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Velu Nayakan - Tamil Reviews

Tony montana in vito's skin
Dec 09, 2009 12:52 AM 3974 Views

Nayakan was a movie that redefined the concepts of a movie goer about a good movie . Its unique stye and gripping screenplay makes it outstanding .It is definitely not for those brainless people who go to cinema to watch stupid action scenes and irritating dialogues .This here , is a classic . It clearly depicts how an outlaw is born out of an innocent boy , and the rest is his biography .


Sakthivel is  the son of a union leader who gets killed by a police officer who is then killed by velu at his father's funeral ( Remember vito avenging his mother's death by killing don cicci) . Velu then elopes to mumbai where he is adopted by Hussain bhai who is a smuggler who does it to help others .His ideology is 'No deed is evil if it fills 4 tummies' .Velu becomes the ideal son here . CUT .


Now we see a grown up velu  *(Kamalhaasan , who lives the character .One cannot describe his acting in words ; I would dare tosay it was far better than Brando and pacino ). Velu's small family does not have a land of their own .They live in the slums with 10, 000 other people. When a businessman buys the land from the government ;they have no  option but to evacuate the place .


Velu then recruits few people and attack the businessman's house , eventually leading him to leave the slum . This being his first heroic act , is followed by a series of events that make him a godly figure among the people of the slum . The movie then pictures the life of velu as the don ( based on the life of a real world don Varadaraja mudaliar) . Kamal portrays the role with perfection , being an angry young man , a reasonable don , a miserable father and a weak yet respected old man . This is a must watch for everyone .Watch it with a critical mind and you will be amazed .If u don't like it the first time , watch it thrice to understand it , once u understand it , u'll love it . Also if u loved the godfather , u wud love this too .


Great Indian Movies - Nayakan
Apr 24, 2006 07:00 AM 17124 Views

This is miniseries of great Indian gangster movies. This miniseries contains five finest realistically treated gangster movies made in India - Mani Ratnam's Nayakan (1986), Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda (1989), Ram Gopal Varma's Satya (1998), Mahesh Manjerakar's Vaastav (1999), Ram Gopal Varma's Company (2002).


"Karega Jo Bhi Yahan, Bharega Woh Bhi Yahan." - person's actions will determine the person's destiny, which is theory of Karma in current life. In Hinduism, Karma means one's state in this life is a result of actions in past incarnations and action in this life will determine one's destiny in future incarnations.


Legendary Tamil filmmaker Mani Ratnam's Nayakan (1987) (also known as Nayagan in Tamil or Velu Nayakan in Hindi) tackles Karma's theory in current life at the backdrop of Bombay underworld. Nayakan means "Nayak" in Hindi and "The Leader" in English.


Story


An orphan boy Shakti Velu assaults the police officer that killed his father and run away to Mumbai at very young age. Velu befriend to another young orphan Selva and both of them stays with kind-hearted Muslim fisherman named Karim Lala in slums. Karim Lala smuggles illegal items to earn money to help poor people in the slums. Both Velu (Kamal Hassan) and Selva (Janagaraj) grows up watching police's brutality and atrocities on poor people in the slums and started harboring hatred for them.


One day Velu takes over smuggling when Karim Lala was sick. His charging of Rs.2000 instead of usual Rs. 200 makes smuggler to tip-off police about Karim Lala's work. Police arrests Karim Lala, beats him to death during interrogation, and Velu finds Karim Lala's body hanged in the police custody. Angry Velu searches for corrupt police officer and kill him in broad daylight in the slums. He sympathies police officer's family and accept responsibility to educate his son. He starts making lots of money with illegal activities and becomes savior for the people who lives in slum.


Later, Velu marries to young prostitute named Neela (Saranya) and have two kids - Suraj and Sarita. He slowly and slowly rises as a leader, becomes more powerful and influential, and runs his organized crime business from the slum. His work starts challenging other gangsters in Mumbai. One night during enemy attack on his house, his wife gets killed. That force Velu to send his children away where they grow up without affected by gangster's life. Furious Velu kills one by one all gangsters in the Mumbai and becomes sole possessor of underworld.


