Mandela (2021)

The one-vote-makes-a-difference story was tackled in a tepid, commercial manner in A R Murugadoss' Sarkar back in 2018. Mandela, written and directed by Madonne Ashwin, strips itself off usual Tamil cinema tropes, positions itself as a no-holds-barred political satire (without pointing fingers), and most importantly, entertains for nearly 140 minutes. The film is set in a small village, closely following events that lead up to a local body election, where two half-brothers are battling it out. Caste division is rampant in the village, distinguishing people as either Southerners or Northerners. You can picture this story play out not just in rural Tamil Nadu, but in entire rural India.

Yogi Babu plays Smile, the local barber, who becomes an overnight sensation as his vote is deemed the deciding factor in the election. The simple, straightforward story is given the comical treatment with almost all one-liners tickling our funny bone. There is a host of interesting characters too, with great comedic timing. In fact, they can transition from funny to menacing to funny again in a matter of seconds. Leading from the front is a restrained Yogi Babu (who adopts the name Nelson Mandela in the film), who gets to display his acting chops without having to resort to stale, body-shaming humour. His teenaged side-kick (aptly named Sideburn) is also on point here.

Ashwin deserves applause for tackling such a publicly-known-yet-rarely-discussed issue of caste politics and corruption with reasonable maturity. The film does feel slightly stretched in the second half, but the final 30 minutes compensates for that with a lot of fun, feel-good moments. Another appreciable aspect is how Thenmozhi, the newly appointed postwoman, is the one that sets the engrossing chain of events in motion. She isn't just an appear-and-disappearing heroine. I liked how she, along with the leader of the village panchayat, both command presence in the film's climax.

Mandela is a neat pick by Netflix. It deserves to be seen by a much larger audience, beyond the borders of Tamil Nadu. I had a great time with it!

Fmovies: This is fantastic movie. It has got plenty of comedies and quite a bit of emotions. It got scenes with extremely realistic incidents which can be easily compared and understand with real world political stands.

There are some super creative makings as well. This movie is well deserved for repeated audience.

Every Indian voter must see this movie.

The movie has to be voice dubbed in all our Indian languages and must be released in all states of our country Nothing much to say.

Hatsoff to the entire team of Mandela.

Mandela fmovies. Beautiful story line & screenplay. A long walk/journey for Mr.yogibabu who excels in acting.

From all aspects good. Unexpected i watched this movie. This should have been one of the block buster movie if it was marketed properly.

Few more strong scence to show people and mandala bond would have taken this to next level.

One of the best movies I've ever watched. An astounding movie. Yogi Babu killed it!