Mandela (2021 film)

In a small village named Soorangudi in Tamil Nadu, the population is around 840 people, and it is split into two caste-based factions, Northerners and Southerners. The long-unopposed village president, a follower of caste indiscrimination, has two wives, a Northerner and a Southerner. His elder son's mother is a Northerner, and the mother of the younger son is a Southerner. Both sides are led by their respective son. Both side have been at odds with each other, hampering any development of the village.

During an opening of a public toilet in the village, a feud breaks out between the Northerners and Southerners, and the neglected president becomes paralysed. Since village election is months away, and taking into account of the president's health, MLA suggests he appoint one of his sons, Rathinam or Mathi, as his successor. The MLA needs the president for a work contract of 3 crore. Unable to reach a conclusion, the two brothers decide to contest the election against each other. The election is divided along caste lines. Based on pre-polling, it turns out the vote is evenly split.

Smile is a homeless lower-caste local barber living in Soorangudi. He lives with his assistant Side Burn in a banyan tree. One day he visits a post office for a money deposit. Since he doesn't have an identification card yet, the postmaster helps him apply for a new identification card. The postmaster suggests he don a new name, 'Nelson Mandela', citing Nelson Mandela as an metaphor for the fact that Smile is not on any side in the election.

When Mandela's voter ID and list arrives, both of the brothers try to win his vote by continuously giving him gifts, fulfilling Mandela's wants. However, after many days when Mandela is still undecided, the MLA suggests that they auction off Mandela's vote. During the auction, Mandela's assistant reveals that the losing side plan to maim him. His assistant tricks the brothers into abandon the auction by falsely claiming that the president has died. When the brothers find out they have been lied to, they brutally thrash them and disallow them from leaving the village.

Both brothers give up hope on gaining Mandela's vote. However, when the MLA reveal the full amount of work contract is worth 30 crore, both the brothers have a renewed enthusiasm to win Mandela's vote and the election. They again try to win the favour of Mandela. However, this time Mandela demands the money they declare during auction be used for various development of the village, and that he will vote for the one who contributed most to the development of the village. Both of the brothers reluctantly yield to his demand, but are annoyed by all the trouble they have to go through for Mandela's vote. Both sides agree that the losing side will kill him.

On election day, the postmaster suggests that Mandela escape the village after casting his vote, but Mandela insists that he must carry on his father's legacy of running the barber shop. Mandela returns to his banyan tree after casting his vote, while thugs sent by the brothers wait for election results, ready to kill Mandela. The president, postmaster, and many villagers come to Mandela's aid on the pretext of getting a haircut. The ending scene shows a standoff between the two brothers, and Mandela with the villagers, all the while election result is being declared.

The film was announced by debutant director Madonne Ashwin in July 2019, and principal photography began the very same day.^[7] Yogi Babu was chosen to play the lead role as a barber.^[8] Director Balaji Mohan came on board as co-producer of the film which also marked his maiden feature film production venture for his Open Window Productions banner. Madonne who was a participant in the reality show Naalaya Iyakunar came up with the script to Balaji who expressed his interest in setting a production venture, but to have a wide reach, he approached S. Sashikanth to jointly produce the film. Talking about the script, Balaji stated, "It is a social satire, set against a rural backdrop. It talks about quite a few things that are relevant in today’s scenario. Though it will have humour, it will be more sensible and meaningful."^[9] Principal photography wrapped in November 2019 with just a single schedule.^[10]

The music is composed by Bharath Sankar of the Oorka band. The soundtrack album featured six tracks with lyrics written by Yugabharathi, Arivu, Mamiliva Randriamihajasoa, Pradeep Kumar and Bharath Sankar. One song "Oru Needhi Onbadhu Saadhi" was released as a single on 19 March 2021,^[11] and the remaining tracks were released on 28 March 2021, through Sony Music South label.^[12]

In March 2021, YNOT Studios decided to release the film as a direct television premiere on Star Vijay on 4 April 2021 and the film would be globally streamed via Netflix from 9 April 2021.^[13][14] However, the Netflix release was brought forward to 5 April 2021.^[15][16] The film's theatrical premiere was held at PVR Cinemas, Chennai on 31 March 2021.^[17]

Thinkal Menon from The Times of India praised the performances of the cast and technical aspects, and wrote that the film is "outright hilarious from the word go, though it deals with umpteen relevant, sensitive topics". Menon further gave three-and-a-half out of five stars for the film.^[18] Ranjani Krishnakumar of Firstpost gave 4 stars (out of 5) for the film, further stating it as "Mandela is a film that will remind us of our priorities. It will encourage us to think about our rights as people and our power when we're together, and will also stand as a thoughtful and optimistic view of democracy, for one and all."^[19] Manoj Kumar R of The Indian Express, wrote "This political satire is direct and obvious in its messaging. And that adds to the movie's strengths and makes the narration more effective", and rated the film three out of five.^[20] Srivatsan S of The Hindu wrote "‘Mandela’ is a first-rate political satire that shows how deep-seated caste is, by taking an unflinching yet unsentimental look."^[21] Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times wrote "The film allows Yogi Babu to truly showcase his potential and he plays the titular character with so much sincerity."^[22] Navien Darshan of Cinema Express gave 3.5 stars (out of 5) stating it as "A hilarious and yet, hard hitting entertainer backed by strong writing and performances".^[23]