Reviews & Ratings for
நாயகன் (1987)

My neighbor had urged me to see Nayakan (or Nayagan) [The hero] as it is Mani Ratman's Indian version of The Godfather and is based on the true life story of Bombay don Varadarajan Mudaliar. It's in Time's top 100 films of all time and in many best of lists of Indian films. It totally lived up to the hype and was just excellent -- mainly because of the stunning performance of lead Kamal Haasan. I have seen Kamal Haasan in Hey Ram (which he also directed) as a nebbishy archaeologist caught up in the violence of Partition, and he was fantastic in that film, but it did not prepare me for the powerful performance he gave as Velu.

Velu as a young boy sees his father killed by police for being a union leader and runs away to Bombay. He's taken in by a Muslim family and helps his adopted father with small time smuggling. His adopted father explains his law breaking with the motto, "Nothing is wrong if it helps someone." Through a series of events after his adopted father's death, he becomes the leader of the Tamilian slum of Bombay and rises further and further in the smuggling underworld. There is an adorable romance with Neela, a young prostitute who he marries. The have two children, a son and a daughter. One of my favorite scenes has the two children imitating their father in play, taking requests from a line of their playmates. "My teacher struck me for getting the math question wrong." And the son plays the little miniature don. It was adorable -- and very telling.

There are some scenes nearly straight out of The Godfather -- but they are appropriate to the plot. Mani Ratman has said how influenced by and admiring he is of Coppola and his film. What was amazing to me is that they talked to the actual real life don himself Varadarajan Mudaliar who suggested the ending, which I won't spoiler. The second half has a very dramatic conflict between Velu and his daughter, who is trying to get as far away as she can from her father's life of crime.

Velu starts as a young man, and through effective makeup and dentures, he ages into his sixties in the film. Besides the cheeks as he ages giving him the look of the older Brando in Godfather, his performance, felt very much like De Niro and Brando. Haasan's acting in this is right up there with the greats. A fantastic film that should not be missed.

The only off note for me was some of the soundtrack, which was cheesy during some police chase scenes and just has not aged well.

Nayakan is a #cult #inspiring #revolutionary #thoughtProvoking movie to describe at the outset.
One of Mani Rathnam's classic, Nayakan is indeed a real movie that celebrates heroism. Kamal Hasssan has delivered #honestPortrayal. More than that, the music is indeed #inspiring.
Nayakan definitely and is a