As years pass, Velu becomes one of the biggest gangsters in Mumbai underworld. Velu runs his business and parallel judiciary system from his house to settle disputes. Once his kids grow up, they come back to Mumbai. Suraj grew up mimicking his dad, wanted to be part of his dad's crime activities but gets killed because of inexperience. Sarita gets devastated knowing his dad as mafia. She wants to stay away from her dad's crime. She marries to assistant commissioner of police who is honest officer and wants to clean up the system.


Sarita's husband arrests one by one all Velu's deputies but somehow fails to capture Velu because of people whom Velu helped all these years are able to save or hide him successfully. Many people becomes obstacle in police activities to arrest Velu. Later Velu finds out that his daughter was married to same person who is after him. He surrenders himself to the police but later released by court because of unavailability of any witnesses. His follower's joy short-lives and finds him get assassinated soon after he is released by court.


Analysis


Nayakan is truly epic realistic drama depicting gangster's life from childhood to adulthood to parenthood in slums of Mumbai underworld. Its larger than life subject is comparable to Hollywood's classic Godfather. Both movie follows orphan boy to city that later become king of organized underworld crime with the robin-hood image. Nayakan also closely resembles to Vaastav as both depicts gangster's rise and fall in Mumbai underworld. If Vaastav tackles sudden rise and fall of mafia then Nayakan tackles gradual up and down of mafia's life.


Nayakan was inspired by true story of the life of a real South Indian underworld don called Varada Bhai (Varadarajan Mudaliar). Varada started as a porter at the VT Railway station in 1960s. His gang rises in underworld in the 1970s on the basis of bootlegging operations. He later expanded his illegal activities into smuggling, dock thefts, contract killing, acquired considerable wealth, destroyed the law enforcement system, and ruled the city's underground for over a decade. In the mid 1980s, he became so influential that he used to hold parallel judiciary courts in his area of influence to settle disputes.


The success of Godfather and Scarface in Hollywood influenced many filmmakers all over the world, Mani Ratnam was one of them. Mani Ratnam's depth touch of epic subject, P.C. Sriram's cinematography of Bombay locals especially waterfront, gateway of India, and Thota Tharani's art direction as recreation of Dharavi slum in Madras was fine example of excellent production values.


As far as screenplay, many scenes are standouts. Just watch Velu's mute resistance of police's water attack, Velu's innovating smuggling techniques, how Velu chases down police inspector in tiny streets of slum and later kill him with hammer, how Velu and slum's people destroy builder's house to save their slum, Velu's children mimicking Velu and his court for justice, rival gangster's attack on Velu's house and his wife's murder, Velu and his daughter's confrontation over what's good and bad, Velu's cry at his son's body, how police commissnor respects Velu by sitting on floor when he comes to Velu's court for justice, scene when Velu finds out his daughter is married to police, and Velu faces questionnaire from his grandson.


Kamal Hassan as Velu Nayakan lives the Velu's role. His remarkably complex performance as Velu is benchmark of acting. Velu is angry young man at young age, influential and powerful mafia at middle age, and extremely vulnerable don at old age. He is sensitive yet ruthless human who couldn't tolerate system's brutality, later embrace life of crime to help his community in slums, doesn't want his children to get involved in underworld, holds courts to offer parallel judiciary system, and later having trouble juggling his personal life with mafia life.


In Velu Nayakan (Hindi dubbed version), Illayaraja's music was disappointment except one song - Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu's "Chaha Hamne Tujhe", which comes right after Kamal get married. All other songs are unnecessary and it's nothing but hindrance in the tightly paced proceeding. He did make up inferior soundtracks with exceptional background score using instantly recognizable theme throughout the movie.


