From Dhanush to Ajith Kumar: Here are the most successful actors of Tamil cinema in 2015

2015 was an eventful year for Tamil cinema’s top heroes. All of them except superstar Rajinikanth had a release. Taking box-office performances as criteria, here is a list of heroes whose films made money and satisfied the trade:

1. Ajith Kumar

[caption id=“attachment_2563772” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Ajith Kumar. Image from IBN Live.[/caption] Ajith lived up to his reputation as the king of opening, with two successful films: The critically acclaimed Gautham Menon-directed Yennai Arindhaal and the super smash hit Vedalam. Ajith’s Diwali release Vedalam topped the box-office with an opening of Rs 15.5 Crore. Yennai Arindhaal turned out to be an average grosser. The buzz is that he is one of the highest paid actors in India, rumoured to be charging around Rs 25 Crore per film. 2.  Jayam Ravi [caption id=“attachment_2563778” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Jayam Ravi. Image from IBN Live.[/caption] Jayam Ravi turned out to be the surprise package of the year. After a series of below average films, he was almost written off. But in 2015 he made a fantastic comeback with Thani Oruvan (a super hit), Romeo Juliet (hit), Bhooloham (hit) and Sakalakala Vallavan (flop). He is currently one of the hottest stars in the industry, with no dates till 2017. 3. Dhanush [caption id=“attachment_2563784” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Dhanush. Image by IBN Live.[/caption] Dhanush did not exactly have a great year at the box-office. He had three releases – the big budget Anegan, Balaji Mohan’s Maari and Thangamagan. But what made him a darling of the trade is that he got an opening for his films made on a reasonable budget. His Tamil films also get a good Hindi dubbing and television rights, even though his 2015 Bollywood release Shamitabh was a failure. 4. Sivakarthikeyan [caption id=“attachment_2563786” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Sivakarthikeyan. Image from IBN Live.[/caption] Sivakarthikeyan, a former television anchor turned actor, is loved by the middle class audiences and is also considered a safe bet at the box-office. He had just one release this year, Kakki Sattai, an above average grosser, but its opening surprised the trade. Seeing his opening, the distributors are willing to pump in more money to release his next Rajini Murugan. 5. Raghavendra Lawrence [caption id=“attachment_2563794” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Raghavendra Lawrence. Image from IBN Live.[/caption] Lawrence started his career as a choreographer (one time Rajinikanth favourite), but then turned hero and finally became a director. He specialises in making mass commercial horror comedies, which are huge hits in tier two and three cities. Lawrence has directed and acted in 2015’s highest grosser, the horror comedy Munni 3: Kanchana 2 6.  Vikram [caption id=“attachment_2563798” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Vikram. Image from IBN Live.[/caption] The national award winning actor Vikram brings audiences into theatres just to see his performance on screen. Shankar’s I in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, got mixed reports but went on to gross over 150 Crores worldwide. Vikram’s second film of the year, 10 Enradhukkula turned out to be a flop. When Vikram experiments within the commercial format, it usually works. 7.  GV Prakash GV Prakash, nephew of the Mozart of Madras AR Rahman, was a young music director who gave peppy hit music. However the acting bug caught up with him and he became a hero this year. His debut film Darling, a horror comedy, was a hit and his next, an adult comedy Trisha Illana Nayanthara turned out to be a super hit. His films made on a shoe string budget (Rs 3 – 5 Crores) are always safe bets.