Nayakan

Storyline

Written and directed by maestro Mani Ratnam and starring the legendary Kamal Haasan in an earth-shattering tour de force, Nayakan (1987) was India's official entry for the 60th Academy Awards, won three National Film Awards including Best Actor for Kamal Haasan and Best Cinematography for P.C. Sreeram, and was included in TIME Magazine's prestigious list of the All-Time 100 Greatest Movies. Drawing inspiration from Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather and the real-life saga of legendary Mumbai underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar, the film follows Sakthivelu 'Velu' (Kamal Haasan), an orphaned boy from Tamil Nadu who flees to the sprawling slums of Dharavi in Bombay after witnessing the murder of his union-leader father by corrupt police. Adopted by a Muslim smuggling family, Velu grows up witnessing the daily extortion, police brutality, and institutional neglect suffered by poor south Indian migrant communities in Mumbai. When an honest elderly resident is killed in custody, Velu retaliates by executing the corrupt police inspector, instantly becoming a revered Robin Hood-like savior, patriarch, and underworld don known as 'Velu Naicker'. Velu establishes a parallel court of justice, distributing wealth, shielding the oppressed, and funding healthcare and education. However, his life of violence demands a devastating moral and personal toll, resulting in the tragic murder of his beloved wife and the bitter alienation of his daughter Charumathi, who despises his criminal empire. Culminating in an emotionally shattering, ambiguous courtroom climax where his innocent young grandson asks: 'Are you a good man or a bad man?', and Velu tearfully whispers 'I don't know', Ilaiyaraaja's immortal soundtrack ('Thenpandi Cheemayile') and P.C. Sreeram's chiaroscuro lighting cement Nayakan as an immortal landmark of Indian cinema.