Conclusion


Nayakan is arguably Mani Ratnam's greatest movie. Even though Nayakan already won lots of acclaims at Indian domestic film circuit as India's official entry for academy awards in 1987 and Kamal Hassan winning best national actor award for his epic portrayal, perhaps its finest achievement was last year when Time Magazine included Nayakan in their All-time 100 best movies in 2005 along with other Indian counterparts like Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy and Guru Dutt's Pyaasa. Nayakan is arguably one of the greatest gangster movies made on face of earth. It's a timeless classic.


Best Movie of all time
Apr 13, 2006 09:02 AM 5726 Views

You need to watch Naayagan to understand as to why it has been chosen as one among the top 10 movies of all times.Manirathnam was in top form in this movie. Personally, I think Mani was at his best in Mouna Ragam, Nayagan and anjali. I mean , in general I have noticed that while he takes time to develop the characters and story settings, the ending is quick and abrupt (For example, in Bombay...just by the outburst of Aravindswamy...things seem to be set right). But in these movies excepting Mouna Ragam, the conclusion is also well rounded.


ACTING : Kamal Hasan won a National award for this mmovie and it was completely justified. His transition from a violent youth to a slum leader is acted out very well. One thing I noticed was he had given care to the make up. With age you can see a receding forehead ,an increase in girth and change in gait. I dont know how they do it but I appreciate the fact that they have given attention to such minor details. Undoubtedly he is a powerhouse of acting and I doubt whether anybody will reach to his level in terms of acting or variety and creativity.This guy is foreever experimenting in new avenues of cinema whatever loss he takes financially.


Saranya has also done well considering this was her first movie. What a lucky debut by Mani against Kamal. But she has held her own in portraying a young girl into a full fledged house wife.


Janakraj is also an integral part of the movie.He is the one who accompanies Nayakan from his time in bombay till his death. The bonding between the two can be seen in the scene where kamal slaps his daughter when she hits janakaraj


Other supporting actors includes Delhi ganesh( Iyer), Nizhalgal Ravi(Son) , Karthika ( daughter), Nasser ( ACP). Each have performed their role to perfection but my pick is Karthika . She is very good in the scene where she questions her father's beliefs and actions.


MUSIC : Music is superb . Ilayaraja has given a perfect BG music. I had a small complaint. In Naan sirithal Deepavali song, I felt that the voice selection was not good. Jikki's voice was appearing too childish to the point of squeaking. Others were good especially Thenpani seemaiyile. This song has 3 different stages. The first one where Velu's father sings to him, the second one where he sings to his children and the third sung after his death.Of these the most heart wrenching is the last one with the BG contributing big time.


DIALOGUES : I generally dont talk much about dialogues. But these dialogues by Balakumaran, was a masterpiece. Along with a good direction and a solid screenplay you also need sharp dialogs to make a movie click with the audience. BK had done an excellent job. The dialogues reminded me of many of his books where the characters are pretty outspoken and sharp. Pick of the lot are the dialogues during the confrontation between Kamal and his daughter , '' Naalu perukku nalladhuna edhuvume thappu illa''(Anything is right if it results in good for the people), the dialogues where his children imitate him(Little girl saying Naandhan Iyer- I am the Iyer)


DIRECTION : What more to say....Mani had succeeded in making a master piece through gritty screenplay. He had extracted the best out of his cast. My favourite scenes include the above mentioned in dialogues section, the scene where Inspector Raghavan comes to Nayakar for help , the scene where velu and group corner a doctor to save the life of a small child , the scene where he meets charanya in a brothel and the scene where he goes to the Seth's house and breaks everything to make him give up on the factory.


Watch it once and I am sure it will be one of the movies you will never forget if not a favourite


YOUR RATING ON

Velu Nayakan - Tamil
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Nayagan - Best even with its flaws
Nov 21, 2005 02:16 PM 7185 Views

At last, I watched Nayagan this weekend. No one will believe if I say I haven’t seen this movie but it is the fact in the sense that I haven’t seen the complete movie at a stretch but have seen bits and pieces on TV channels in programmes like Super Scenes etc., while watching the movie, first thought that came to my mind is “Nayagan” doesn’t deserve to be in the list of 100 all time best movies. Agreed that it is a masterpiece by the standards of Indian cinema when it got released but it has got its own (logically and technically) flaws.


