Nayakan (1987) Online

The film draws heavily upon Mario Puzo's Godfather, however, the Indian adaptation of the well known story is simply superb. Manirathnam has done a wonderful job in re-creating the life and times of a local mafioso in the slums of Bombay. The art direction is flawless, and captures the time period perfectly. The music by Illayaraja is haunting, and reflects the nostalgic music of the early 70s. However, the high point of the movie is the excellent performance of Kamal Hassan. His potrayal of Velu-Nayakan is by far the best I have seen in Indian movies. The Hindi remake of this movie is sub-standard and poor. I highly recommend this movie to someone who has never seen it before.

Mani Ratnam rose to fame with this superb, Godfather-inspired, crime story. Kamal Hassan, in a National Award-winning role, is the highlight of this film. WAtch out for the scene where he says "Naa adichcha nee sethuruve (You will die if I hit you)" to a police officer. Based on a real-life don, Varadarajan Mudaliar, Nayagan was praised by critics and audience alike, a rarity in India. Illayaraja's music is haunting. "Tenpaandi Cheemayile", sung by Kamal Hassan, is a classic. Photography is brilliant. Mani Ratnam is top-of-the-pops. Sign of things to come? Janakaraj as the gangster's friend is an inspired selection. This is as good as it gets for bridge cinema.

Kamal Hassan's extraordinary performance is the highlight of the film. This movie is perhaps the greatest gangster movie made in India, even though it is heavily inspired by the Al Pacino-starrer The Godfather. Kamal rightfully won the National Award for his performance. Great cast, great performances, solid direction from Mani Rathnam, great screenplay = one great movie. Highly recommended. A+.

It is really difficult to express the experience of watching nayakan in words, the real life story about the transformation of a boy into a rebel and then a don, brilliantly portrayed by one of the greatest actors alive today, Kamal Hassan.

While the film draws little inspiration from "The Godfather trilogy", the emotions and trauma associated with many events , along with ilayaraja's rendition of 'thenpandi seemayile' , really does make this movie very special!, nothing to beat this one, among the best movies i have ever seen. I can rate it along with American beauty, shawshank redemption or even amelie.

One of the movies where the star cast have lived the roles not just performed , well supported by Editing, Cinematography and background score . A must see. KamalHasan has given really a masterly performance for which he got the national award rightly.

Inspired by the true life story of Mumbai's Tamil don, Varadaraja Mudaliar, the movie 'Nayakan' portrays it so vividly and realistically of how the real-time character known popularly as 'Varadha Bhai' fled Tuticorin(Tamil Nadu) to seek his future in Mumbai. He came to be known as one of the godfathers of modern gangsterdom. Some other prominent names during his period were Karim Lala, etc. The days he spent fighting Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray who tried to run the Tamils out of Mumbai are golden days in history. Probably, the respect and influence Varadaraj Mudaliar had among the public inspired people like Dawood Ibrahim and others to take to such businesses. Mani Ratnam deserves full credit for the subject and screenplay. Kamal Hassan at the best of his career at an age of 32 playing the character of a 60-year-old man so perfectly with utmost ease.

Even though Nayagan seems like a compressed version of The Godfather series and despite the fact that a lot of the scences in the movie give you sense of deja vu(after you've watched Godfather. Nayagan is probably one of the best movies made in Tamil(and may be in any Indian language). Apart from changing the very face of movie making in India, it had send so many refreshing trends.

Nayagan is the story of a boy(Velu), who loses his father(a Trade Union leader) and runs away to Bombay, after assualting the Police who kills his father. In Bombay he is brought up by a pious Muslim fisherman. By turn of events, Velu is pulled into committing Crime(and fighting too). Velu grows into a Don and slowly the power of it takes him to a different world, where he is the command, but he slowly losses his dear ones and it finally ends with his death at an old age, with a moral message that one who lives by the sword(gun), dies by it.

Kamal had given one of his best performances in this movie, for which he rightfully won the National Award for Best Actor. The Music of Illayaraja, Photography of P C Sreeram and the Art of Thotta Tharani were other High points of the movie, not to mention the magical touch of Manirathnam, who made a permanent name for himself after making Nayagan.

A must watch movie, for anyone who hasn't seen it.

This is, till date, the best Indian movie ever made. A fantastic star cast(Kamal Haasan, Nasser, Janakaraj), splendid direction(Mani Rathnam) 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 when this movie was made, proved that he can get into any ones shoes. Here he played the role of an angry young man who becomes a Mafia don with almost the entire city supporting him. With this movie and a National Award for the Best Actor, he came to be known as the best actor in Indian Cinema.

