A common man's struggles against a corrupt police force put him on the wrong side of the law. He becomes a don, who is loved and respected by many, but his growing power and influence exact a heavy toll.
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Title: Nayakan (1987)
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Kamal Haasan | ... | Velu Naicker (Sakthivelu) | |
| Saranya Ponvannan | ... | Neela (as Saranya) | |
| Delhi Ganesh | ... | Iyer | |
| Janakaraj | ... | Selva (as Janagaraj) | |
| Karthika | ... | Charumati | |
| Nassar | ... | Assistant Commissioner Patil (as Nasser) | |
| Tinnu Anand | ... | Ajit Kelkar | |
| Nizhalgal Ravi | ... | Surya | |
 |
M.V. Vasudeva Rao | ... | Hussain Bhai |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
A small boy (Ratnavelu) from Tamilnadu sees his father, a labor leader, killed in cold blood by a policeman. He kills the policeman and runs away to the city of Bombay. From there, the story traces his ascent to become a mafia chief (Velu Naicker). Written by Sathyanarayanan Narayanaswamy <sathya@ntd.comsat.com>
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Written by: Pulamaipithan
Produced by: Ilaiyaraaja
Performed by: Jamuna Rani, M.S. Rajeswari and chorus
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Did You Know?
Trivia
The film was dubbed in Telugu under the title "Nayakudu", and in Hindi as "Velu Nayakan" (1999). See more »Soundtracks
Naan Sirithal DeepawaliWritten by: Pulamaipithan
Produced by: Ilaiyaraaja
Performed by: Jamuna Rani, M.S. Rajeswari and chorus
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Country:
IndiaLanguage:
TamilRelease Date:
31 July 1987 (India) See more »Also Known As:
Nayakan See more »Company Credits
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Inspired by the true life story of Mumbai's Tamil don, Varadaraja Mudaliar, the movie 'Nayakan' portrays it so vividly and realistically of how the real-time character known popularly as 'Varadha Bhai' fled Tuticorin(Tamil Nadu) to seek his future in Mumbai. He came to be known as one of the godfathers of modern gangsterdom. Some other prominent names during his period were Karim Lala, etc. The days he spent fighting Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray who tried to run the Tamils out of Mumbai are golden days in history. Probably, the respect and influence Varadaraj Mudaliar had among the public inspired people like Dawood Ibrahim and others to take to such businesses. Mani Ratnam deserves full credit for the subject and screenplay. Kamal Hassan at the best of his career at an age of 32 playing the character of a 60-year-old man so perfectly with utmost ease.