Almost no creation is perfect but to get a tag like all-time best, it has to be minimum. As like any other common viewer I am in all praise for the bravo performance by Kamal Haasan, dialogues by Balakumaran, Cinematography by P.C.Sreeram, Background score by Illayaraja and above all for Maniratnam.


The second half is little dragging with lot of melodramatic stuff in it. Melodrama is no sin but it is deliberately added to gain more sympathy for Velunayakar character. For instance, Charu’s sudden decision to leave her father after her brother’s death is quite agreeable but I felt she was too harsh and especially her dialogues while leaving her father is too much. She knows what her father has been doing all these days then why this sudden explosive decision.


In the climax on the doorsteps of court, conversation between Velunayakar and his grandson can be said as the most touching moments of the movie but yet I thought the kid could have uttered those lines with some expression. I mean he was literally vomiting what he was taught with a plain face. Yet, the cute voice plays the trick.


The technique Velu uses to safely smuggle the goods from the sea is too simple. This idea may strike to anyone who is doing the same business for years together. Velu says, “Naan 10 vayasulayae sethirukka vendiyavan” and so I am not afraid of the judgement, then why did he play the hide and seek game with the police? Actually it gives space for the scenes to show (which has already been told very clearly before) how great and powerful person Velu nayakar is? May be the intention is to make Nasser (AC) understand how great a person he is, but a small conversation with Charu will do that.


It reaches an extreme level too much when an old lady sacrifices her life for saving Velu Nayakar. I mention this because; those portions are little dragging in the second half.


You may wonder why did I mention there is technical flaw in the movie. It is with the make-up. When people get older, only difference shown is just their white hairs and half baldheads. Physically they are as strong as ever. They couldn’t have done a make-up like that in Indian but a few wrinkles like make-up on the face would have made it. I wonder how a man of perfection forgot this.


I do have a small complaint on music in the sense that it doesn’t synch with the period of the movie except for “Naan sirithaal deepavali” song. “Thenpandi seemayile” is timeless; I have got no complaints about it but what about other songs. Come on, just by using T.R. Mahalingam and Susheela for “Anthi mazhai megam” doesn’t make it sound like an old song. I think IR was too adamant to come out of his style in spite of the script’s demand. In this sense I feel ARR stroke a balance between the period sound and Rahman sound in the songs of Iruvar.


In spite of all these flaws, the movie works big time because of one man called Maniratnam. Here I am going to repeat the same that I said when I wrote about Thalapathi. Maniratnam knows mass mesmerism and he knows well how to make the audience forget all these flaws with his tricky screenplay, shot composition and other technicalities. For instance, I just said about the kid’s plain expression in one of the most touching moments of the movie but that flaw is well balanced by Kamal’s performance and haunting score by Illayaraja. Actually when to compared to the flaws in Thalapathi, these are very minor. Don’t forget that I too like this movie but just wanted to share what I felt about the not so commonly discussed aspects of this movie.


Perfection worth studying...
Aug 31, 2005 07:47 AM 8376 Views

Arguably, one of the finest films India has produced. One of the most talented actors and a brilliant director combine to give birth to a masterpiece called ''Nayagan''. Based on the epic ''Godfather'' the director has done a wonderful job not making a thorough copy of it. He has in-fact added to the brilliance of the movie by adapting it to our country and its society.


What is most glaring is the importance to minute details. Every action has been studied, every dialogue carries its weight, every setting is perfect, and every actor has excelled. Natural and perfect are the words that keep knocking on your mind as you watch the movie. There must be countable number of movies in the history of Indian cinema where farfetchedness, or for that matter, even flaws are hard to find. This is definitely one amongst those few perfect movies.