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 is similar to The Godfather, the way in which this movie is shot is different and keeps the viewer engrossed from the first scene till the end, when the 60 year old hero is assassinated in public for a brutal murder he did 30 years back.

Nayakan - Slick, stylish and interesting.

-Krishna

this film is an out an out kamal hassan and Mani ratnam film, without Mani ratnam kamal would not have been able to display his magic, and without kamal, Mani would not have been able to show his magic. velu is a boy living in Tamil nadu. his father a labor leader is murdered by a ruthless police officer. velu decides to take revenge, and is supported by his friend, Sela(janagaraj). they both kill the police officer, and escape to Bombay, where they get shelter in a Muslim house hold. kamal naturally treats "Abba" the Muslim man, who is into smuggling. when he gets old he hands the small business to velu, who extracts more money for goods than his precede ever did. the rival parties get angry and pay bribe to a police man to get Abba killed. when velu gets to know this, he tracks down the police officer tactically. i must stop here to mention the marvellous sequence . great background score, Mani ratnam at his best, and kamal looking totally angry. he kills the police officer in front of everybody. the police officer though married used to molest women. the police came inquiring, but no one opened their mouth. from that day onwards velu became 'velu nayagan'. he became the ultimate don in Bombay, supporting the poor's cause, and going to any extent to fulfill it. he even got a poor child treatment in one of the best hospitals in Bombay for free. you must watch the movie, i can't spell its magic here, you have to watch it!

now, lets get this straight, godfather was a bad adaptation of the novel and that becomes one of the all time best movies. if manirathnam makes a movie out of the real life story of velunayagam mudaliar then it is called a remake of godfather, what crappy logic is this.

In all aspects the movie is perfect, acting by kamal, direction is amazing and mind blowing music by the maestro Illayaraja.

set in the slums of bombay, it shows the life of velu who becomes a local don just like it happened in the true life of velunayagam mudaliar. the dialogues are memorable and the dialogue between kamal and his grandson is something that i can never forget.

watch it rightaway and stop this crap about it being a remake of godfather. Hollywood has made 100's of movies better than godfather, but nayagan is by and far among the 5 best movies ever made in India.

This movie rotates around a single person, Kamal Hassan. Its simply an amazing movie and full credits to the director Mani Ratnam and Kamal for their brilliant, extraordinary, great, satisfying,superb work... No words to say. better u watch the movie

in Nayakan all the characters have done an excellent work. Music by Ilayaraja the maestro himself and his works definitely needs recognition all over the world. Even now the songs are worth hearing and very very great.The camera man has done an beautiful work and full credits to him for bringing out an excellent picture to our eyes..

The greatness of the movie is that it shows all the stages of men, and Kamal's acting shows his true potential and his exceeding talent, its a proud feeling for me to know that the hero is in tamil industry and speaking my language.

Watch this movie and enjoy the movie as much as i did . . . . . . . . . .

"Nayagan" is akin to a rare astronomical event wherein the constellations form a perfect alignment to create a spectacular extravaganza. Mani Ratnam, Kamal Hassan & Ilayaraja weaved magic that captured the heart of audience by storm.

There cannot be a second opinion if I were to state that this role was destined for one and only Kamal Hassan. You cannot fail to notice the subtle changes in the body language, mannerism, gait and dialogue delivery that go about with the ageing process of the Sakthivelu. Starting with the rebel youth and all the way to the ageing Godfather, the natural transformation was effortlessly essayed by Kamal. Saranya, Ravi, Kartika, Nasser and Tinnu Anand leave a mark otherwise there isn't much scope for supporting star-cast.

Ilayaraja compositions were a raging hit back then. P C Sriram (cinematography) & Thota Tharani (art direction) ensured to give a distinct Mani Ratnam feel to the visuals (a spillover of "Agni Natchathiram").

Though the plot rests on the basic premise of Mario Puzo's "The Godfather", top notch writing narrating the biography of Mumbai based Tamil gangster of the 80s, Varadarajan Mudaliar stands to its own.

If "Mouna Ragam" and "Agni Natchathiram" got him noticed then "Nayagan" stamped the title of maverick to Mani Ratnam. It goes without saying that while "Nayagan" set a precedent for fellow film-makers, Mani Ratnam started the revolution in the Tamil cinema.

PS: The Hindi remake, "Dayavan" attempted by Feroz Khan and Vinod Khanna was sadly a classic case of "lost in translation".

