Mandela – Review
‘Mandela’ is the Tamil comedy drama film starring Yogi Babu and Sheela Rajkumar and directed by Madonne Ashwin. The movie is jointly produced by S Sashikanth, Chakravarthy, Ramachandra and Balaji Mohan. Bharath Sankar contributed the music, Vidhu Ayyanna handled the camera and Philomin Raj is the editor of the movie. Sangili Murugan, GM Sundar, Kanna Ravi and George Maryan are in key roles of the movie.
In the Village Panchayath of Soorangudi at the southern Tamil Nadu, the north and south regions of the village are occupied mainly by two major caste groups, who often clash with each other. The elder and ex-head of the village, Sangili Murugan, had married two women from the two different caste of the village, with the aim of uniting the village. His sons, GM Sundar and Kanna Ravi, the half brothers, are pitted against each other in the local body elections, as their father could not contest due to illness.
The speculations, based on the caste population, indicate equal numbers of votes for both and the winner will be decided by Yogi Babu, the Saloon man, who stands alone amidst them. And the rivals start doing all services to Yogi Babu for getting his vote. What all they do and what decision does Yogi Babu take, is the rest of the movie.
Yogi Babu’s characterization is done so perfectly with lot of dignity and the actor has exhibited an excellent performance and it is one of his best performances in the near past. He takes the main load in the second half, while letting the other supporting actors to deliver their best. Sheela Rajkumar’s role in the movie is matured, when compared to her earlier movies, but she has proved again that she is an actress of great talent.
GM Sundar and Kanna Ravi also have enough screen space and have done their parts very well. Sangili Murugan and the junior, who is the assistant to Yogi Babu, are among the others who have contributed their good performance. Most of the supporting actors are new to acting, but have done an impressive performance.
The debutant director Madonne Ashwin, deserves great appreciations, for an excellent movie in the exact time. Though the movie is a political and caste satire, neither any individual political party nor a particular caste, is indicated in specific, and still the message is delivered very effectively.
The technical team comprising Composer Bharath Shankar, Cinematographer Vidhu Ayyanna, Editor Philomin Raj and Art Director Ramu Thangaraj, has done appreciable job and added glory to the movie.
‘Mandela’ is an honest, clean and excellent movie, appropriate for family audience. It is an example, how to use the media.