Naan Kadavul (2009)

Rudran (Arya) in Kasi. Fourteen years later, repenting his act he goes with his daughter in search of him. He finds him there but is shocked to learn that he has become an Aghori, a ... See full summary »

Director:

Bala

Writers:

Bala (story), Bala

Stars:

Arya, Pooja Umashankar, Rajendran

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Arya	...	Aghori (as Rudra)
Pooja Umashankar	...	Blind woman
Rajendran	...	Thandavan
Krishnamoorthy	...	Murugan
Singampuli	...	Beggar
Rajendranath	...	Police Officer

Storyline

Rudran (Arya) in Kasi. Fourteen years later, repenting his act he goes with his daughter in search of him. He finds him there but is shocked to learn that he has become an Aghori, a character who gives moksha and prevents the soul from getting rebirth. Nevertheless he brings him back to Tamil Nadu. The story takes a turn here and introduces us to the world of physically and mentally challenged beggars. A world controlled by the cruel Thandavan (Rajendran). Hamsavalli (Pooja Umashankar) a blind girl is forcefully separated from her troop and made to join the beggars. Soon she becomes another victim of Thandavan's cruelty. Meanwhile, Rudran leaves his house to find his place on a small cave, and soon meets Hamsavalli, who tries her best to convince him to return home, but fails. Thandavan then takes a deal with a Malayali man of the same profession to sell some of the beggars.The Malayali guy forcefully takes the beggars away,although they want to stay with the rest of the beggars. He ...

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Plot Keywords:

beggar | reference to god | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Tamil

Release Date:

6 February 2009 (India)

Also Known As:

I am God

Filming Locations:

Benares, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Box Office

Budget:

INR 140,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pyramid Saimira Group, Vasan Visual Ventures

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film took nearly four years to complete, with the initial release date being November 2005.

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Connections

Referenced in Boss Engira Baskaran (2010)

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Soundtracks

Om Siva Om
Written by Vaali
Performed by Vijay Prakash
Music by Ilaiyaraaja

User Reviews

A defining moment in spreading vedanta thru the media

Philosophically rich and very realistic to those who have seen and dwelt in the social-law defying black hole that is sometimes India. Divine and terrible at once, spiritual and materialistic living hand in hand. Like the beggars around the holy man in the South Indian temple who themselves dress themselves up as great sadhus but are mere men. It takes a trained eye to differentiate the true sadhus from the fake in India.

This is not a brutal movie deifying moral killing. It is a true telling of the beliefs and lives of a sect of people who practice a system of law and order much older than the English language. The court scene punctuates the point further; does a easily corruptible legal system really serve justice better than the judgment of one realised soul? What the movie doesn't perhaps cover too well is that by punishing the unjust/unwilling to live, the Aghori is taking on his/her karma on himself and considers it a task that he is duty bound to do.

The personality of Rudra's mother is a stereotype taken out of vedantic stories of mothers who want the best for their children yet who struggle to release their offspring who wish to dedicate their lives to god. Very similar to a mothers reaction to a child wishing to become a nun or a priest in the western world. The sage Ramana Maharishi's mother struggled similarly to accept his calling.

They say you cannot convert into Hinduism, that you must be born into it. Perhaps more such movies are necessary in this globalised age for the world to breach this misconception and bring the philosophies of the east and west together. There is still so much I can learn from this movie and I intend to watch it often enough to grasp exactly what the writers were trying to say.