Nayakan (1987 film)

This article is about the 1987 Tamil film. For other uses, see Nayakan.

Nayakan
File:Nayagan poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mani Ratnam
Produced by	Muktha Srinivasan Muktha V. Ramaswamy G. Venkateswaran
Written by	Mani Ratnam Balakumaran (Dialogues)
Starring	Kamal Haasan Saranya Karthika
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography	P. C. Sriram
Edited by	B. Lenin V. T. Vijayan
Production company	Muktha Films
Distributed by	Muktha Films
Release dates	21 October 1987 (1987-10-21)
Running time	135-148 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹200 lakh (equivalent to ₹21 crore or US$3.2 million in 2020)

Nayakan (English: The Hero), also spelt Nayagan, is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language biographical crime-drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam and starring Kamal Haasan. It is loosely based on the real-life Bombay underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar, and sympathetically depicts the struggle of South Indians living in Bombay. The film also stars Saranya Ponvannan in her film debut. Karthika, Nassar, Janagaraj, Delhi Ganesh and Tinnu Anand play significant roles. The soundtrack and score of the film were composed by Ilaiyaraaja and was met with a successful response after release. The film has been inspired from Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 film The Godfather.

Principal photography commenced in November 1986 with test shoots featuring Haasan. The film was released on 21 October 1987 on the occasion of Diwali and received critical acclaim worldwide. Kamal Haasan's performance as Velu Nayakan earned him the National Film Award for Best Actor. The film also earned the National Awards for Best Cinematography (P. C. Sriram) and Best Art Direction (Thotta Tharani). The film was India's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1988 at the 60th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.

In 2005, the magazine TIME included Nayagan in its list of "All-Time 100 Best Films". The film was also included in The Moving Arts Film Journal's list of greatest films of all time. Nayagan was also included in NDTV's list "India's 20 greatest films". CNN-IBN included the film in its list of "100 greatest Indian films of all time".

The film was dubbed in Telugu under the title Nayakudu. It was also remade in Hindi as Dayavan in 1988 starring Vinod Khanna. A Hindi dub of the film was released in 1999 as Velu Nayakan.

Plot

Sakthivelu alias "Velu" Nayakan is the son of an anti-government union leader (Kitty). The child, Velu, is tricked by the police into locating his father, and then witnesses his father's death in a police shootout; he later kills the person who was the cause of his father's death and escapes to Bombay (now Mumbai).

Stranded and homeless in the big city, Velu meets two boys who take him to their home in the suburban slum area of Dharavi. Over there, a Muslim fisherman Hussain (M. V. Vasudeva Rao) raises Velu; the former is also a small-time smuggler known for his generosity among the slum dwellers. Upon locking horns with a senior crime lord, a corrupt local police officer named Kelkar (Pradeep Shakthi) arrests Hussain on smuggling charges and subsequently murders him. In revenge, Velu, now a young man (Kamal Haasan) kills the inspector, but as an act of remorse, he decides to adopt Kelkar's mentally disabled son Ajit, and raise him as his own. With this act, Velu soon becomes a godfather of that area, engaged in smuggling and at the same time, supporting those who are in need of help. When he visits a brothel, he meets Neela (Saranya Ponvannan), a destitute school-girl-turned-prostitute, and is impressed by her dedication to continue studying despite being a prostitute; he later marries her.

As his popularity increases, Velu starts eliminating rival gangs. Selvam (Janakaraj) and Iyer (Delhi Ganesh) are his close associates in these activities. Once when nobody is able to bring a contraband parcel out of a ship, Velu brings it ashore with Selvam's help by hoodwinking the Customs officials. The Reddy brothers (R. N. Sudarshan and R. N. Jayagopal), who were unable to bring out the same contraband, lose to Velu as a result. Angered, they make an assassination attempt on him and his family; Neela dies in the attack. Velu retaliates by killing every member of the Reddy family. Worried about the safety of his son Surya and daughter Charumati, he sends them to Madras (now Chennai).

