G.D.N. tells of another Thomas Edison in colonial India

Gopalaswamy Doreiswamy Naidu is not well known, even in India, but he is a most remarkable man who has finally been depicted in a major film "G.D.N." (2026).

The film starts near the end of his life when tax authorities are trying confiscate his wealth and then we switch to a textbook committee meeting that was to discuss books for the next school year.  A strange woman enters and explains she wants to make sure they include a chapter on G.D. Naidu while a few protest that he a traitor, a  tax evader and not properly educated having dropped out of school after grade 3.  She gives each member a copy of some biographical information and the story moves on.

We are introduced to a young G.D. Naidu as he wants to buy a motorcycle to see how it works.  He is very curious person, studying lots of processes.  Another move is to work at a cotton mill owned by Robert Stanes and find a way to improve cotton processing that led him to start his own mill.  While there he learned to speak English.  Unfortunately he gambled on prices and lost when the market for cotton declined.

He goes back to Robert Stanes asking for a job and instead is given a bus.  After a few years he proved his management skills after devising more efficient routing he persuaded a number of bus drivers to join him, pooling their resources to share in profits.  At one point United Motor Services had 600 buses.  This is also where he partnered with Ramiah Pillai who stuck with him to the end.

His list of innovations is diverse.  In agriculture he made improvements with cotton, maize and papaya.  He found better ways to extract fruit juice.  He made voting machinery more safe and efficient.  Motors was one of his first interests and that is reflected in transportation.  One sideline was developing an electric shaving razor.  Education was boosted by encouraging wider spread schools.  He was a founder of a polytechnical institute and revised a curriculum to give engineering training in only two years.  Concerned over the plight of the poor he developed a way to construct a more affordable, safe house in one day.  A man who loved taking photos he developed accessories to make cameras more efficient.  

As he succeeds he is generous to his fellow Indians which of course upset some British.  They tried to cut him down using tax rules to force him into a corner.  One British colonist, Winston Smith did some dirty tricks to stop him, but was constantly outsmarted.  He then hooked up with a high level income tax collector, Ambalapara Kristnan who over years was always finding parts of Naidu's business to tax and try to confiscate his assets, but failed.

His employees, and customers could see through the attempt and helped him evade unfair taxes.  Other tricks learned was to have the stock given to a dog and another was to divorce his wife giving her the right to take 98% of his assets, so the government could not confiscate 80% of them and still live together.     

He travelled over Europe and elsewhere looking for suppliers and ideas.  He spent time in Britain, France, Belgium and Nazis Germany and eventually got a deal with Benz to manufacture automobiles in his part of India.  These efforts branded him a traitor.  

At the end we learn the textbook committee has been swung over and there is an ironic twist.

"G.D.N." makes a good case for great contributor to India.  A lot of people help present a superb case.  Here are a few.

A key person was Madhavan who played.the title character, but more than that  he co-wrote the script and was also a producer.  He had won a national public speaking award and is fluent in English, Hindi and Tamil.  He took part in a student exchange program to Stetler, Alberta, Canada,  He has appeared in such films as "Rang de Basanti" (2006), "Guru" (2007) and "3 Idiots" (2009) which were all exceptional.  Altogether he has 100 acting credits, 5 for writing and 1 for directing.  Another film was the American, "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" (2012).  My first awareness of him was with "Kannathil Mutthamthal" (A Peck on the Cheek) (2002), but I assumed it was a Bollywood film and much later learned it was a Tamil film, opening another door for me.  Other films include "Arbe Sivan" (2003), "Tanu Weds Manu" (2011), "Dhoka" (2022) and "The Railway Men" (2023). See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/11/the-railway-men.html   In "G.D.N." one scene had him throwing away a cigarette as requested by Ramiah Pillai.  It turns out that Madhavan in real life does not smoke although willing to act if the script calls for it.

Krishnakumar Ramakumar was the director and co-writer.  He was the founder of Black Box Films in Chennai that mostly does advertisements.  He has 3 directing credits, 1 for writing and 31 for acting including "Madras Cafe" (2017).

Sathyjaraj played Ramiah Pillai, the loyal supporter.  He has 233 acting credits and 2 for producing including "Mersal" (2017), "Baahubala:  The Conclusion" (2017) and "Idly Kadri" (2025).