Undoubtedly the best Indian film with legends like Kamalhasan,Manirathanam and unparralled Ilaiayaraja.Though many compare it to godfather,it has its own specialties.kamalhassan whose acting in the film is world class.Maniratnams depiction of various periods from 50s to 80s makes everyone surprise that a TAMILdirector can equal Hollywood.I watch this film every now and then.Though repeatedly watched every time the movie gives new meanings.If the godfather hadn't been earlier,our own kamalahassan would have won the Oscar.Thats for sure.Those who still not watching this film are not fit to be good film fans.

If it is featured in the time magazine's 100 all time movies from all over the world, then it must be something. Mani Ratnam has done some great movies in south India. I like all his movies. And he pays more attention to all the details of the movie such as music, photography, casting, editing etc. You can see the quality of the movie and see the involvement of the director in the movie. I treat this more as a Mani Ratnam movie than Kamal Hasan though Kamal is one of my favorite actors. Go rent the movie. You will not be disappointed. Also, check out Mani Ratnam's other movies such as Roja, Mouna Raagam (Telugu), Githanjali, Sakhi, Iddaru, Guru etc. Also, in case you didn't already know, A R Rahman was introduced by Mani Ratnam through Roja.

Check out. http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html

This movie by Maniratnam is definitely one of the finest movie ever made on the planet. It has got tremendous performance by Kamal Hassan who portrays various shades of emotions. The cinematography by PC Sriram is excellent. The movie should have definitely won Academy awards for Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Actor and Best director. It begins with a young boy who has lost his father and comes to Bombay from his village and the social pressures makes him a Don-a saviour for the Tamil community of the slum area-Dharavi. The film shows various stages of Velu to Velu Nayakar. VeluNayakan is the modern day Robinhood who protects his folks in all the ways he can.

Amazing screenplay and the natural lightings used throughout the film speaks for the cinematography. Best scenes are Velu Nayakar standing on the balcony of his house and people standing down..amazingly shot

The movie very well captures the life of a Mumbai based Don. Kudos to Maniratnam for Nayakan.

i find lot of people mentioning the movie has its roots from godfather. which i don't know how. some are saying that they have seen the godfather Tamil people are stupid enough to buy the Indian version. then do they others are stupid enough for watching a movie inspired by a book.

the movie is absolutely fun to watch even though it's been 20 years since the movie has been actually made. good direction, acting, music, screenplay makes the movie a reason not to miss this.the movie is actually well edited . the two songs in this movie are good . while compared to other , especially recent Mani Ratnam movies like Guru where the songs pop out with out any reference to the movie, Nayakan has every song and scene in a right place.

I was shocked to see some people, who obviously have'nt seen this movie, call it the Indian version of the Godfather. The only resemblance between this movie and the Godfather is that both deal with the underworld and Nayagan does so only at a much later point of time in the movie. This isn't your run of the mill Tollywood entertainer but a rather unique and gripping movie shot in Bombay's dharavi slum areas. Kamal Hassan delivers an unbelievable performance and I simply don't understand why he isn't regarded India's best actor, instead of other posers from Bollywood? In one shot, Mani Ratnam has made a Tamil movie that puts every single Bollywood movie released to date, to shame.

An amazing movie that changed the trend of Indian cinemas during the late eighties. Is three hours enough to show the life of a man at different stages and that too with a heavy emotion that will make you to think about it again and again ? the answer is yes and the proof is Nayakan. Kamalhasan i believe if he would have born in Hollywood by now he will be sharing the honors with Tom Hanks and Mel Gibson. Such a great actor who can show the difference in each and every single action he does. The movie is a biography of a commoner who raises to the level of the God father but the way Maniratnam told the story is really interesting. The Climax of the movie created a big impact when it was released. Even now this movie is considered as a mile stone for the young directors who would like to direct a great movie. Nayakan for sure is the "Godfather" of India .

My Rating : 9/10

This is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language gangster film and undoubtedly the best from this part of the world. It's based upon Mario Puzo's The Godfather and it is one beautifully sad and haunting piece of cinema.

Highly recommended!

I would rate this movie as a glowing example of the essence being inspired but the setup, execution and the ultimate product being original. people argue that the look of older Kamal's make-up being similar to that of Marlon Brando, the way Kamal cries when his son is killed is similar to the performance of Marlon Brando etc.. But no one can argue the fact that the scene build up and the way the story was setup was not lifted from the God Father, there are so many movies that are copied scene by scene (as a matter of fact the Hindi film Dayavan was a scene to scene copy of Nayakan but failed miserably!) but here the genius called Mani Ratnam has adopted the basic storyline and Indianized and made a masterpiece around a character (co-incidentally resembled much to the local Dharavi don Varadha Bhai) which was immortalized by Padmashree Dr. Kamal Haasan. A must watch for anyone who has an eye for meaningful entertainers with the best technicians in the industry at rollicking form firing all cylinders from Mani Ratnam, Kamal Haasan to Thotta Tharani, Ilaiyaraja, P.C Sreeram etc.

