Stars and upcoming talent to rule southern cinema in 2014

Chennai: Along with an interesting line up of films featuring superstars such as Rajinikanth's 'Kochadaiiyaan', Kamal Haasan's 'Vishwaroopam 2' and Mahesh Babu's '1: Nenokkadine' for next year, works of a new breed of actors and filmmakers will also rule the roost in the New Year.

In Tamil filmdom, 2013 was a great year for recent newcomers such as Sivakarthikeyan and Vijay Sethupathi, who managed to score a hit with every release of theirs. While the former scored three blockbusters - 'Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga', 'Ethir Neechal' and 'Varutha Padatha Valibar Sangam', the latter delivered hits in 'Soodhu Kavvum' and 'Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Bala Kumara'.

Two highly expected films of Sethupathi namely 'Rummy' and 'Pannaiyarum Padminiyum' are gearing up for release in the first half of 2014. Siva hopes to continue his winning streak with 'Maan Karate' and 'Taana'.

Pongal will see two superstars - Vijay and Ajith Kumar - slugging it out with their big-budget outings 'Jilla' and 'Veeram' respectively at the box office.

Suriya Sivakumar hopes to recreate 'Singam 2' success with yet-untitled Tamil project with Linguswamy, while his brother Karthi, who had three flops in 2013, will desperately seek a hit with his next film with newcomer Ranjith.

Vikram's romantic-thriller 'Ai', which has been on the floors for nearly two years, will be the most anticipated release of 2014.

'Ai' is likely to lock horns with 'Kochadaiiyaan' and 'Vishwaroopam 2' slated for Tamil New Year release.

After scoring a blockbuster in the beginning of this year with family-drama 'Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu', Mahesh Babu is expected to start 2014 with Telugu movie '1: Nenokkadine', slated to release Jan 10.

Ram Charan Teja's 'Zanjeer' turned out to be a big mistake in the actor's career. He hopes correct it with actioner 'Yevadu', expected to hit the screens in the first month of the New Year.

Debutant director Sudheer Varma, who proved his mettle with crime-thriller 'Swamy Ra Ra', will be one of the directors in the industry to look forward to along with Vijay Kumar Konda, who scored a blockbuster with 'Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde' and Nithiin Reddy-starrer 'Courier Boy Kalyan'.

Deva Katta's much delayed directorial 'Auto Nagar Surya' with Naga Chaitanya, Ravi Teja's yet-untitled project with director Bobby and Akkineni Nagarjuna-starrer 'Manam' are three important releases to look forward to.

If all goes as planned, then Anushka Shetty-starrer period-drama 'Rudhramadevi', which has already created a lot of hullabaloo, will release next year too.

Malayalam cinema didn't hesitate to go against the grain with offbeat films such as 'Mumbai Police', 'Shutter' and 'Drishyam' this year. Next year, it will further push the envelope with similar films.

Everybody in the industry is eagerly waiting for filmmaker Roshan Andrews's 'How Old Are You', which will re-launch actress Manju Warrier almost after a decade.

Actor Fahadh Faasil, who had 12 releases this year, has psychological thriller '1 by two' up his sleeve. He has also teamed up with filmmaker Lijo Jose Pellissery for the second time in 'Antichrist' after 'Amen'.

Dulquer Salmaan, who impressed audiences with four films, has two films 'Salala Mobiles' and 'Vaaya Moodi Pesuvum' lined up with co-star Nazriya Nazim.

Superstars Mammootty and Mohanlal, who faced highs and lows with their films this year, hope to prove their star status with their films.

Mohanlal, who has about five films in his kitty, will kick start the New Year with Tamil film "Jilla" with Tamil superstar Vijay.

Prithviraj Sukumaran, who has tasted success in cop roles in the recent past, will don the khakee for the sixth time in a row in action-thriller 'Seventh Day', while Dileep, who scored two hits 'Sound Thoma' and 'Singaravelan', has two yet-untitled projects gearing up for release.

Kannada industry registered a few surprise hits this year, but it is still governed by the stars and their films.

Actor-director Kiccha Sudeep's sixth directorial 'Maanikya', remake of Telugu blockbuster 'Mirchi', will hit the screens in the beginning of the year.

Darshan Thoogudeep, who registered two hits 'Bulbul' and 'Brindavana', will hope to score a hat trick with 'Airavata' or 'Chakravarthy'.

With two hits in his kitty in 2013, superstar Shivrajkumar will next be seen in sports-drama 'Aryan', which also features actress-turned politician Ramya aka Divya Spandana.

Other notable Kannanda projects to look forward to are 'Shatru', 'Sihi Muttu', 'Gaja Kesari' and 'Dil Rangeela'.