As we are today bombarded by the so called ‘true to life’, ‘loyal to the stories they are based on’ movies, all you have to do is look up the shelves, find this movie and watch it again to realize the difference between mediocrity and class. Such comparison to any other present day movies based on the same lines or otherwise will border on a culpable act.


The beauty of this movie, lies in the portrayal of the character, you see the protagonist (Velu Nayakan) grow from an innocent, wide-eyed kid trying to understand the complexities of life, growing up into a murderer, a smuggler, local area goon, one amongst the local Bombay dons, a kingpin, an answerable family man, a leader .…. Nayakan. This transition is gradual, the story touches and dwells thoroughly on each of these individuals, each get their prominence, each individual is developed and cultivated. The reasons are always not clear as it is in life itself. Justifications are not provided and are not warranted. The question of right or wrong is not a question that is necessary to be asked.


Details – All the laurels and accolades in the world will still seem less for the kind of in-depth detail concentration gone into this movie. Relationships are so wonderfully developed, characters are so complete even in possible bit roles and every act is flawless. Mani Ratnam deserves a standing ovation. The art, of making a movie, which covers the entire life of an individual from his childhood to his death, is seldom attempted and when attempted usually ends up with a sense of deficiency, leaving the viewer unsatisfied. An example of the opposite is this wonderful movie, where not only are you a part of Velu Nayakan’s life and story for more than three hours, you are left with a sense of being with the character, in essence that you can almost feel and understand his pain, his joys and his losses and his thinking. I have been unable to feel the same effect of oneness with the protagonist in any recent movies made.


Actors – the cast seems almost perfect. You can think of no replacements and you will not dare to. Kamal Hassan’s superiority as an actor is beyond debate, it could be carried forward a step by announcing, perhaps his best work till date. Support cast vie with each other as performers. Janagaraj as Selva, Nasser as the ACP and son-in-law, Saranya as Neela, Vasudev Rao s Vaapa are all superb. But, the movie is about Velu Nayagan and Nayagan is about Kamal Hassan. He steals the show. He pushes aside all others from the viewer’s mind. He makes sure he is remembered for a long time as the actor who, not just portrayed, but was “Nayagan”.


The maestro has jumped into it as well, Illayraja creates such haunting and memorable tunes, almost epitomizing the characters life and story in one beautiful and touching song “Thenpandi Seemayilae” which follows the story of the protagonist throughout his life and is placed at all the right moments of his life. Another lesson to be learnt by the Sandeep Chowta’s and Rehmans of today is the effective usage of no background music during intense moments. As much as the background score can add to the movie, it can lead to a scene’s downfall with unnecessary usage of background music. This especially is noticeable in RGVs movie, with Chowta going all out to fill the entire movie with incessant background noise. Please watch and learn from this movie is my advice to them.


Editing, cinematography, lighting, sets, background detailing all get full marks bordering close to perfection on all fronts. For someone who does not understand the language, I have watched this movie over and over again and will continue studying this masterpiece.


This movie is full of intense, penetrating, and subtle yet stirring scenes and it makes one hard to pick and choose mentionable scenes, yet I have dared to choose some scenes, which have had unforgettable impact on me.




  1. Young Ratna Velu (Shakti/ Velu Nayagan) sipping tea with Selva on one of the benches of a tea shop, the streets are wet with rain, and Selva prods Velu to tell him the reason for running from home, Velu listens quietly Selva’s mundane guesses like, “did you fail in the exam / did you steal….. ?” and looks up into his eyes and says “I committed a murder”.




  2. The school going Neela tells Velu “I am afraid I will cry”, to which he replies “Go ahead and cry” leading to her breaking down on the shoulders of Nayakan on the open streets of Bombay. You can see that subtle moment when Velu is embarrassed and looks around, but then, embraces her harder.




  3. Velu Nayakan’s son Surya looks away from his father before putting the pan into his mouth, after a bed ridden Nayakan offers him the pan calling him “Nayakan” as he is leaving the room, epitomizing the handing over of power by the reluctant father. He then looks helplessly without any answer as his daughter looks accusingly at him.