Priyamani played Chellamanal, the first wife who asked for a divorce so as not to drag him down.  She modelled which led to films.  She has acted in Hindi, Tami, Telegu, Malayalam and Kannada films.  Primayami has 85 acting credits including "Raavan" (2010), "Raavanan" (2010),  "Chennai Express" (2013), "The Family Man" (2019-2025), "Article 370" (2024) and "Maidaan" (2024).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/03/the-family-man.html                     

Durshal Vijayan played Ranganyaki, Naidu's second wife who stuck with him through a wide variety of circumstances.  She studied fashion design which led to modelling and in turn tv. commercials and then films. In 2017 she won a contest for Face of Chennai and in the same year Miss South India, placing second.  She has 14 acting credits including "Natchaathiriam Nagangirahu" (2022).

Richard Bhakti Klein played Robert Stanes who gave Naidu critical support.  Lived in America and moved to Mumbai in 2005.  For a few years he was a professional singer/guitarist and has taught music and science.  He has 92 acting credits including "Dear Zindagi" (2016), "Gully Boy" (2019), "Love Aaj Kal" (2020), "RRR" (2022), "Dunki" (2023) and "Maidaan" (2024)  See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/06/maidaan.html

Jayaram played Ambalapara Krishnan, the brutal income tax collector you will come to hate.  He has 250 acting credits, 4 for the music department and 1 for additional crew including "Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo" (2020), "Poniyin Selvan, Part 1" (2022) and "Hi Nanna" (2023).    See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/01/hi-nanna.html   

"G.D.N." is available dubbed and subtitled on Netflix

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally these are among my favourites.  The cast and crew are well connected to outstanding films and if you follow the links you should be better able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.

Meiyazhagan

 "Meiyazhagan" is a family story with no sex or violence.  Unfortunately families sometimes fall out and hard feelings sometimes last a long time.  

At the beginning we see a younger version of Aural  leaving his home after some sort of dispute which he felt he had lost.  We know it had something to do with house ownership and he felt he had unfairly lost.  Soon we are sent forward 22 years and we see an older Aural in another city with his wife and explaining why he feels he should attend a wedding, but doesn't intend to stick around.  

Then he is greeted by an unknown man.  This unknown man claims to know Aural from childhood, but Aural cannot not name or place him.  A lot of conversations, but Aural keeps trying to break away.  The unknown man is persistent and tricks Aural into staying overnight.  Aural does change, but you will have to wait until the end to learn the identity of the unknown man

Attitudes gained from harsh experiences are not easily changed.  The process is not particularly noticed.

The title, Meiyazhagan means man with truth as beauty in Tamil.

C. Prem  Kumar was the director and writer.  He started his film career as a cinematographer where he earned 6 credits and he now has 3 credits for directing and 3 credits for writing (the 3 same films).  His credits included " 96" (2018) and "Jaanu" (2020).   A film critic Baradwaj Rangan noted an encouraging similarity between the two Tamil films.  He felt both stories had a traumatized lead character who met the other lead character and after long conversations the trauma was resolved.  Baradwaj felt the plots were therapeutic.

 Jyotika and her husband Suriya were the producers.  Jyotika has performed in Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam and Hindi films.  She has 50 acting credits including "Raatchasi" (2019), "Thambi" (2019) "Ponmagal Vandhal" (2020) and "Srikanth" (2024).  She has been a producer for 6 films.  For her acting check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/04/raatchasi.html  For her producing check where she was heavily involved with my top overall film for 2021, "Jai Bhim"   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/11/jai-bhim.html

Govind Vasantha composed the music.  He also sings and plays the violin.  He was a founder of the band Thaikkum Bridge.  He has 41 credits for composing and 14 for the music department including "Solo" (2017), "Thambi" (2019), "Ponmagal Vandhal" (2020),  "Jaanu" (2020) and "Soorari Pottru" (2020)

Mahedran Jayaraju was the cinematographer.  He has 6 cinematography credits including "Jaanu" (2020).

 R. Govindaraj was the editor with 9 editing credits.

Karthi played the unknown man.  He earned a Master of Engineering degree and then went to the University  Binghampton in the U.S. to earn a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering where he also attended some lectures on film.  Soon he used family connections to get into film back in India.  He has 30 acting credits, 2 for the Music Department and 1 for Assistant Directing including "Thambi" (2019), "Ponnlyn Selvan, Part 1" (2022) and "Ponnlyn Selvan, Part 2" (2024) and "Annapoormi" (2023).