Several years later, Velu becomes the biggest mafia leader of the city with a large number of followers, including a grown-up Ajit (Tinnu Anand). His children Surya (Nizhalgal Ravi) and Charumati (Karthika) return to Bombay as adults. Despite Velu's reluctance, Surya follows his father's profession. Charumati is upset about this development and expresses her anguish to her father but in vain. When one of Velu's associates turns approver, Surya hires an assassin who kills the approver in the court. In his excitement, the assassin comes to meet Surya personally at a petrol station to report his deed. When the police surround them, Surya burns the petrol station to destroy all the evidence and escape, but is killed in the process. A distraught Charumati blames Velu for her brother's death and leaves him.

Several years later, Velu continues to dominate the area. A new ACP (Nassar) takes charge of the area and starts taking severe action against Velu's activities. He arrests many of Velu's men. When Velu goes to the ACP's home to caution him, he discovers that Charumati is the ACP's wife and that they have a son. Understanding the situation, Velu leaves. The ACP continues his punitive actions against Velu; however, he is unable to arrest him since the people in the area protect him and even set themselves on fire when the police approach his hideout.

Worried about his people dying, Velu calls Charumati and advises her to ask the ACP to arrest him after he completes the ceremony relating to Neela's death anniversary the next day. By then, ACP comes to know that his wife is Velu's daughter. When he reaches home, Charumati advises him to arrest her father the next day. The ACP arrests Velu, but due to lack of evidence, he is acquitted by the court. An excited crowd greets Velu when they see him coming out of the court but their joy turns to sorrow when Ajit, now aware of the truth behind his biological father's death, shoots Velu dead.

Cast

Lead actors

• Kamal Haasan as Sakthi Velu alias Velu Naicker
• Saranya Ponvannan as Neela
• Karthika as Charumati

Supporting actors

• Janagaraj as Selvam
• Vijayan as Thurai
• M. V. Vasudeva Rao as Hussain Bhai
• Delhi Ganesh as Iyer
• Nizhalgal Ravi as Surya
• Nassar as the Assistant Commissioner, also Charumati's husband
• Tara as Shyla
• Kuyili in a cameo appearance in "Nila Adhu Vanathumele"
• R. N. Sudarshan and R. N. Jayagopal as the Reddy brothers
• A. R. Srinivasan as the police commissioner who seeks Velu Nayakan's help
• Goga Kapoor as Chandrakant Kohli
• Pradeep Shakthi as Inspector Kelkar
• Kitty as Shaktivelu's father
• Tinnu Anand as Ajit Kelkar
• Prathapachandran as Minister of Law & Public Affairs

Production

Development

The two years I studied in Bombay (1975-77), he [Varadarajan Mudaliar] was at his peak. People in the Matunga belt thought he was God. I used to wonder how anyone could treat a fellow human as God. I never understood why they would do this. It fascinated me. It was such a dramatic story, this man going from Tamil Nadu to Bombay and ruling the city. I outlined this thought to Kamal Haasan and he said fine. That's it. It was done. Decided.

 – Mani Ratnam on his inspiration to make the film

Producer Muktha V. Srinivasan had earlier narrated the story to Sivaji Ganesan who agreed to act in the film. Amala was chosen as heroine. However Ananthu, then an associate of Kamal Haasan, felt that it would be a Ganesan-focused film and not a Haasan film as Ananthu thought that Haasan would fit the role better. The project was dropped. Haasan later told Srinivasan about the then upcoming director Mani Ratnam. Ratnam had previously wanted to cast Haasan as the protagonist in his debut film as director, Pallavi Anupallavi (1983), but the collaboration could not materialise then as Haasan was committed to Raja Paarvai (1981) at that time.