  4. His Muslim friend with tears in his eyes tells him “My son is your son” as Nayakan walks down enquiring about the crowd and commotion without knowing his son is dead.




  5. His confrontation with his daughter, he is furious and slaps his daughter for hitting Selva, he then is unable to neither console her nor answer her questions.




  6. His grand child asking him innocently “Are you good or bad?” and his reply “I don’t know.”






I can list another 20 scenes, all equally memorable and touching, but the image I will carry most and will remember it whenever I think of this move, is Nayagan staring straight ahead, fury and pain in his eyes, performing his wife’s last rites, without blinking declares that he wants the Reddy brother’s dead before the completion of the final rites. If a cinema can be captured in all its totality on a single still shot, this is it for this magnum opus.


What an actor, what a movie!!!!!!!


Please do comment, Thanks!!!


Nayagan - Brilliance all the way
Jun 11, 2005 09:44 PM 6587 Views

A movie made by India's finest director Mani Ratnam featuring the most talented actor Kamal Hassan and having its music composed by the one of the best music directors Illayaraja was very much high on expectations. The product was nothing short of sheer brilliance. Nayagan had got it all right!! It is almost fifteen years since the movie hit the big screen, but even today it is the most talked off movie in film circles. It was supposed to be filmed on the lines of another great English movie, Godfather starring Marlon Brando. A remake from any language is a difficult job, but Mani Ratnam had got the basic elements right to take the movie to the Indian masses. This movie is nothing short of a legend.


The movie starts off in dramatic style with the protagonist Velu's father, who is a union leader is short dead by the police. Velu has not even grown up beyond 10 maybe. He escapes off to Bombay not knowing what to expect from the big city. There he gets to meet his to be long term friend, Selva enacted brilliantly by Janagaraj. His tryst with the underworld dons and popularity with the poor people is the simple theme of this beautiful movie.


Mani Ratnam has chalked out the role of Velu in various phases - as a kid, as a youth, as a middle aged man and finally as the old man. It is easy to visualise Velu in all the roles. It sticks in memory for eternity. As a kid, he avenges his father's death. As a youth, he avenges the death of his father who adopted him and also, starts to grow in popularity among the poor people. He acquires the title of Nayakar. As a middle aged man, he takes charge completely to help the needy, while in his old age, his duels with a strict police commisioner, Nazar is a treat to watch.


There are various scenes in the movie that are unforgettable and some of the dialogues have gone on to become immortal.


Naalu perukku nalladhu seyyanumna edhuvumay thapilla!!! : If you want to help others, there is nothing wrong. This is the dialogue in which the entire theme of the movie revolves.


Avangalellam niruththa sollu, naan nirutharen!!! : Ask them to stop, I will stop. When his daughter confronts him and asks him to stop all the misdeeds, this dialogue is quoted.


There is a scene where everybody bear the brunt of the police to save Nayakar. When Nayakar is about to surrender to the police, Selva comes up with a statement


Ippo poi surrender adaindha, ivvalavu per seththadukku arthamayilla(if you go and surrender now, there is no meaning for the death of all these people) for which Nayakar comes up with an equally stunning statement


ippo poi surrender aalayna, iththana naal senjadhukku arthamayilla illama poidoonda(if I don't surrender now, then there is no meaning for what I have done all these days)


And of course, the dialogue at the very end of the movie, Nee nallavara kettavara requires no words to express the beauty of the dialogue, and this is so famous that even the English translation is not required.