Arvind Swamy played Arul.  After an education in India he went to Wake Forest University in North Carolina for a Master degree in international business while he was active in overlapping with his film career.  He had a serious injury and took years off from acting, coming back in 2013.  He has been a playback singer and a dubber (in Tamil).   Arvind has 34 acting credits including "Roja" (1992), "Bombay" (1995) "Kadal" (2013) and "IC 814:  Kandahar Hijack" (2024).  "Kadal" has a song by A.R. Rahman that is number one in my collection.  see http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/09/ic-814-kandahar-hijack.html

Sri  Divya  plays Nandhini, the wife of the unknown man.  Her first experience in films was as a 3 year old on a children's movie.  She has 24 acting credits including "Jana Gana Mana" ((2022).  see                http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/06/jana-gana-muna.html

Devadarshini plays Hema, the wife of Arul.  While in college she anchored some television shows.  She has 82 acting credits including "Enthiran" (2010), "Eega" (2012) and "Mersal" (2017).

Available on Netflix with subtitles.  If you appreciate family dynamics this is a must.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally I found them worthy of my time.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.

Maamannan

Power struggles are a common theme in stories.   Caste still plays a powerful role in India and is often tied to money, i.e. old money.  Political power is tied to economical power.

The relationship between Maamannan and his son Veeran is generational.  The father accepts the caste reality and tries to work within it. Veeran resents his father's compliance with the upper caste.  Ratinavelu is a brash upper caste man who is ruthless.  In one scene we see him beat a hunting dog to death.   In others he beat humans and humiliates Maamannan by forcing him not to sit.

Ratinavelu raises hunting dogs which are sometimes let loose.  He reveals his violent nature by on at least two occasions he kills his own dogs in a rage.  Veeran on the other hand raises pigs which sometimes are victims of the dogs.  Leela is brought into the script not so much as a romantic interest as a feminist protagonist who has had her fitness studio attacked.

The situation escalates when an election is called.  The violence is to intimidate.  Maamannan's style is not to retaliate and in the end his style wins him another election.  He is reconciled to his son Veeran.  

Violence is throughout the story, most of it mindless or in retaliation.  Some what exaggerated, but more realistic than I have seen in other Tamil films.  The end provides hope of progress for true equality and left a good feeling.  Freedom is not won cheaply.

It takes a good cast and crew to make such a fine film.  Here are some key ones.

Mari  Selvaraj, writer/director with only his third film. 

Udhayanidhi Stalin is the producer and also the lead actor, Veeran.  He started as a producer and got acting roles.  He has 15 credits as a producer and 18 for acting.  His father has been the  Chief Magistrate for Tamil Nadu.  Udhayanidhi  has become involved in politics and has decided to drop films for the time being.

A R. Rahman, one of the foremost composers in India and beyond provided the music.   He studied piano at age 4 and became involved with his father's musical business  including composing.  His father died when he was 9 and it was a scramble to get education.  Nonetheless his education did include music and at a young age involved writing music for  tv. ads and organizing rock bands.  At the age of 23 he converted to Islam and adopted his current name.  Mani Ratnam approached him to write music for the Tamil film, "Roja" (1992).  He has 204 film scores including "Bombay" (1995), "Fire" (1996), "Dil Se" (1998), "Lagaan:  Once Upon a Time in India" (2001), " Kannathil Muthamittal" (2002), "Swades" (2004), "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008), "Gajini" (2008), "Rockstar" (2011), "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" (2012), "Kadal" (2013), "The Hundred Foot Journey" (2014) and "Pele:  Birth of a Legend" (2018).  He has won 2 Oscars and numerous other awards.  He has performed as a playback singer in several films including this one.

Theni Eswar was the cinematographer.  He has 13 film credits including "Taramani" (2017), "Peranbu" (2018), "Merku Thodarchi Malai" (2018) and "Paava Kedhaigal" (2020).  Check my top film for 2020:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/03/peranbu-top-film-out-of-india.html

Silva Rk, the editor has 19 film credits.