In 1986, Srinivasan came to Ratnam's house and gave him an envelope, which contained a cassette of Pagla Kahin Ka (1970). Ratnam, after watching the film, met Haasan and initially rejected the offer, citing that a story based on Pagla Kahin Ka was not his cup of tea. After Haasan asked him the kind of film he preferred to make, Ratnam suggested two stories: One was on the lines of Dirty Harry (1971) and Beverly Hills Cop (1984), while the other was based on the life of underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar. In September 1986, Haasan gave his schedule dates for the film to Srinivasan.

Casting

Ratnam wanted Haasan to have as realistic a look as possible. He preferred Haasan in traditional Hindu attire. Haasan was initially hesitant regarding his look and wanted to sport a beard similar to that of his old-aged look in Sagara Sangamam (1983), as he felt it would not give away his jaw line, which would reveal that the character was portrayed by a younger person. Ratnam, in turn, did not want Haasan to sport a look similar to Sagara Sangamam or any of his other previous films. Haasan sported dentures to provide some weight around his jaw for Velu Nayakan's old-age look.

Neela, the wife of Velu Nayakan, played by Saranya Ponvannan, who made her debut in the film, was created by Muktha Srinivasan as he felt that without the character, the film would have had more violent content and that it would not cater to family audiences. Ratnam wanted a "new face" to portray Neela as he felt the character would have the required zest and gusto if it was done by a newbie. Saranya sent her photograph to Ratnam to audition for the role. She was later added to the cast after a successful screen test. She was also the first and only person who auditioned for the role. Saranya's father was against her being cast, but she and her mother managed to convince him. Ratnam believes that Nassar was suggested to him by Haasan, when Raghuvaran was being considered for the role of Charumati's husband. Kuyili made a cameo appearance in the song "Nila Adhu Vanathumele" as a gypsy dancer. Actress Tara featured in an extended cameo appearance as Shyla.

Filming

Ratnam initially planned to complete the shooting in 60 days and 70 rolls of film. Haasan was paid ₹1.75 million (US$ 145,583 in 1987) and the initial budget for the film was ₹6 million (US$ 500,000 in 1987). But soon, time and cost overruns had increased the budget to ₹10 million (US$ 830,000 in 1987). Principal photography commenced in November 1986 and the first schedule lasted for 10 days. According to Ratnam, a three-day test shoot, unbeknownst to the producer, was done in December 1986 as the script for the film was not finalised at that time. The test shoots featured Haasan in his get-ups seen in the film, but they did not make it to the final version of the film. The test shoots, however, helped to get the technical aspects of the film on the right track.

Ratnam said the actual principal photography of Nayakan began in January 1987. 15 days of shooting took place in the slum areas of Dharavi. Using photographs taken there, the film's art director Thota Tharani created a set at Venus Studios in Chennai. Thousands of junior artists were hired to recreate the atmosphere of the slum areas. Additionally, Pigeons were brought for the same. Haasan helped in the make-up for the other actors in the film and asked Janagaraj and Delhi Ganesh to cut their hair so as to make their characters in their old age scenes look convincing. He used Ittar perfume for the female cast. Haasan also brought his own gun, sparing Ratnam the usage of a dummy. In the scene where Haasan chases the inspector, he uses his own bottle of sugar glass, which he had brought from the United States. Ratnam had marked around ₹1.2 million (US$ 100,000 in 1987) for the film's action sequences. In order to make the sequences slick and entertaining, cinematographer and stunt sequence director Jim Allen, who was known for his work stunt sequences in Sholay (1975) was chosen. But after three days, he was removed from the film as he charged ₹200,000 per day (US$ 16,000 in 1987) and Srinivasan could not afford the money. The remaining portions were shot at Bombay, including the portions involving Velu Nayakan's childhood life in the city. The scene featuring Neela studying for her Mathematics exams was suggested by Srinivasan. Velu Nayakan's childhood portions before he moves to Bombay were canned in Old Mahabalipuram Road for one and a half days. This was also the last part of the principal photography. According to Srinivasan, the film was completed in October 1987.

