Movies Like Vaaname Ellai

If you liked Vaaname Ellai (1992), a family and drama movie directed by K. Balachander, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Skater Girl (2021)
★ 7.2/10Also drama and family
Prerna, a teenager growing up in rural India, comes of age when she’s introduced to the sport of skateboarding. As a result, she has to fight the odds to follow her dreams and compete in the national championship.
2
Flicka (2006)
★ 6.9/10Also family and drama
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets…
3
Meiyazhagan (2024)
★ 8.2/10Also family and drama
Twenty-two years after losing his home, Arulmozhi Varman returns to his native Thanjavur to attend his cousin's wedding. Amidst the celebrations, Arul is reintroduced to an upbeat man whom he cannot recall. With the…
4
Lady Driver (2020)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
When a rebellious teen embarks on a solo summer journey to connect with her roots, she finds herself in a new world, geared up for the ride of her life, and discovers she had the drive in her all along.
5
Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980)
★ 7.3/10Also family and drama
Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American…
6
Heidi (2005)
★ 7.8/10Also drama and family
Swiss girl Adelheid 'Heidi' is orphaned young. Aunt Detie brings her to grandpa Alp and his wife, who live isolated in the Alps since his murder charge. Heidi soon takes to the wild country, especially accompanying…
7
Where the Red Fern Grows (2003)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and family
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces…
8
Let It Shine (2012)
★ 7/10Also family
A teenage rapper must use his musical talent to help a friend and win the girl of his dreams while overcoming self-doubt and the expectations of his strict religious parents.
9
An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong (2009)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and family
A fourth grader and her friends deal with bullying from a more popular girl in their class.
10
Here (2024)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
An odyssey through time and memory, centered on a place in New Jersey where—from wilderness, and then, later, from a home—love, loss, struggle, hope and legacy play out between couples and families over generations.
11
Dog Pound (2010)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
Three juvenile delinquents arrive at a correctional center and are put under the care of an experienced guard.
12
Where the Red Fern Grows (1974)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and family
Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy…
13
Soorarai Pottru (2020)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
Nedumaaran Rajangam "Maara" sets out to make the common man fly and in the process takes on the world's most capital intensive industry and several enemies who stand in his way.
14
Jonathan (2018)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
Jonathan is a young man with a strange condition that only his brother understands. But when he begins to yearn for a different life, their unique bond becomes increasingly tested.
15
Padayappa (1999)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Padayappa, a mechanical engineer whose father gives up his property to his foster brother, and then dies of shock soon after. Neelambari initially loves Padayappa, but plans to humiliate him after his family humiliates…
16
The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
★ 7/10Also family
A group of dated appliances, finding themselves stranded in a summer home that their family had just sold, decide to seek out their eight year old 'master'.
17
Monster High: Frights, Camera, Action! (2014)
★ 7.5/10Also family
When Draculaura is led to believe she's the rightful heir to the vampire throne, she and her best ghoulfriends are whisked away to Transylvania for a royal coronation to die for. But they soon discover the hunt for the…
18
A Tooth Fairy Tale (2025)
★ 8.5/10Also family
Van, the brave son of a tooth fairy leader, meets the goblins girl Gemma on his first mission. Despite the myths about ancient disputes between fairies and goblins, they share common values. When the greedy Spider…
19
Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995)
★ 6.2/10Also drama and family
Two teen girls, one from the city, one from the country, try to find the hidden gold of Bear Mountain learning about friendship, loyalty and courage on the way.
20
Seeds of Yesterday (2015)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
The Sheffield family reveal and go through some home truths as their middle child inherits the Foxworth mansion. The family's ghosts looming over, and more tragedies are in store as the curse lives on.