The top 10 grossers of Tamil cinema depended on the price at which they were sold to distributors. The producers, of course, made money from theatrical and other rights.

Distributors who bought movies at exorbitant prices made marginal profits. In fact, some of the figures mentioned in the Tamil Nadu box-office report cannot be verified by independent box-office trackers.

Producer, distributor, columnist Dr. Dhananjayan in a recent video on social media listed the Top 10 Tamil movies so far in terms of gross box-office collections based on the inputs from distributors, exhibitors and box-office collection reports.

Since there isn't any notable big releases this year so far due to the ongoing pandemic situations, the list account for movies released until 2019.

A leading overseas distributor pointed out that all top-grossing movies were star-driven. The five most bankable stars of 2019 are: Rajinikanth, Vijay, Ajith, Dhanush and Sivakarthikeyan, though Karthi and Jayam Ravi are giving them a run for their money at the worldwide box-office. Tamil cinema saw the maximum number of actors who were launched in year 2019. But most of them did not click as much as they would have desired. This may be due to the strong fan culture in the State.

Here is the list of Top 10 Tamil Movies released so far till 2019.

10. I and Theri

'I' was released on 14th January 2015; Critics praised Vikram's performance, the technical aspects of the film. Written and directed by S. Shankar, Produced and distributed by V. Ravichandran under his production company, Aascar Films, the film features Vikram, Amy Jackson and Suresh Gopi in lead roles while Santhanam, Upen Patel, Ojas Rajani and Ramkumar Ganesan portray pivotal roles.

However, the film was a commercial success, grossing 240 crores worldwide, becoming one of the highest grossing Tamil films of all time and Vikram's highest-grossing film. Vikram won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for the film.

'Theri' had a worldwide release on 14 April 2016. The film was also dubbed into Telugu and was released as Policeodu on 15 April 2016. Written and directed by Atlee Kumar and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu, the film stars Vijay, Amy Jackson and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.

Total box-office collection for the film world-wide was expected to be around ₹150 crore. Vijay won the Entertainer of the Year award for his performance in the film at the 6th South Indian International Movie Awards in 2017. The film was adapted into Assamese as Ratnakar (2019).

9. Kabali

The film was released worldwide on 22 July 2016, in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi dubbed versions, with a premiere held in Malaysia on 21 July 2016, a day before its actual release. The film was released in Malay language on 29 July 2016, a week later. Written and directed by Pa. Ranjith and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu, the film stars Rajinikanth in the titular role, with Radhika Apte, Winston Chao, Sai Dhanshika, Kishore, Dinesh, Kalaiyarasan and John Vijay in supporting roles.

Kabali's final worldwide gross was around ₹677 crore at the box office, while section of reports claim ₹315 crore.

8. Petta

The film was released on 10 January 2019 along with dubbed versions in Hindi and Telugu. Petta was released on 600 screens in Tamil Nadu with tough competition from Viswasam. Written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj, the film was produced by Kalanithi Maran under the banner Sun Pictures. The film stars Rajinikanth and Simran in the lead roles along with Vijay Sethupathi, Trisha, Sasikumar, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bobby Simha, Sananth, Megha Akash, and Malavika Mohanan in supporting roles.

Over all the film had made a gross of more than ₹250 crore at the world-wide box-office.

7. Sarkar

Sarkar was released on 6 November 2018, during the week of Diwali, along with the Telugu dubbed version, after various complications, including protests and allegations of plagiarism. Written and directed by AR Murugadoss, and produced by Kalanithi Maran under the banner of Sun Pictures, the film stars Vijay, Keerthy Suresh and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar while Yogi Babu, Radha Ravi, and Pala. Karuppiah plays supporting roles.

The film involved in controversies with reference to Jayalalithaa in the film's audio track and other sequences from the film led to protests by members of the AIADMK political party. After lawsuits were registered against the makers, the said allusions were muted. Sarkar has grossed ₹250 crore worldwide, and has emerged as a commercial success.