Nayakan is one of the best Indian crime movies out there and definitely a genius idea from the mind of critically acclaimed Mani Ratnam. The story revolves around a young boy who witnesses his father's death for being a labor leader. Thus starts the boy's rise in being a head gangster of a village. Tragedy always awaits him and through the movie, the audience is prompted to ponder about the central theme over and over again: is Nayakan good or bad. Extraordinary acting by Kamal Hassan and many themes are taken from the Godfather series (when Nayakan is old, Hassan also puts meat in his cheeks to get the voice of Marlon Brando from Godfather). All in all, a great watch and a beautiful finish. Highly recommended.

what it is about- it traces the journey of life of an underworld don,how he gets pulled into it,his rise to becoming the don.starting his life from slums and poverty to becoming a Saviour,guardian and leader for justice for the poor and till his fall is what the film is all about.

what's hot- this film marks the outcome of 3 genius coming together.ace director Manirathnam,Thespian Kamalhassan,Music maestro Illayaraja.Mani being also credited for the excellent screenplay and story.one of the best background ever to be heard in the Indian film history.it compliments the situations and emotions expressed in the film to the hilt.Kamalhassan has proved why he is the best actor in India by his stellar performance.if Manirathnam is the brains behind this masterpiece then it is Kamalhassan who justifies it by his through performance and Illayaraja by his heart wrenching music.emotions expressed in the film straightly strikes a cord in your heart.Kamal's portrayal of the character Shaktivelu from his young hey days to his becoming the veteran don is something which is like an open acting institution.from his speech to his body language he literally lives the part.the music and the background score especially makes the situation and plight more pitiable specially in the part where the don comes to know about his son's death.the song ThenpandiCeemayela rings in your mind and makes you have tears and sympathy for the hero who loses his son and is unaware of the fact till the message is convened to him by others.the climax of the film which is heart wrenching is superbly shot and has equally well background score which makes it more memorable.kudos to Mani,Kamal and Illayaraja for making such a masterpiece which we all will be proud of.

what's not- the songs in the film apart from ThenpandiCeemaleya reduces the pace of the film a bit.coming from an acclaimed director like Manirathnam scenes openly lifted from godfather is not expected from him.

what to do- go for it,it is an once in a lifetime that such a movie is made in India.not only it is a total entertainer and it leaves a print in your mind even after ending which will remain forever.no film expresses emotions as good as it does.

I am very privileged to write this review for my hero, actor Kamal Hassan. I have seen most of his well known films: Sadma, Ek Duje Ke Liye, Saagar, Appu Raja, Hindustani, Puspak (a.k.a. The Love Chariot 1988), Chachi 420.

I adore all the above films of his. You can collect of the above movies and it will be a good collection to start with.

This film written and directed by Mani Ratnan, got rave reviews across India. Kamal Hassan's performance in this film earned him a Best Actor award. Maniratnam earned accolades from all over India and became popular overnight.

The film also earned National Award for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction.

Nayagan (which means 'Hero' or 'Leader') is based on the real-life Bombay underworld don Varada or Varadarajan Mudaliar, and sympathetically depicts the struggle of South Indians living in Bombay (now Mumbai). The lead character is played by Kamal Haasan, and the film also stars Saranya, Karthika, Nassar, Delhi Ganesh and Janagaraj. The soundtrack of the film was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.

The film was nominated by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1987. In 2005, Time Magazine included Nayagan in its "All-Time 100 Best Films" list.[1] The film was remade in Hindi as Dayavan in 1988, with Vinod Khanna playing the part of Saktivelu and with Feroz Khan and Madhuri Dixit playing the roles of Selvam and Neela. A dubbed version of the film was released as Velu Nayakan in 1999.

Plot: Sakthivelu Nayakar (Kamal Hassan), the protagonist, is born to an anti-government union leader. The child, Velu, is tricked by the police into locating his father, and then witnesses his father's death in a police shootout. Then after doing the final rites for his father, he kills the person who was the cause for his father's death. Orphaned, he escapes to Bombay.

Stranded and homeless in the big city, he is rescued by a kind-hearted Muslim fisherman who takes him into his home in the sprawling suburban slums of Dharavi. His foster-father is also a small-time smuggler known for his generosity in the slum. Upon his running afoul of a senior crime lord, the corrupt local police officer Inspector Kelkar arrests the fisherman on smuggling charges, and is later murdered. Velu Naiker, now a young man who has come into his own, goes in search of the officer and bludgeons him to death.