Vadivelu plays title character who rose above his Dalit background, but is still deferential to those above him.  He normally is seen in comic roles or supporting.  He has 224 film credits including "Kanthaswamy" (2009), "Mersal" (2017) and "Thambi"(2019).

Fahadh Faasil  played Ratinavelu a real rotten bastard such a contrast to many of his other roles.  He comes from a film family, but his first film was an embarrassing failure.  He left and amongst other things got a philosophy degree from the University of Miami.  Returning home he renewed his film career and now has 60 film credits as an actor and another 4 as a producer.  His films include "Bangalore Days" (2014), "Take Off" (2017), "Nijan Prakashan" (2018), "Kumbalango" (2019), "C U Soon" (2020) and "Pushpa: The Rise" (2022).  Check another top favorite movie:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/03/bangalore-days.html

Keerthy Suresh plays Leela, the female lead.  She came from a film family and had a few roles as a child actress.  In school she won some swimming awards.  She went on to get a degree in fashion design and participated in an exchange program in Scotland and an internship in London.  Back to films she has 35 film credits covering Tamil, Malayalam and Telegu including "Mahanti" (2018), "Penguin" (2020) and "Vaashi" (2022).  At one time she was the highest paid actress in south India.

Ravenna Ravi played Jyothi, the wife of Ratinavelu who occasionally restrains his temper outbursts.  Her career started with dubbing for Tamil, Malayalam and Telegu films with 19 film credits.  She has compiled 9 credits for acting.

Lal had a small role as a political operative.  He has been an actor, directer, writer and producers.  He has over 150 film credits including "Thottappan" (2011), "Pulimuragan" (2016), "Helen" (2019) and "Kaaval" (2021). 

There is violence and cruelty to animals that would disturb some viewers.  The rest of us might feel a bit nauseous, but message would be visible.  Good production values.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.

Love Today

How smart are we?  Smart phones have opened up new portals of communication, but also retain many secrets.  As a youngster we told our friends lots of secrets and naughty things, but now we tell them to the world and have them on record, not just someone's word for it.  How many times have you said something you wish nobody heard?  How about things you made up?

In India arranged marriages are common while young adults are more determined for love partners.  In "Love today" (2022) one father trying to control his daughter Nitkitha's dating has cornered her most determined suitor, Pradeep and forces the two of them to swap their smart phones for 24 hours.  They each think they know everything about their lover, but this is a real test.  They also feel they can trust the other.

There are lots of ways to hide previous conversations, but determined efforts soon reveal lots of secrets.  Although the secrets are proclaimed to be explainable, jealousy is hard to avoid and both play hardball games to delve into what they hadn't expected.  She learned a dog Pradeep gave her had been given to him by an ex girlfriend

The father is cut off, but is suspicious and proposes more technological efforts so that more of their secrets can be uncovered  

Pradeep's sister, Divya found her groom, Dr Yogi to be very considerate of her privacy, but she became distrustful and wanted to duplicate swap.  Again we find hidden secrets.

Many embarrassing secrets were hidden requiring clever explanations that didn't always add up. some honest misunderstandings occurred and many details forgotten.  False accounts had been set up.  Human nature encouraged to bury some things that might hurt someone else while at the same time seeming to avoid being honest.  Perhaps the most difficult thing was when a video was uncovered with Nikitha in a sexually compromising position.  Her father does not believe her denials, but this becomes the test of trust.  Romance comedies aren't supposed to have unhappy endings and clever writers want to make a social point.  How they resolve the very awkward situation brought by smart phones is for you to watch.

One of the lessons is that everyone has a past, but need to focus on the future.  Unfortunately too many of our fellow humans find it very difficult to overlook past mistakes or to forgive past misdeeds.  Modern technology too easily preserves things best forgotten.

It is a film that effectively makes a point about our current social mores.  A lot of effort and talent was used.  Here is a brief outline of those who contributed to its success.

Pradeep Raganathan played Pradeep, the smart alecky boyfriend, but was also the writer and director and even wrote some of the lyrics.   His previous film, "Comali" (2019) he also wrote and directed and had a small role. 

Ivana, in only her third role played Nikitha, Pradeep's girl friend.  Comic for much of the time, but upset as learned her boy friend had been associated with secrets and naughty things.  Her father could be trying.