According to me, it is very difficult even for a versatile actor like Kamal Hassan to beat his performance in Nayagan. The scene in which he cries when his son is dead is one of the most brilliant scenes. Even Sivaji Ganesan, another versatile actor of his era was stunned by the performance of Kamal Hassan. In every scene, one gets to witness his acting prowess. What can one say as far as Mani Ratnam's direction is concerned. His directorial skills was never questioned and as far as this movie was concerned, he had hit the pinnacle of glory. Only a skilled director like him can bring about such a beautiful sequence to stitch this masterpiece. Illayaraja's music is nothing short of sheer brilliance. The title track of the movie Thenpaandi Seemayile is nothing to beat. The background score of the movie entirely revolves around the backdrop of this title track and not once is it boring. This movie is an epic as far as Indian cinema is concerned. The pulse of the audience is tested to no limits during the flow of the movie. Even the ending of this movie is highly realistic.


Today we have seen many movies that revolves around mafia and the underworld, but I am not sure whether any of them can come close to this greatness crafted by Mani Ratnam. I have watched this movie close to a twenty times, and I try to catch the glimpse of this movie even today, when it is played on tamil channels.


bangalore india
A Classic
Dec 28, 2004 08:58 PM 5530 Views

This is till date, the best movie ever made in Indian Cinema. A fantastic star cast (Kamal Haasan, Nasser, Janakaraj) splendid direction(Manirathnam) and excellent music score by the maestro Illayaraja made the movie do wonders in the box office.


Kamal Haasan, who was already a super star proved that he can get into any ones shoes. Here he played the role of an angy young man who becomes a Mafia don with almost the entire city behind him. With this movie and a National Award for the Best Actor, he came to be known as the best actor in Indian Cinema. Janakaraj played Kamal's close friend and associate and he came to be known as a good character artiste after this movie.


Mani Rathnam became a nation-wide celebrity with this movie and every movie he made after Nayagan raised expectations among the audience.


The story is that of a Mafia don who is a kind of Robin hood for his own people, takes justice into his hands and kills the baddies. He earns respect from his people, incurs the wrath of the other underworld thugs, and is feared by the police, till a honest cop decides to challenge him.


Though the story and some scenes are similar to that of The Godfather, the way in which this movie is shot keeps the viewer engrossed from the first scene till the end, when the hero is assassinated in public for a murder he did 30 years back.


Nayakan ran for more than 200 days in a dozen theatres throughout Tamil Nadu and was the biggest hit of 1987. Later it was remade in Hindi as 'Dayavan' starring Vinod Khanna and Madhuri Dixit. Sadly, the remake failed to live upto its expectations as Vinod Khanna couldnt match Kamal Haasan. The remake bombed miserably.


Watch it!


-Krishna


Nayagan....the indian don!!
Jun 26, 2004 07:49 AM 13214 Views

This is a masterpiece from the director Manirathnam....a sensational performance by Kamalhassan...


extraordinary music by illayaraja..... naturally film is goin to be the best of the lot when u hav 3 dons of tamil industry joining their hands together.....


 


This film is actually based on the true life story of varadharaja mudaliyar a mumbai based don who did lot of good to the tamil people who lived in slums of mumbai. story, a brief idea:


When he was ten his father an union leader was killed since he led a strike...so he has to flee tomumbai to save his life....then how he becomes the don...how he helps the people forms the core of the story..


Cast and Characters: kamalhassan ....as ''shaktivelu''...better known as ''velu nayakar''......he has done an wonderful job...his role can be divided into 3 parts...one as angry young teenager...then a powerful man in his middle age....as a don when he is old...all the parts he has done well ...infact excellent... only flaw that has to be pointed out in his acting is he cannot cry naturally ...his crying looks very artificial....may be another one can also be pointed out...he has imitated marlon brando from godfather...


The next important role in this movie is Janakaraj ...as''selva''...the friend and associate of velu nayakar....he has done the role very perfectly.....most of us hav seen him as a commedian..but he has given a wonderful performance as a character artist.....he is the only person who lives with velu nayakar from his entry to mumbai till his death...his dearest friend and his right hand...........


