Tamil cinema has produced some of the biggest blockbusters in Indian film history. From Rajinikanth’s record-breaking hits to Vijay’s box office dominance, Tamil movies have set new benchmarks in the industry. Below are the year wise highest grossing Tamil movies from 2000 to 2024.
Year Wise Highest Grossing Tamil Movies (2000 – 2024):
| Year | Movie | Worldwide Gross (₹ Crore) |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Thenali | ₹30 crore |
| 2001 | Dheena | ₹25 crore |
| 2002 | Baba | ₹40 crore |
| 2003 | Sammy | ₹33crore |
| 2004 | Ghilli | ₹40 crore |
| 2005 | Chandramukhi | ₹75 crore |
| 2006 | Varalaru | ₹50 crore |
| 2007 | Sivaji | ₹150 crore |
| 2008 | Dasavatharam | ₹105 crore |
| 2009 | Ayan | ₹70 crore |
| 2010 | Enthiran | ₹292 crore |
| 2011 | 7aum Arivu | ₹106 crore |
| 2012 | Thuppakki | ₹127 crore |
| 2013 | Singam 2 | ₹123 crore |
| 2014 | Lingaa | ₹150 crore |
| 2015 | I | ₹240 crore |
| 2016 | Kabali | ₹288 crore |
| 2017 | Mersal | ₹246 crore |
| 2018 | 2.0 | ₹717 crore |
| 2019 | Bigil | ₹295 crore |
| 2020 | Darbar | ₹247 crore |
| 2021 | Master | ₹237 crore |
| 2022 | Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 | ₹495 crore |
| 2023 | Jailer | ₹617 crore |
| 2024 | GOAT | ₹456 crore |
Biggest Box Office Records in Tamil Cinema
✅ First ₹50 crore Tamil Movie: Chandramukhi (2005)
✅ First ₹100 crore Tamil Movie: Sivaji (2007)
✅ First ₹200 crore Tamil Movie: Enthiran (2008)
✅ First ₹500 crore Tamil Movie: 2.O (2019)
✅ Biggest Tamil Movie Ever: 2.0 (₹717 crore)
Rajinikanth movies remain the highest grossing movies of the year nine times from 2000 to 2024, a record for any actor and his movies 2.O and Jailer are still the highest-grossing movies in Andhra and Karnataka. Rajinikanth’s film Enthiran collected around 39 crore shares in Andhra and Telangana, which is the 2nd most collected movie in Telugu states after Magadheera.
Next in the list is Vijay, undoubtedly the biggest star after Rajinikanth in terms of box office performance. His films ended up as the highest-grossing movies of the year six times; his film Leo is the highest grossing Kollywood movie overseas. With coming films, he is definitely going to create new records and set new benchmarks for co-actors.
While Surya and Vikram movies appeared three times in the list of highest grossing Tamil movies of the year. Probably the best actors in Tamil cinema in the 20s, they scored huge hits from 2000 to 2013; they failed to capitalize the market after 2013, while Vikram scored a few blockbusters but failed to deliver consistent hits at the box office. Surya had a last hit in 2013 with Singam 2; from then on, he didn’t score a proper hit. With upcoming movies, he is set to deliver a huge blockbuster.
Kamal Haasan and Ajith each had two highest grossing movies of the year. Kamal Haasan has not actively worked in movies for a few years. In his return to movies, he scored a huge blockbuster with Vikram in 2022 by collecting around 435 crore.
Ajith Kumar movies may not popular like Vijay, Rajinikanth, Surya, and Kamal Haasan movies in other states. Thanks to his fanbase making him a competitor at the box office in Tamil Nadu, while a few actors movies had good content but failed at the box office, when it comes to Ajith Kumar, even some of his worst movies did well at the box office.
Some of the movies which may not ended up as highest grossing movies of the year, but Anniyin and Ghajini Grossed around 50 crore, which is a record for at that time. Films like Kaththi, Vedalam, Theri, Grossed over 100 crore, While Leo ended up as second highest grossing movie of the year in 2023. It collected over 600 crore, next to rajinikanth’s “Jailer”. One of the biggest blockbuster movie in 2022, “Vikram” grossed over 440crore and ended up as second highest grossing movie.
Shiva karthikeyan film Amaran grossed over 335crore and ended up as second highest grossing movie of the year 2024, next to vijay’s “The Greatest of All Time” (GOAT).