Sathyaraj played the father of Nikitha who initiates the swap.  Film credits include "Baahubali" (2015),  and "Baabubali 2" (2017), "Thambi" (2019).

Raveen Ravi played Pradeep's sister who had been impressed by her fiance's concern for her privacy, but came to suspect he too was hiding secrets. 

Yogi Babu plays the groom for sister Mandela who goes through a parallel swap.  Yogi was an assistant director, writer and actor  for a tv. series, "Lullu Sabha" (2004-2007).  A popular award winner his film credits include  "Chennai Express" (2013) "Comali" (2019), "Mersal" (2017), "Mandela" (2021) and "Doctor" (2021).  A popular actor he is kept busy in Tamil cinema mostly playing comic supporting roles and twice being the leading character.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/04/mandela-tamil-satire-with-apt.html

I will admit it took awhile for me to have confidence in this film, but it did come through, Well worth the time to watch it.

Raatchasi

One thing that promotes equality is education.  That is if everyone gets quality education. that is still an ideal that many are struggling to achieve.  "Raatchasi" (2019) focuses on a group of people who have to fight against vested interests.  Partly it is a private school system but also partly it is complacency.  

The existing teacher staff has become lazy and allowed their knowledge and skills to atrophy.  The drop out rate is large with many quitting as soon as old enough.  The new headmistress, Geetha is determined to change that, but over the course of the film she encounters resistance.  She found an English teacher who couldn't speak English, a math teacher who didn't understand about computers, a history teacher who didn't understand purpose was to not repeat mistakes.  She felt arts and sports were important and motivating.

Recognizing money is a big part of the problem, one of her tools is to charge up fundraising.   The private school owner, Ramalingam, feels it is in his best interest to tamp down any government revenue going to their school system.  He senses Geetha is making progress and sends some goons to curtail her, but are surprised to learn she is a skilled fighter.  She is not only smart, but understanding and eventually gains the support of the staff and parents, but not before overcoming many obstacles.

Director was Sy Gowthamraj, written by Bharathi Thambi and produced by S.R. Prabhu and S.R. Prakashbabu who also produced  "Taanakkaran" (2022).  One comment when school budget challenged by the police budget was that education lessens the need for the police.   Check:   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/04/taanakkaran-colonial-police-legacy.html

Music by Sean Roldan who did "Jai Bhim" (2021)--see below.  Also composed for "Mehandi Circus" (2019).

Cinematography by Gokul Benoy.

Editor Philomin Raj who also did "Jai Bhim"  Mehandi Circus" (2019) and "Mandela" (2021) .  Check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/04/mandela-tamil-satire-with-apt.html

Joythika played the heaadmistress Geetha and won an award for the role.  Other films include "Thambi" (2019) and with her husband, Suriyv she produced one of the highest ever IMDB rated films "Jai Bhim"  Check   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/11/jai-bhim.html

 Hareesh Peradi played Ramalingam, the private school owner, a not very likable character.  Hareesh has been in both the Malayalam and Tamil films industries.  His movies include "Pulimurugan" (2016), "Vikram Vedha" (2017), "Mersal" (2017) and "Thambi" (2019).

The world is better off the more education can be spread around.  Trump once commended the "poorly educated" for their support.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.

"Mandela" a Tamil satire with apt references for the U.S. Senate

 Satires make all sorts of points  If you are not familiar with Tamils you may have heard of the Tamil Tigers, the originators of suicide bombers.  But this is not them, these ones are in a small rural village in India (not Sri Lanka).  They have a long history of film making that includes political satire.  Netflix recently offered this film for streaming.

A homely man, pictured to the left, of a lower caste is early shown no respect.  His caste allows him few opportunities and he is the village barber.  The film starts off with some scattological humour that illustrates how humiliating a low caste person is treated.  In India public toilets were an election promise to dramatically improve economics, feminism and of course health. 

While talking to a female postal employee we learn he has no legal name, just insulting nicknames.  The clerk after trying several names is inspired by a postage stamp and suggests the name Nelson Mandela.  He has never heard of him, but sees a photo that faintly resembles him while the clerk flatters that the two men are both nice and searching for an identity.