6. Endhiran

Enthiran was released worldwide on 1 October 2010, along with its dubbed versions: Robot in Hindi and Robo in Telugu. Produced by Sun Pictures, Kalanithi Maran, it was India's most expensive film up to that point. Written and directed by S. Shankar, the film stars Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in lead roles; Danny Denzongpa, Santhanam and Karunas play supporting roles.

The film received generally positive reviews upon release. Critics were particularly appreciative of Rajinikanth's performance as Chitti, Rathnavelu's cinematography, Cyril's art direction and the visual effects by V. Srinivas Mohan. Enthiran emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film of 2010 and is among the highest-grossing Indian films of all time with the collection of ₹256 crore world-wide. It won two National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards, seven Vijay Awards and two Screen Awards.

5. Mersal

Mersal was released worldwide on 18 October 2017, coinciding with Diwali and opened to positive reviews with critics praising the performance of Vijay, A. R. Rahman's soundtrack, the cinematography, the social message and Atlee's direction. Directed by Atlee and co-written by Atlee, K. V. Vijayendra Prasad and produced by Thenandal Studio Limited, the film stars Vijay in a triple role with Kajal, Samantha, and Nithya Menen.

The film was a commercial success, grossing ₹260 crore worldwide, becoming the fifth-highest grossing Indian Tamil film and Vijay's second-highest-grossing film in his career. The film's dubbed Telugu version Adirindhi released on 9 November 2017. The film completed 100-day theatrical run on 25 January 2018.

4. 2.0

2.0 was released worldwide in both 3D and conventional format on 29 November 2018, along with its dubbed versions in Hindi and Telugu. Written and directed by S. Shankar, and co-written by B. Jeyamohan, the film is produced by Subaskaran under Lyca Productions. 2.0 is a standalone sequel to Enthiran (2010), featuring Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson. Sudhanshu Pandey, Adil Hussain, Kalabhavan Shajohn, and K. Ganesh appear in supporting roles.

It earned ₹117.34 crore worldwide on its first day, which was the second highest ever for an Indian film. The film crossed ₹520 crore in its opening weekend to be the highest-grossing film worldwide for that week. 2.0 is the second highest-grossing film in India and is the fifth highest-grossing Indian film worldwide. 2.0 has made ₹800 crore world-wide.

3. Viswasam

The film was released world-wide on 10 January 2019.The Telugu-dubbed version with the same title was released on 1 March 2019. And the Kannada version named Jagamalla was released on 7 March 2019. Written and directed by Siva, produced by Sathya Jyothi Films, the film stars Ajith Kumar and Nayanthara.

The film released alongside Rajinikanth starrer Petta but has made a mark at the box office. The film has collected more than ₹200 worldwide.

2. Baahubali 2: The Conclusion

Released on 28 April 2017, the film is directed by S. S. Rajamouli and written by his father K. V. Vijayendra Prasad. Produced by Arka Media Works, the film stars Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty and Tamannaah while Ramya Krishna, Sathyaraj, Nassar, and Subbaraju appear in prominent roles. The film was made simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil and later dubbed into Hindi, Malayalam, Odia, Japanese, Russian and Chinese.

The film was the 39th highest-grossing film of 2017 and made a box-office collection of ₹1,796.56 crore worldwide.

1. Bigil

'Bigil' released theatrically on 25 October 2019, coinciding with the occasion of Diwali festival. It was dubbed and released simultaneously in Kannada in same name and in Telugu under the title Whistle. Written and directed by Atlee Kumar and produced by Kalpathi S. Aghoram under the banner AGS Entertainment, the film stars Vijay in dual lead roles, alongside Nayanthara, Jackie Shroff, Vivek and Kathir in other prominent roles.

Bigil emerged as the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019, collecting close to ₹300 crore, and becomes Vijay's highest-grossing film in his career.