The song "Naan Sirithal Deepavali" was shot at the spot where the Taj Club House is located today. The old building previously located at that spot was called the "Indian Express Building" by film industrialists as it was adjacent to the Old office of the Indian Express. Thota Tharani converted the building's exterior into a brothel and used the opposite end of the building for Velu Nayakan's house location. Nayakan was notable for using frame-within-the-frame technique of filmmaking. Ratnam and Haasan met Varadaraja Mudaliar in person and it was Mudaliar who suggested to Ratnam that Velu Nayakan should die in the end when Ratnam asked Mudaliar how he would foresee his own death.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, this being his 400th film soundtrack. Pulamaipithan wrote the lyrics for all the songs except "Nila Adhu Vanathumele", which Ilaiyaraaja himself wrote.

The theme song "Thenpandi Cheemayile" plays for most of the film; during the introduction titles, it has the colloquial line "yaar adichaaro" (sung by Ilaiyaraaja), but when it plays later in the film, the line is altered to the more polished "yaar adithaaro" (sung by Haasan). Film critic Baradwaj Rangan asked Ratnam whether this change was an indication to the eventual refinement of Velu Nayakan. Ratnam said that Ilaiyaraaja's portions were recorded first, and that when they went for recording, they had this rustic version which lacked background music, and was of folk quality. Because the song was going to be repeated throughout the film, they also wanted a more orchestral version, and in this version sung by Haasan, the language became more sophisticated. The song "Nee Oru Kaadhal Sangeetham", which is based on the raga Kalyani, is featured on both sides of the original LP record as the second track.

For the Hindi dub, composer duo Deepak-Santosh were approached to replace two numbers. The song "Chaha Humne Tujhe" served as a replacement for "Nee Oru Kaadhal" from the Tamil original. However, the original song was dubbed in Hindi as "Jeevan Ka Sangeet" and is included in the version's soundtrack. "Sitam Ki Andhi Se" is another song that replaced "Thenpaandi Cheemayile" from the original.

Tamil track listing

Side A
No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Naan Sirithal Deepavali"	Pulamaipithan	K. Jamuna Rani, M. S. Rajeswari and chorus	4:46
2.	"Nee Oru Kadhal Sangeetham"	Pulamaipithan	Mano and K. S. Chitra	4:32
3.	"Andhi Mazhai Megam"	Pulamaipithan	T. L. Maharajan, P. Susheela and chorus	4:46

Side B
No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Nila Adhu Vanathumele"	Ilaiyaraaja	Ilaiyaraaja	5:01
2.	"Nee Oru Kadhal Sangeetham"	Pulamaipithan	Mano and K. S. Chitra	4:32
3.	"Thenpandi Cheemayile"	Pulamaipithan	Ilaiyaraaja and Kamal Haasan	4:32

Hindi tracklisting

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Chaha Humne Tujhe"	Nawab Arzoo	Deepak-Santhosh	Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik
2.	"Haiya Ho Haiya Ho"	P. K Mishra	Ilaiyaraaja	Leonara Issac, Sudesh Bhosle
3.	"Hazir Hai Dilber Mere Kadmon"	P. K Mishra	Ilaiyaraaja	Anupama Deshpande, Mitali Chowdhury
4.	"Jeevan Ka Sangeet Ho Tum"	P. K. Mishra	Ilaiyaraaja	Suresh Wadkar, Anupama Deshpande
5.	"Mastiyo Mein Dooba"	P. K. Mishra	Ilaiyaraaja	Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam and chorus
6.	"Sitam Ki Andhi Se"	Nawab Arzoo	Deepak-Santhosh	Hariharan

Release

Nayakan was released on 21 October 1987. The Censor Board at Chennai initially refused to permit the release of the film, as it was based on a living person. When the film was completed and the first print was ready, it ran for three hours. In order to tighten the screenplay to make the film entertaining, Srinivasan requested the film's editor Lenin to remove the scenes which were unnecessary. G. Venkateswaran bought the rights of the film after Srinivasan distributed the film.