An old respected man who has tried to keep two rival factions (here designated north and south) from hurting one another.  Although well respected by both sides they want him to make decisions in favor of one or the other faction.  An early example was that the old man  built the first public toilet--only one, because he thought they needed to learn how to share.  The somewhat hot headed factions decide that they need to elect a leader.  The old man agrees, recognizing he is aging.  Reality is stretched so that after a lot of effort they each calculate that the votes are exactly tied.  After getting his name changed Mandela was sent a voting certificate in public and each side realized he had the critical vote.

The election was called for 4 weeks later and each faction canvassed the voters including on death beds and overseas, but  still could not break the deadlock.  We use polls to determine who is most likely to win, but always qualify the results.  Each side through threats and bribes could force their side to toe the line.  Reminds one of some political parties.  Anyone think of Trump?

Mandela now realizes he has more leverage than ever in his poor life.  At one point even offers his vote in an auction.  This escalates until a younger friend he is fond of, has a life threatening injury and he evaluates his behavior.  The postal clerk who liked him, was disgusted that with the name she gave him, he was behaving atrociously.  He then cleverly got a new school built, roads paved and the one public toilet restored as his price.

The ending was ambiguous but symbolical.  We know Mandela voted, but we don't know for who (we really don't care).  Tension mounts as he refuses to reveal who he voted for and one of the factions (the one that thinks they  lost) is planning to kill Mandela as revenge.  He is with the postal woman who has forgiven him and sending her away for her safety.  While he awaits the elder leader asks him for a shave.  Then people from both sides ask him to perform various barber tasks until virtually the whole village is lined up and the assassins give up.  We are never told who won, but the narrator lets us view the town side as the film fades.

The U.S. Senate is in a unique situation.  The Vice President (currently Kamala Harris) presides, but can only vote to break a tie.  As it happens the Democrats and Republicans each claim 50 voters.  A Republican, maybe Mitt Romney or Susan Collins could side with the Democrats to help pass legislation, but Mitch McConnell has a tight grip with committee appointments and primary support.  The Democrats have a few members in tightly contested states and have been known to vote with Republicans.  It would only take just one defector to defeat Democrat legislation.  Joe Manchin, basically a Democrat, but has voted for Republican measures that he feels his West Virginia constituency would prefer.  He now has the ability to modify legislation towards what he feels is in his best interest.    

The movie exaggerates human nature at its worst.  As an individual we have little power, but those who do have power make the rules and bend them to their benefit.  The two factions could be any two groups that differ in any regard:  Israelis and Palestinians, Democrats and Republicans, a high caste and a lower caste, etc.  Whichever group has the power can easily rationalize why they not only deserve it, but are entitled to do whatever is required to maintain it.

The producer, S. Sashikanth started as an architect and became involved with major projects.  Later he became interested in films and bucked Bollywood traditions that made producers more in charge of financing movies.  He preferred to pitch creative ideas and began producing Tamil language films in 2010.  "Mandela" certainly is creative, making political points in comic fashion.

Madonne Ashwin, the director writer appears to have moved up with this film as he had written only one feature before and had directed short films.  He has created a masterpiece and one expects great things in the future.

Bararath Sankar wrote the music.  He got his start in music departments with "Nila" (2016).   Has written lyrics, been a playback singer (including this film) and a mixing engineer.  He wrote the music for "Dharala Prabhu" (2020) that I bought one of his songs thru iTunes. Dharala Prabhu was a remake of "Vicky Donor"  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/04/vicky-donor-cf-dharala-prabhu.html

Cinematography by Vidh Ayyanna and editing by Philomin Raj.

Yogi Babu played Mandela from a very humble man to an arrogant one and back.  He started in a major role in a Tamil tv series running three years in 2004.  He has appeared in numerous films including "Chennai Express" (2013) and "Mersal" (2017). 

Sheela Rajkumar plays the postal worker who took a liking to Mandela after she picked his name.  She has been in Tamil films since 2017 including a long running tv. series.  Also appeared in "Kumbalangi Nights" (2019), a Malayalam film.

Sangili Murugan played the elder authority that tried to bring democracy to a small village.  He has been in films since 1981.

"Mandela" was a simple story about political corruption that is universal.  A small, seemingly backward Tamil village displays the same characteristic that are duplicated on the big screen U.S. senate only with more money.

As usual I have bolded the movie titles I have seen for their first time mention. 

About the original Nelson Mandela, http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/12/nelson-mandela.html