A well-made romantic comedy can never become stale. Light-hearted, fun and with just enough drama to hold your attention, rom-coms can be a great stress buster at the end of a long day. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, TNM brings to you rom-coms from the south that you can watch online. Some of these are old favourites while others are fairly recent. Happy watching!
Oh My Kadavule (Tamil/Zee5): Directed by Ashwath Marimuthu, this rom-com starring Ritika Singh and Ashok Selvan in the lead begins with a couple on the verge of divorce. God steps in and offers Arjun (Ashok Selvan) a chance to go back in time and figure out his love life. Arjun is convinced Anu (Ritika) isn’t the right person for him, but destiny proves him wrong.
Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum (Tamil/Amazon Prime Video): Directed by Nalan Kumarasamy, this remake of My Dear Desperado is about an IT professional (Madonna Sebastian) and a rowdy (Vijay Sethupathi) who end up developing feelings for each other after an initial period of dislike. The film takes us through the ups and downs in their lives, and how circumstances bring them together.
Raja Rani (Tamil/Disney+Hotstar): Directed by Atlee, this film takes inspiration from Mani Ratnam’s Mouna Ragam but is a much lighter take on a married couple that begins life together unwillingly. There are also some similarities to the Kannada film Milana. Starring Arya, Nayanthara, Nazriya and Jai, the film is about two people with past relationships who get married but are unable to move on and turn toxic towards each other.
Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal (Tamil/Netflix): Directed by Desingh Periyasamy, this heist rom-com has Dulquer Salmaan and Ritu Varma in the lead. While the film starts off as a story about two con men in a conventional romance with two young women, it soon becomes apparent that the director has hoodwinked you. An entertaining film full of surprises.
Alaipayuthe (Tamil/Amazon Prime Video): Directed by Mani Ratnam, this film is about a young couple that marries against their parents’ wishes and the initial friction that comes up in their marital relationship. Starring Shalini and Madhavan in the lead, this is an evergreen favourite for those who love the genre.
Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi (Tamil/Disney+Hotstar): Directed by Balaji Mohan, this film is about the innumerable silly fights that couples have when they’re in a relationship. With Siddharth and Amala Paul in the lead, the film offered a fresh take on modern day love that not many Tamil films had explored at the time.
Attakathi (Tamil/MX Player): Directed by Pa Ranjith, this film starring Dinesh, Nandita Swetha and Aishwarya Rajesh, is about a young man who becomes hopelessly infatuated with different women he meets, believing it to be true love. The film takes us through his friendships, romances and finally, his realisation that he’s in love with the idea of love rather than the women he meets.
Watch: Trailer of Attakathi
Pelli Choopulu (Telugu/MX Player): Directed by Tharun Bhascker, this film with Vijay Deverakonda and Ritu Varma in the lead is about a couple that gets together due to a mixed-up matchmaking meet. While they’re not interested in getting married, they end up running a food truck together and discovering their feelings for each other.
Godavari (Telugu/Zee5): Directed by Sekhar Kammula, this rom-com is set on a river cruise on the Godavari, with Sumanth and Kamalinee Mukherjee playing the lead. Both of them are in the middle of heartbreak and confusion about the future, and meet on the cruise, discovering that they could find a good companion in each other.
Bhanumathi Ramakrishna (Telugu/Aha): Directed by Srikanth Nagothi, this film starring Naveen Chandra and Salony Luthra, is about two people in their 30s who come from different social backgrounds and meet at the workplace. They are of opposing personalities but discover that they like being together after all.
Middle Class Melodies (Telugu/Amazon Prime Video): Directed by Vinod Anantoju, this film set in Guntur, is about a young man who wants to start a restaurant and his complicated love story with a young woman he’s known from their school days. Starring Anand Deverakonda and Varsha Bollamma, the film has a hilarious and refreshing take on middle class aspirations and pressures.
Watch: Trailer of Middle Class Melodies
Fidaa (Telugu/Amazon Prime Video): Directed by Sekhar Kammula, this film starring Sai Pallavi and Varun Tej in the lead, is about a young woman who dearly loves her father and is reluctant to move out of her village. She, however, falls in love with a young man who lives in the US. The love-hate relationship they share is full of comic moments, emotions, music and dance.
Ninnila Ninnila (Telugu/Amazon Prime Video): Directed by Ani IV Sasi, this film stars Ashok Selvan, Ritu Varma and Nithya Menen in the lead. It’s about an aspiring chef with a troubled past who lands in London to work at a restaurant, and a young woman he meets at his workplace. The film is as much about food as it is about romance.
