Basic info
Director: Mani Ratnam Country: India; Year: 1987; Language: Tamil; Runtime: 155 min; Color: Color Producer: Muktha Srinivasan, Muktha V. Ramaswamy,G. Venkateswaran; Writer: Mani Ratnam; Cinematographer: P. C. Sreeram; Editor: B. Lenin, V. T. Vijayan; Composer: Ilaiyaraaja Cast: Kamal Haasan, Saranya, Karthika Genre: Epic, Crime, Thriller, Drama
Synopsis
The movie begins with anti-government union leader’s only son Sakthivel “Velu” arrested by the police and beaten in order to reveal his father’s whereabouts. Eventually, they trick him into meeting his father, where the policemen kill him. Feeling betrayed, Sakthivel stabs the police inspector and runs away to Bombay, where he is raised by Hussain, a kind-hearted smuggler living in the Dharavi slums. Hussain instills his kind-heartedness to the boy along with the constant will to help others, but when the boy becomes a young man, although shaped by his father’s virtues, is quite ambitious, which soon results in him taking up the smuggling business. His progress, his resolve and his courage start having great results, but his demands for bigger commissions anger his “associates”, who end up involving  police inspector Kelkar to arrest Hussain and kill him in jail, with the murder being written off as suicide. An enraged Vely soon kills the dirty cop, a deed that makes him rather popular in the Tamil community in the slums of Dharavi, whose members were always pinned down by the police and the ruling castes of the city. His deed however, also reveals to him the consequences of murder, as he soon meets Kelkar’s family, which consists of his wife and a mentally challenged son Ajit, whom Vely decides to take care. As time passes, Velu meets Neela (a school girl who is working as a prostitute), whom he eventually marries and has two children with, while his power and command grows significantly, always with the help of his dedicated friend, Selva. Naturally, he makes powerful enemies who make attempts on his life. In one such attack, Neela is killed. Fearful of the safety of his children (Surya and Charumathi),Velu sends them to Madras. Later they returned to Bombay as adults. Surya follows Velu’s footsteps. But when Surya is killed trying to flee the police, Charumathi blames Velu for the deaths of Neela and Surya. She decides to leave Bombay citing that she wants to get away from her father and his violent ways. The tragedies in his life, though, seem to increase along with his power, and his happiness is always followed by intense sadness.
Interesting links
Review by Art House Cinema in https://www.arthousecinema.in/2020/04/nayakan-1987/
Review by Sujatha Narayanan in The New Indian Express
Review by James Berardinelli in Reel Views
Where to watch/buy?
Youtube
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