With the legacy of film resume like Mouna Ragam, Nayakan, Geetanjali, Anjali, Roja, Bombay, Iruvar, Dil Se, Alai Payuthey, and Kannathil Muthamittal, It's no wonder that Mani Ratnam is heralded as one of the most prestigious director in India. Among them one of his most misunderstood films is Thalapathi. Mani Ratnam’s Thalapathi(1991) is adaptation of Mahabharata's Arjuna-Karna-Kunti story into modern world from Karna’s angle where friendship and loyalty triumph over family ties.
Story
*1959, somewhere in country side in South India, a young girl Kalyani(Srividya) gives a birth of unwanted child at age 14. Since she can't keep her child or didn't want to kill him, she abandons him in goods train with heavy heart.
Fast forward to 1986, somewhere in countryside in South India, a young man, an IAS officer Arjun(Arvind Swami, Kalyani’s other son) helps excavating water sources for villagers. Surya(Rajnikanth), an abandoned child, grows up in slums of unnamed big city(Looking at film, it looks like either Banglore, Mysore, or Madras). Surya seems violent from the outer side but he is very kind and helpful at his heart. He helps the needy people in slums resorting to violence when it’s necessary.
On one occasion, Surya beats to death one of the Deva(Mammootty), the local underworld don’s henchmen. Soon Surya gets arrested for Deva's henchmen's murder. Although Deva gets furious at Surya's act, he learns that Surya was not at fault and arranges bail for him. Both Deva and Surya eventually become very close friends and Deva christens Surya as his gang’s commander(Thalapathi). When whole world was against him, Surya sees Deva as his savior and decides to stay with Deva forever in hell or heaven. When Surya is not busy handling Deva's illegal business, he regularly meets Brahmin girl, Subbulaxmi(Sobhana) lives nearby his slums and later falls in love with her.
In the mean time, Arjun gets transfer with his family as District Collector to the city ruled by Deva and Surya. As it seems Surya's things are going great at both front at work and at personal, Deva survives a near fatal attack on him by Karivardhan(Amrish Puri), ex-MLA, and a rival gangster with the help from Deva's own disloyal gang members. Furious Deva and Surya, unleash a reign of terror on Karivardhan and their disloyal henchmen.
Surya's girlfriend, Subbulaxmi gets married to Arjun because Subbulaxmi's father didn't wanted her daughter to marry a gangster and at the same time, Deva's henchman's(whom Surya killed) widow(Bhanupriya) gets married to Surya. When Arujun calls Deva and Surya and advises them to refrain from further violence, both refuses. Arjun determines to clean up the city. With the help from Deva's former henchmen, Arjun arrests Deva and beats him to the death at the Police custody.
Surya decides to take revenge of Deva’s arrest by killing Arjun. With the series of complicated incidents, Surya and Arjun both are stunned to learn that Surya is the Kalyani's illegitimate child. Will Surya keep his loyalty with Deva and fight with his stepbrother or will he forgive Arjun? Will Arjun able to clean up the city by killing Surya despite knowing his mother’s longed-for her illegitimate son?
Analysis
*Mani Ratnam's Thalapathi is brilliant demonstration of how our age old myth exists in modern world. It's a great example of if filmmaker wants to search for the stories then they don't have to go beyond our own literature and Myth. Just like Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda was loosely based on Valmiki story, Mani Ratnam's Thalapathi is based on Arjuna-Karna-Duryodhana-Kunti story. Its story of Karna, who was always misunderstood guy but his loyalty towards Duryodhana when whole world was against him. You can easily identify Rajnikanth as Karna, Mammootty as Duryodhana, Srividya as Kunti, and Arvind Swami as Arjun. Even Shobhana had a grey character of Draupadi. In Mahabharata, Karna had a soft corner for Draupadi but later Panchali get married to Pandavas.
My favorite moments of the films are when Rajni and Mammootty faces each other in rain-drenched bridge and outside of police station when Mammootty bails Rajni out from the Jail, Rajni and Shobhana's conversation at step well just prior to Sundari Song, When Amrish Puri faces Mammootty on court stairs and the way aerial camera tracks them especially Amrish looking back at the Rajni's way, Mammootty visits Shobhana's house for her hand and her father's refusal of marriage, Rajni and Mammootty facing Arvind Swami in his office, and Rajni disclosing his past to Bhanupriya's son.
Some of the scenes Mani Ratnam was at his best - Just watch a opening sequence of Bogi festival where everyone including Kalyani gives up their unwanted things or at the temple where Rajni and his mom visiting temple and goods train is passing at the background and both turns back remembering their past. Another one is when police comes to Mammootty's house to arrest him and the way camera tracks police cars and raises up tracking Mammootty in his palatial terrace in single shot.
Santosh Sivan's cinematography was top-notch. Throughout the movie the way movie has been shot against sun stands out. Many of the scenes are filmed at the backdrop of sunset or sunrise or bright light. The opening B&W sequence of mythic dreamlike images of countryside landscape, horse-coaches, Bogi festival, Surya's birth in forest, and Wild West Goods train was masterwork of great cinematographer.
Although movie drags at the later moments with mother-son melodrama and some of the clichéd action sequences especially when Rajni murders Mammootty's henchman, I can't think of any other weaknesses in this Mani's classic. Many South Indians complained Thalapathi having clichéd dialogues but that didn’t bother me being North Indian who watched film with subtitles.
Thalapathi is a Mani Ratnam's Magnum opus showcasing star power of Tamil superstar Rajnikanth and Malayalam Superstar Mammootty, and likes of Arvind Swami, Shobhana, Bhanu Priya, and Amrish Puri. As movie's central theme, Karna and Duryodhana's story, Thalapathi's two pillars are superstars Rajnikanth and Mammootty. Although Rajanikath is known for more styles than acting, him as Surya in Thalapathi is restrained(levelheaded acting) gangster role is comparable to Kamal Hasan in Nayagan.
Illyaraja's score was brilliant. Chinna Thayaval, Rakkamma Kaiyathattu, Kattukuyilu, and Yamunai Aatrile were outstanding. My favorite is indeed grand spectacle, Sundari Kannal, which was Mani’s tribute to great Akira Kurosawa with song’s main theme of rival mountain horse riders.
Conclusion
*Thalapathi is one of Mani Ratnam's most misunderstood films. All these times, being North Indian, I always thought Mani Ratnam's Thalapathi is ultra-violent, low-level action-thriller, and typical south Indian star-studded bonanza. With the impression like that, I never dared to look out for this film. At last, after determination of watching all Mani Ratnam's films whether its bad or not, after watching Thalapathi, I can't believe what I was missing all these times. After seeing it not only once but twice in single day, I am proud to say that Thalapathi is without doubt among the best gangster films made in India. A must see for all crime drama fans out there.
