Synopsis
A political activisit is killed
by the police. His son attacks the cop and
runs away to Bombay. In Bombay, he grows
up as Velu Naicker (Kamal Haasan) operating
from a ghetto. When he kills a much hated
police officer in a fight, he instantly
becomes a hero in the eyes of the slum dwellers.
Naicker soon becomes a ganglord, engaging
in smuggling while protecting the down-trodden.
On one of his visits to the brothel, he
comes across a beautiful timid young girl
(Saranya) and marries her. When a builder
buys the land on which the slums are situated,
Naicker attacks his house and destroys the
title deed making him even more of a hero
in the eyes of the people. As he gets bigger
and bigger, he starts eliminating rival
gangs. He becomes so big that even police
officers and the like come to him for help.
His lifestyle, however, catches up with
him on the personal front. His wife is killed
by a rival gang and his daughter walks out
on him after knowing the truth about him
and marries a police officer bent on catching
him. His son dies in an accident. Even as
he is acquitted by the court, the mentally
deranged youth, who was the son of the police
officer he had killed and whom he had taken
under his care, shoots him dead.
The film
Nayakan is undoubtedly one of
the finest Indian films and certainly till
date remains Mani
Ratnam's most accomplished work . The
film is loosely based on the life of the
Bombay based ganglord Varadarajan but Ratnam
infuses his tale with a Godfather like feel,
making for a rivetting cinematic experience.
 The
film's treatment might be 'inspired' from
The Godfather (1972) and The
Godfather II (1974), but Nayakan
is a great film that stands firmly on its
own merits, beautifully combining elements
of mainstream Indian cinema with an extremely
strong sense of cinematic narration. While
the film's content is standard in may ways
with a none too fresh look at crime, power
and the underworld, the film's flow is most
effectively and innovatively constructed
scene by scene showing us a talented filmmaker
at the peak of his prowess, knowing how
to tell a story on celluloid.
The story moves ahead crisply and assuredly
and the film's screenplay is full of several
sequences that remain with you and haunt
you long, long after the film is over. Sequences
that are as varied as the extremely heart-warming
one of Velu's son imitating him in front
of his friends to the heart-renderingly
poignant one of Velu breaking down and letting
out a cry of anguish at his son's death;
his first meeting with his wife-to-be in
a brothel to his confrontation with his
daughter; But undoubtedly, the film's most
memorable moment comes when Velu Naicker
is asked by his grandson even as he is being
led to court for trial for his crimes if
he is a good man and he replies, "
I don't know..."
Though the life of the don could easily
have been shown in a typical-larger-than-life
manner as was prevalent in mainstream Indian
cinema then, Nayakan like Deewaar
(1975), differs in its treatment, beautifully
humanizing the gangster and showing him
to be down to earth and normal with his
share of good points as well as his flaws.
This helps to create a memorable multi-layered
flesh and blood character with whom the
viewer is able to sympathize. That he is
brought to life by Kamal Haasan helps tremendously.
In fact, Kamal Haasan as Velu Naicker is
the life and soul of Nayakan. The
film is simply unimaginable without him
and he shows us in Nayakan why
he is rated as one of the finest actors
ever in India. His performance ranks as
one of the greatest ever in the history
of Indian cinema as he expertly captures
every nuance, every shade of Velu Naicker,
be it the ruthless don, the benevelant protector
of the opressed or the loving and caring
family man. He touches you and moves you
with his impeccable act deservedly winning
the National Award for Best Actor. The rest
of the cast support him perfectly realizing
it is Kamal's film but leaving their own
mark on the film be it Saranya or Janakaraj
or Nizhalgal Ravi as Naicker's son.
Technically too, the film is a most accomplished
piece of work. Special mention has to be
made of Thotta Tharani's brilliant art direction
and PC Sriram's absolutely stunning cinematography.
The entire Dharavi slum in Bombay was painstakingly
and realistically created in a studio in
Madras and looks more authentic than the
real thing with much attention paid to every
minute detail. Sriram's framing with some
extremely good use of the foreground and
background, his skilfull use of source lighting
and his wonderful play of light and shade
is just masterly (See the sequence where
Kamal Haasan meets Saranya for the first
time). Both, Tharani and Sriram, deservedly
won National Awards for their fine work
in the film. Illaiyaraja's music, in particular
the songs Thenpaandi Seemaiyile and
Nilaa Adhu and his rousing background
score are as usual a big, big asset to the
film. The songs are beautifully choreographed
and picturised, the editing is crisp and
mention must also be made of the evocative
sound design in the film as well.
True, there are certain 'commercial' elements
that do stick out like the sexy dance on
the boat but these are minor flaws in an
otherwise great film.
A much awarded film, the film was India's
official entry to the Oscars for Best Foreign
Film and was included by Time magazine in
its list of 100 all time greatest films
in 2005. It was also the film that made
Mani Ratnam a highly regarded filmmaker
not just in Tamil Nadu but throughout India.
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