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

Madela (2021) : Movie Review -

Tamil Cinemas deserves a big round of applause for taking this subject on. The cinematic aspects can be discussed later but firstly a loud scream only for making this satirical and revolutionary film. Mandela is a political satire set in the election battlefield where nothing matters except for vote but surprisingly it goes beyond that to send a few revolutionary thoughts to all the voters of the country. It is an absolute entertainer with lots of humour but moreover it is must attend thought-provoking seminar for every 18+ person in the society.

So, Madela is about a barber from the low caste who is almost like an exiled begger in the village. His fate turns overnight when he becomes the single deciding vote in the village elections. Now, here he decided to live for himself only to cause him dangerous implications and then how he brings a revolutionary change in the village is all you get to see in the film. The writing is top notch considering the value of this subject and how carefully it is handled without breaking any set terms of electoral process. The screenplay adds entertaining elements to keep it engaging and crispy and it also keeps many surprises in store.

Madela is a story of a barber hence he's the man who gets all the attraction throughout the film but unexpectedly it has plenty of supporting roles having solid impact and longer screen presence. Yogi Babu as Mandela is hilarious and technically very sounded according to different different situations. Sheela Rajkumar as his female interest is simple but effective. You know, keeping the romance and typical love story aside is one of the finest thing happened to Mandela. The storyline did not required any useless romance just to please the mainstream massy audience and it's a very good thing that this Sheela Rajkumar's character didn't go that way. In supporting roles, GM Sundar and Kanna Ravi share a blasting chemistry of rivals.

Talking about the technical aspects, Mandela is by far decent here. It doesn't add up anything from the music and cinematography due the completely repulsive content but using all the stuff as per requirement has helped the film to look more real. Director Madonne Ashwin has written it too, so he knew exactly what to do it and how to present it. Comedy, humour, drama, emotions and social awakening he kept all the ingredients in correct sizes, none of them overtakes any. Ashwin also puts enough heart touching moments like the climax scene and disturbing ones like the casteism and inequality. A special mention to the dialogue writer for some clapworthy one liners. One the best one goes like this, "You don't know how to vote but you know to make money from that vote." Claps! Overall, Madela is one of the most socially important films coming from south cinema and deserves your attention for so many reasons. Watch it.

RATING - 7/10*

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!