Krishna and his Leela (Telugu/Netflix): Directed by Ravikanth Perepu, this rom-com with Siddhu Jonnalagadda, Shraddha Srinath, Shalini Vadnikatti and Seerat Kapoor in the lead, is a modern take on the mythological Krishna and his relationships with women. The film captures contemporary, urban love and its complications in an easy, entertaining fashion.
Chi La Sow (Telugu/MX Player): Directed by Rahul Ravindran, this film with Sushant and Ruhani Sharma in the lead, is about a young man who is pressured to get married, and the relationship he develops with a traditional young woman he meets through a date set up by his mother. The film has a fresh, urban feel to it and also reverses many common gender stereotypes seen on screen.
Premam (Malayalam/Disney+Hotstar): Directed by Alphonse Puthren, this coming-of-age film with Nivin Pauly, Anupama Parameswaran, Sai Pallavi and Madonna Sebastian in the lead, is about the changing ideas of love and romance in a young man’s life. The film is full of situational comedy and can be rewatched multiple times with the same level of enjoyment.
Ohm Shanti Oshana (Malayalam/Disney+Hotstar): Directed by Jude Anthany Joseph, this film is about a schoolgirl’s crush that transforms into a more mature love as she grows older. With Nazriya and Nivin Pauly in the lead, the story is told from a refreshing female perspective and has plenty of humour.
Varane Avashyamund (Malayalam/Netflix): Directed by Anoop Sathyan, this rom-com is about an older woman, a single mom, who develops a romance with a neighbour. With Shobana and Suresh Gopi in the lead, the film provides a rare glimpse of love between an older couple, who have to get past social judgment to express their feelings for each other.
Charlie (Malayalam/MX Player): Directed by Martin Prakkat, this rom-com is also a travel movie. It follows the story of a young woman who leaves her home to escape from the pressure of getting married. She hears of an intriguing young man in the place she goes to, finding traces of him through different people and experiences. The film has Dulquer Salmaan and Parvathy in the lead.
June (Malayalam/Disney+Hotstar): Directed by Ahammed Khabeer, the story traces the love life of a young woman, from her school days to her time as a working professional. Starring Rajisha Vijayan in the lead, the film follows a familiar structure popularised by the success of films like Autograph and Premam, but still looks original because it comes from a woman’s perspective.
Watch: Trailer of June
Thanneer Mathan Dinangal (Malayalam/ErosNow): Directed by Girish AD, this rom-com is set in a school and explores adolescent love. With Mathew Thomas and Anaswara Rajan in the lead, the film became a blockbuster, and was hailed for authentically capturing the naivete, intense feelings, confusions and hilarity that mark growing up years.
Bangalore Days (Malayalam/Disney+Hotstar): Directed by Anjali Menon, this rom-com is set in Bengaluru and follows the lives of three cousins, their changing perceptions about love, dreams and life. Starring Nazriya, Nivin Pauly, Dulquer Salmaan, Parvathy, Fahadh Faasil, Nithya Menen and Isha Talwar, the film continues to be a favourite with audiences in Kerala and outside.
Ondu Motteya Kathe (Kannada/Amazon Prime Video): Directed by Raj B Shetty, this rom-com is about a bald man with an inferiority complex who’s desperately looking for a match. Starring Raj B Shetty and Shailashree in the lead, the film is a comic take on people’s expectations from romance, and how imperfections and flaws don’t matter after a point.
Kirik Party (Kannada/Voot): Directed by Rishab Shetty, this film starring Rakshit Shetty, Rashmika Mandanna and Samyuktha Hegde, is set in an engineering college and traces the story of a young man and his romances as he goes from being a mischievous student to a responsible adult.
Katheyondu Shuruvagide (Kannada/Amazon Prime Video): Directed by Senna Hegde, this film with Diganth and Pooja Devariya in the lead, is about a young man who is struggling to get his resort going and a young woman who lands there alone, despite it being a couple booking. The film has some similarities to Queen and its urbane quality won favour with the audience.
Milana (Kannada/Zee5): Directed by Prakash, this film starring Puneeth Rajkumar and Parvathy in the lead, is about a married couple who each have their heart elsewhere. They apply for divorce but find that they’re drawn to each other after all. The film had an amazing 500-day run in theatres.
Mundina Nildana (Kannada/Netflix): Directed by Vinay Bharadwaj, this film starring Praveen Tej, Radhika Chetan and Ananya Kashyap, follows the lives of three friends with different personalities and dreams. It’s an exploration of their friendship, the relationships they get into, and their life goals.
Watch: Trailer of Mundina Nildana
Love Mocktail (Kannada/Amazon Prime Video): Directed by Krishna, this rom-com is about a young man and woman who meet in unexpected circumstances and a journey in which he confides in her about his love life. It involves fun moments as well as heartbreak. The film stars Krishna, Milana Nagaraj, Amrutha Iyengar and Vibha Kallianpur.