With this act, he is seen at once a saviour and a man to be feared amongst the slum residents. As their godfather and protector, he flourishes by resuming his dead foster-father's local smuggling activities. He marries a destitute school-girl-turned-prostitute (Saranya) and has two children. Conflicts and power struggles occur in the competitive web of the smuggling world, in which Velu's wife becomes a casualty. Velu's kids are sent away to Chennai as a result and return years later to their father's home, as young adults.

The son, Surya (Nizhalgal Ravi), is eager to join his father in his activities, despite his father's reluctance. For his first real test, he is required to eliminate a potential witness against his father; he does this by hiring outside thugs. They succeed in eliminating the witness, but their failure to cover their tracks leads police to him at a petrol bunk and an accident costs him his life. Velu is heartbroken. Velu's daughter (Karthika) is at odds with her father over his form of justice and killings. To this he replies Ellariyum nerutha solu, appuram naan neruthuran. The death of her brother was the last straw for her and she cuts off her relationship with her father and leaves him.

A newly appointed Assistant Police Commissioner (Nassar) starts afresh the hunt to bring Velu Nayakar to justice over his alleged activities and manages to secure an arrest warrant. This Commissioner is unknowingly Velu's son-in-law, as his daughter had secretly married him. After continued pursuit resulting in the beatings by police and self-immolation of slum dwellers, Velu surrenders to the police to spare the lives of the residents of his slum. He is tried in court but is released due to the lack of adequate evidence for his alleged nefarious activities. A supportive and emotional crowd gathers at the courthouse, awaiting Velu's release. Velu emerges to greet the tumultuous crowd but unexpectedly gets shot by Inspector Kelkar's retarded son, whom Velu had adopted, after he learns that Velu had killed his father long ago.

The film has some very emotional moments: when Velu's wife his shot and he covers his children's eyes with her scarf, which eventually slips from his hands. When Velu visits his daughter's house for the very first time and is not allowed see his grandson. And towards the end when he learns that his daughter has given her son his own name. He wants to give his grandson some money as a gift to him, he reaches into his pocket and finds none. The final scene in the movie shows Velu dead lying on the same street in which he fought for the people and which he grew up on. I broke down crying when I saw that scene.

Buy this great film on DVD, and watch it with your family and friends.

GOD BLESS KAMAL HASSAN.

Write to me [email protected] if you are a Kamal Hassan fan like me and we can chat about his films.

Thanks for reading.

It took me a long period to find me a DVD of nayakan in market,but due to my willingness, i managed to buy one from bangalore.

it is a great cinema from mani ratnam,there is no doubt he is the best director of Indian film industry.he directed scenes of slums very perfectly. scene of the hospital,scene of son's funeral,scene when he visit at his daughter's house and scene when velu's daughter argue with him was very intense and powerful.

superb script with very powerful and meaningful dialouges and have all the essence of an traditional Indian movie.script is original and not inspired by Godfather(as many people think),only one or two scenes have some influence of Godfather.But we can say that this movie is our answer to Hollywood.

Kamal Hasal was excellent and was the perfect one for the role.there is also no doubt that he is among the greatest actors of Indian film industry.He is a perfectionist and no one can act as he can.he can bring emotions and deliver dialouge without any efforts.

music also added a great feel to movie,the theme song of movie is very touching.

instead of only few flaws this movie is perfect and a gem of Indian cinema,easily the best crime saga and most violent and realistic crime drama of our industry.

won national award for best actor and movie, and was the entry for Oscar that time.

worth watching and to be remembered by all.

i give this movie 9/10

This movie is by far the best (and I think it'll remain the best) Tamil movie I've ever seen. Superb acting by Kamal Hassan and excellent directing by Mani Ratnam considering the resources he had in that era back then...no special effects/CGI or any of that bullshit modern age mumbo-jumbo, just pure flawless acting, cinematography and a great and moving music score to fit the story oh so ever well. People seem to compare this movie to the Hollywood's version of the Godfather but in my opinion this one surpasses the Godfather by a mile simply for the fact cause of the way the harshness of the lead character's life is portrayed and the circumstances in his life that compels him to do the things that he does and for the cause that he does them for. A whole city of people who love and fear him but the true affection that he seeks from his daughter eludes him due to what he does and eventually connecting the events that would bring about his demise. Kamal Hassan's best performance to date and for those Godfather fans out there, take a look at this one and perhaps you'd change the ranking spots in your movie lists.