Critical reception

On 1 November 1987, Ananda Vikatan said, "After a long time we have seen such an intense film in Tamil Cinema... Congratulations Mani Ratnam. Kamal underplayed his role beautifully and demonstrated his histrionics as a godfather in the film well... The film stands out for its sets, taking, colour, richness and international quality camera work" and gave the film one of its highest marks of 60. English journalist Phil Hardy stated in his 1997 book The BFI Companion to Crime, "From the films that followed in the wake of The Godfather, the most interesting is Mani Rathnam's Nayakan (1987) starring Kamalasan in a fictional version of the Bombay gangster Varadarajan Mudaliar's life."

Awards

At the 1988 National Film Awards, Nayakan won the awards for Best Actor (Kamal Haasan), Best Cinematography (P. C. Sriram) and Best Art Direction (Thotta Tharani). The film was India's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1988 at the 60th Academy Awards; however, it was not shortlisted among the final nominees.

Legacy

The film has been inspired from the influential american film The Godfather. As a part of its legacy, the film has been acclaimed for being a box-office success whilst containing the critic elements of art. In 2005, the magazine TIME included Nayakan in its list of "All-Time 100 Best Films". After the film was selected by TIME as one of the best, insiders of the magazine spoke about Ratnam's work in the film, saying "Ratnam has no such difficulty blending melodrama and music, violence and comedy, realism and delirium, into a two-and-a-half-hour demonstration that, when a gangster's miseries are mounting, the most natural solution is to sing in the rain." The tagline given to the film by TIME was "A terrific gangster epic in the Godfather style." The film was also ranked 13th in The Moving Arts Film Journal list of greatest films of all time. Nayakan was also included in NDTV's list "India's 20 greatest films". CNN-IBN included the film in its list of "100 greatest Indian films of all time". The famous line in the film, "Neenga Nallavara Kettavara?" (Are you good or bad?) was used in "The Punch Song", a song from the film, Aaha Kalyanam (2014). A poster of the film, designed by Abhinav Bhatt from Bangalore depicted Velu Nayakan being asked the line by his grandson. When questioned by Baradwaj Rangan about making a sequel to Nayakan, Ratnam said, "Never. When you finish a film, you're glad to be rid of it. You're happy you don't have to go back to that script again. Been there, done that."

The scenes and dialogues from the film have been parodied in Dumm Dumm Dumm (2001), Chellame (2004). When stand-up comedian and television anchor Bosskey launched a quirky play titled Dada (Don) in October 2005, he named the cast after famous characters in Tamil films. Accordingly, Anniyan (one of Vikram's character in the film), Badshah (Rajinikanth in Baashha) and Velu Nayakkar (Haasan's role in Nayakan) play the central characters of a family of brothers. Similarly, in the 2013 comedy film Onbadhule Guru, in which the characters were named after popular protagonists of Tamil cinema, a member of the supporting cast was christened Velu Nayakkar.

Controversy

In October 2012, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of Nayakan Haasan published an article in The Hindu, titled "Of course Velu Nayakan doesn’t dance", in which he recounted the making of the film. In that article, he derided Srinivasan, claiming that the latter was not happy about shooting the film in Mumbai, that films "were a business" for him and he "wasn't interested in films as art". In response, Srinivasan sent a legal notice to Haasan. He stated, "[Kamal Haasan] has abused me in his article, and this has deeply hurt me. I've been unable to do my job ever since I read the piece. I don't understand why he has to write about a film that was released long ago. I have been upset for the last couple of days and have lost my peace of mind." Srinivasan wrote an article titled "Living in past glory", his rejoinder to Haasan's article, in which he accused Haasan of "distorting the facts for reasons best known to him, and undermining the contributions made by everyone." He did, however, note, "I have nothing against Kamal Haasan taking credit for the success of Nayakan. But not at my cost, please."

See also

• List of submissions to the 60th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Indian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

External links

• Nayakan at IMDb
• Nayakan at Rotten Tomatoes