and relatibility to it.
Let us know your thoughts about a favourite real-life inspired Tamil film.