“Hey karuppan vaaraandaa,” signals the entrance of actor Suriya in the climax of Karuppu, where, in a near-unrecognisable transformation, he appears as lord Karuppasamy. When the RJ Balaji-directorial released in theatres in May, Tamil cinema embraced a long-lost identity — the devotional film, known in the industry as the saami padam.

Karuppu could be the first sign of a larger revival. Seyon, starring Sivakarthikeyan; Mookuthi Amman 2, starring Nayanthara; Thamizh Murugan, starring Dhanush; Vettaisaamy, starring Arulnithi; and Jiiva’s untitled project on lord Murugan are some of the devotional films in development. Sources say several such projects will be announced in the upcoming months.

Many recent Tamil films now also feature dialogues of a religious nature or elements; for example, the scene featuring Karthi wielding the Vel in Sardar 2. Lord Murugan also seems to be gaining popularity in the non-film music circuit: take Sivakarthikeyan’s song ‘Velum Mayilum,’ Vaaheesan’s hit indie ‘Kaakum Vadivel,’ and the indie song ‘Vetrivel’ from Kelithee, of RO and Santhosh Narayanan.

What triggered this trend? Arulnithi says he didn’t get the memo. “ I don’t know. We started Vettaisaamy one and a half years ago, and when I listened to the narration, there was no such trend.”

Arulnithi in a still from ‘Vettaisaamy’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

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This is not an unfamiliar concept for Tamil cinema; devotional themes dominated much of the cinema that came out in the 1950s and 1960s. Even until the 1990s and early 2000s, a slew of Tamil films on deities like Amman, Iyappan, and Mother Mary were made

“Directors like AP Nagarajan made many devotional films that showed deities in the Ravi Varma style; because nobody has seen God, they had to rely on his paintings for the imagery. That’s how we got many quintessential ‘saami padam,’ starring stalwarts like NT Rama Rao, Shivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan,” says actor and film historian Mohan Raman.

However, that trend fizzled out by the mid-2000s. “You had to shoot those films on set, but erecting sets and designing costumes and jewellery is expensive. Moreover, old-school visual effects started to seem too tacky. And computer graphics hadn’t grown to that extent in India at that time,” reasons Mohan.

Then, in 2020 we saw a revival of the Amman sub-genre in Tamil, with Balaji’s Mookuthi Amman.

Karthi in a still from ‘Sardar 2’
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The most obvious reason is in Mohan’s statement on what led to the decline of the ‘saami padam’ in the 2000s. “Over the last five or seven years, the cost of special effects has dropped dramatically. CGI is no longer something only a Rajinikanth picture can afford,” says Mohan.

Ideally, a decline in production and special effects costs should have led to riskier attempts, or perhaps a slew of superhero and horror films. So why go devotional? Mohan says traditional film producers believe “that because it’s a film on a deity, the divine will protect them from losses.”

Experienced producer PL Thenappan, known for backing films like Kaathala Kaathala and Panchathantiram, counters that cinema offers no guarantees. “If we had that guarantee, everyone would even sell their house and make one such film. If your effort is honest, even a small film like Tourist Family can hit the jackpot,” says the producer.

So, perhaps the answer to what’s driving this trend lies outside the borders of Tamil Nadu.

Nationally, there has been a resurgence of devotional themes. The Kannada hit Kantaraproved that rooted stories on regional deities can win big. Meanwhile, many mega-budget films on religion and mythology — like Brahmāstra, Hanu-Man, Kalki 2898 AD, Mahavatar Narasimha, and Kannappa —have drawn huge audiences. Currently, Ramayana, Varanasi, and Jr NTR’s film on Murugan are in production.

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Director H Vinoth, whose film Jana Nayagan was released recently, too, believes this could reflect India today. “I look at it as a result of a change in the political scenario of the country. It doesn’t matter whether these films are necessary; this trend was inevitable. This is just the beginning, and I believe it will only get more intense as everyone jumps in to cash in.”

Mohan, who is set to feature in a supporting role in Rishab Shetty’s Jai Hanuman, asks us to look at how potent the idea of God as a protagonist is. “It lends a lot of grandeur, which is now essential for a big-screen film to be differentiated from streaming content. You need that sense of ‘wow’, and that comes easily when you are dealing with a God. If you say Karuppasamy flies, they will believe you. If you say Superman is flying, you need to justify it, especially to non-multiplex audiences or rural audiences.”

All those factors combined make films on gods a good bet for a producer, and the film industry has a habit of following the money. Whenever a film achieves significant success, more films replicating that formula follow, says Mohan. “Many biopics tasted success, which is why many biopics are being made now. This is like a cycle; there will come a saturation point, and once again, audiences will seek thrills in murder mysteries or cop stories, and after that trend dies down, romance stories will be the trend, and so on.”

Sivakarthikeyan in the poster of ‘Seyon’
| Photo Credit:
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Why are big stars playing gods? And why Karuppasamy and Murugan?

Interestingly, this new phenomenon is altogether different from the films we saw before 2010.

Firstly, modern filmmakers tend to humanise the divine, like in the case of Karuppu or Kantara. As Mohan concurs, “they show the divine in the form of an ordinary citizen — maybe he is possessed by the deity, or maybe the deity has taken birth in an ordinary family, and so on. They bring god down to earth and make them more reachable.”

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Secondly, big Tamil stars like Suriya and Dhanush are enthusiastic about playing deities. “I believe it’s because doing such roles will help them reach audiences all over the nation. Though Karuppasamy is a Tamil demigod, other states will also have similar demigods, in different names, and so all of India can relate to them,” says Thennappan.

In his answer comes the third most integral factor — these movies may deal with deities rooted in a culture or region, but are relatable to the whole country. Since 2021’s Karnan, also starring Dhanush, and Kantara, demigods have found newfound respect on the silver screen. Even Dhanush’s last film, Kara, paid tribute to Karuppusamy, and the backdrop of the star’s upcoming film, Om, too, suggests references to the demigod.

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Audiences of all categories can relate to these deities, says Mohan. “A guy from the village will relate to Karuppasamy because that deity will either be his kuladeivam or there will be a temple in his town.” Demigods like Karuppasamy and Ayyanar are usually depicted as far more fierce than deities like Murugan or Vishnu, which might also be a reason for this shift, says Thenappan. “Even the rituals for these deities are intense, like animal sacrifice.”

Vinoth, whose Jana Nayagan tackled religious bigotry, adds that filmmakers should ensure that stories told about these gods should not end up propagating hatred. “This trend will cause conflict over historical memory. Learning one’s history is important. But if it ends up instilling hate in you, that hatred will destroy you. Watch these religious or historical films, see where you lost in the past, and try to better yourself,” he advises.

A year ago, even an infrequent cinema-goer might have expected Tamil cinema to remain in familiar territory: violence, drug smuggling, revenge and socio-politics. Now, a slew of devotional films is promising to turn theatres into prayer rooms. Tamil cinema’s original heroes are reclaiming their throne.

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— Arulnithi tamilarasu (@arulnithitamil) August 28, 2026