 


Delhi Ganesh comes in role who 's name is never uttered in the movie...everybody calls him''iyer''...he has done an extraordinary job....he does all translation for velu nayakar..since velu nayakar dosen't know hindi...at a point of time when police capture him and ask whereabts abt velu nayakar he doesn't reply and get thrashings from the police..when he meets nayakar again he says....''ennaku engethu evalavu thairiyam vanthune theriyala..nan oru vartha sollala..''(i don't know here I got all this power to resist their blows on me... I didn't open my mouth) is really moving scene....kudos to him


apart from this nassar as AC , nilalgal ravi as ''surya'' nayakar's son........saranya as''neena''..naykar's wife...a female as nayakar's daughter(i couldn't get her name)...hav done their role aptly....


Music:


The music certainly deserved to be mentioned...... both the songs and background music are excellent....


''ne oru kadal sangeetham''...is one of the greatest melody of all time.....


''ne serithal deepavali'' was very famous number those days....


''anthi malai megum''...is still a song which can be seen in tvs durin holi.....


''nila adu vanthu melle''...still if u hear it u may well hav a fun like mood...very excellent song sung by illayaraja himself....


The greatest of them all ''then pandi semaiille....'' the pathos song..which has very tender music is sure to catch anyone's heart....this song is sung by kamal himself...this is regarded as best ever pathos song in tamil movie history...rahul dravid has once said this song is his fav. song.....


and the background score...u'll find music only at required places .....very effective..one silence at required places...then whereever he has given music ..he makes his presence felt.....an excellent background score...


Art direction:


Thota tharani needs a special mention for his sets in this movie ...he has created a whole set which exactly depicts the slums of mumbai....it also said the set was made at extremely low cost.....


 


Dialogues:


The film has many dialogues..which are still remembered and used ....''avangala nirutha sollu nan niruthuren''(ask them all to stop i'll stop) and ''neega nalavara kettavara''(are u a gud man or a bad man) are the most famous dialogues of the fil...these dialogues are even today used by vivek in some of his movies.... the dialogue on which the whole movie is based on'' nallu peruku allathuna ...ethuvume thappilla''(if something is going to do good for 4 people then nothing is wrong) are gem of dialogues.....kudos to the dialogue writter which I think is balakumaran(first mentioned it sujatha...one of mouthshut members corrected this in his comments)...


Direction:


The film is extremely well paced movie..at no point of time it is boaring...the director has taken up a story of don ..and looked into issuses why he had to jump into smuggling...abt his family...his service to his people.... the director has done a tremendous job...the movie at no point of time follows a normal formula tamil movie...it was trend setter....till now I hav not seen such a gud narrative film....film can be seen any no. of times u'll always like it... flaws: the film has many things copied from the movie godfather:




  1. kamal make up when he has grown old...same as brando's make up...




  2. kamal immitates brando...such as pausing while speaking and scraching his head...




  3. scene where kamal does rituals for his wife's funeral all his enimies getting killed...similar to killing of all enemies of the family when al pacino performs rituals to become godfather of his sister's children.....




  4. One reddiar brother being killed in same fashion as tattaglia's head gets killed while having sex with a prostitute...




  5. Other reddiar brother getting killed in the same way as carlo gets killed in the car by clemenza...




  6. ARS comming and askin nayakar to avenge the people who raped her daughter similar to amerigo bonasera the undertaker askin the don to take revenge on the people who assaulted his dughter while trying to rape her.... yes some flaws r there .....but it takes ur satisfaction only by .1 % .....u feel 99.9 % satsisfied with this movie...its a must see movie...in no way its godfather's remake...it jus has few scences inspire from it... very gud movie to watch...and the song thenpandy semaiile is to be hear atleast once by all... any way the films name is not velu nayakan as mentioned...its ''nayagan'' (hero)...velu nayakan is the hindi dubbed version of this movie...the hindi remake of this movie was titled dayavan.




Recent Questions and Answers on Velu Nayakan - Tamil

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on mani rathnam

Aug 01, 2005

By: manisirfanonline

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500

Is it the best of Mani and Kamal?

Jul 18, 2005

By: kamini

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