Movies like Ilaiyaraaja
The best movies like Ilaiyaraaja are Beyond the Sea (2004), Grace Unplugged (2013) and Taurus (2022). If Ilaiyaraaja hooked you with its drama and music, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedClouds (2020)8.2/10 from 1,072 votes
- NewestEPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2026)Released 2026
Beyond the Sea (2004)
Based on the life and career of legendary entertainer, Bobby Darin, the biopic moves back and forth between his childhood and adulthood, to tell the tale of his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrace Unplugged (2013)
A talented young singer and aspiring songwriter’s Christian faith and family ties are tested when she defies her worship-pastor father and pursues pop-music stardom in GRACE UNPLUGGED, a moving and inspiring new film that explores the true meaning of success.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaurus (2022)
A rising but troubled musician searches for the inspiration to record one last song, pushing himself deep into the void.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisThirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)
A collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBattle of the Year (2013)
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMo' Better Blues (1990)
Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo and Clarke. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCoda (2020)
A famous pianist at the twilight of his career meets a free-spirited music critic who soon becomes his rock as his mental state deteriorates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClika (2026)
Aspiring small-town musician Chito is determined to make it big. When a clip of him performing one of his songs goes viral, he seizes the opportunity and pushes to carve out a place for himself in the new wave of Mexican-American music... and ultimately gets caught in a game more dangerous than anticipated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHoneydripper (2007)
In 1950s Alabama, the owner of the Honeydripper juke joint finds his business dropping off and against his better judgment, hires a young electric guitarist in a last ditch effort to draw crowds during harvest time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisToo Late Blues (1961)
Ghost is an ideological musician and leader of a jazz band who would rather play his blues in the park to the birds than compromise himself. His peripatetic performances lead him to cross paths with a singer, while his masculinity is thrown into question following a violent brawl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCadillac Records (2008)
The story of sex, violence, race and rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, and the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America's musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James and Chuck Berry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAaliyah: The Princess of R&B (2014)
The story of R&B singer and actress Aaliyah; namely, the highs and lows of her career, her romantic pursuits, and the events leading up to her death in 2001 at the age of 22.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBorn to Be Blue (2015)
Jazz legend Chet Baker finds love and redemption when he stars in a movie about his own troubled life to mount a comeback.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Time for Dancing (2002)
Their love of dance, and their friendship, is challenged for two high school girls when one is diagnosed with cancer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJailhouse Rock (1957)
Young convict Vince Everett, serving time for manslaughter, discovers his musical talent in prison and becomes a rock and roll star after his release, navigating fame and relationships.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClouds (2020)
Young musician Zach Sobiech discovers his cancer has spread, leaving him just a few months to live. With limited time, he follows his dream and makes an album, unaware that it will soon be a viral music phenomenon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHoney: Rise Up and Dance (2018)
Street dancer Skyler comes out of the shadow of her trained dancer sister, Tosha, & joins a dance competition with the Honey dance studio; the prize is a college scholarship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTeen Spirit (2019)
A shy teenager living on the Isle of Wight dreams of pop stardom. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a singing competition that will test her integrity, talent, and ambition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA (2017)
A young alcoholic ambient musician locks himself in his apartment on a dangerous seven day bender as he attempts to finish his upcoming album.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLike Sunday, Like Rain (2014)
A struggling musician becomes a 12-year-old musical prodigy's guardian for a summer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove & Mercy (2015)
In the late 1960s, the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson stops touring, produces "Pet Sounds" and begins to lose his grip on reality. By the 1980s, under the sway of a controlling therapist, he finds a savior in Melinda Ledbetter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhen We Kill the Creators (2022)
A soul rock and roll movie about love, talent, death, and music. It is about a singer's (Shelby Lynne) improbable journey to achieve her dreams, and when she does, it's about the price she has paid and the question of whether or not it was worth it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & music
Don't Buy the Liverwurst (2025)
Washed-up novelty musician Reuben Gimbel wants to resurrect his career after his agent dies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & music
Shania (TBA)
Biopic about Canadian country singer-songwriter Shania Twain. Further details TBA.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music & drama
Blow (2001)
The story of how George Jung, together with the Medellín Cartel led by Pablo Escobar, established the billion-dollar cocaine empire in the United States in the 1970s.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisColette (2018)
After marrying a successful Parisian writer known commonly as Willy, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette is transplanted from her childhood home in rural France to the intellectual and artistic splendor of Paris. Soon after, Willy convinces Colette to ghostwrite for him. She pens a semi-autobiographical novel about a witty and brazen country girl named Claudine, sparking a bestseller and a cultural sensation. After its success, Colette and Willy become the talk of Paris and their adventures inspire additional Claudine novels.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBasquiat (1996)
The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmazing Grace (2007)
The true story of William Wilberforce and his courageous quest to end the British slave trade. Along the way, Wilberforce meets intense opposition, but his minister urges him to see the cause through.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2026)
Long-lost footage from Elvis Presley's legendary Las Vegas residency in the 1970s woven together with rare 16mm footage from Elvis on Tour, and 8mm from the Graceland archive, plus recordings of Elvis telling "his side of the story" rediscovered during Baz Luhrmann's research for his 2022 film, Elvis.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLittle Richard: I Am Everything (2023)
The story of the black, gay origins of rock n' roll. It explodes the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator – the originator – Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archive and performance that brings us into Richard's complicated inner world, the film unspools the icon's life story with all its switchbacks and contradictions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Like Ilaiyaraaja and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ilaiyaraaja?
The closest matches to Ilaiyaraaja are Beyond the Sea (2004), Grace Unplugged (2013) and Taurus (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ilaiyaraaja?
Start with Beyond the Sea (2004), the closest match to Ilaiyaraaja.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ilaiyaraaja?
Clouds (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 1,072 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ilaiyaraaja?
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Tamil movies like Ilaiyaraaja?
The closest matches are in other languages.
How are movies similar to Ilaiyaraaja chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ilaiyaraaja, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.