Kadaisi Vivasayi

"Kadaisi Vivasayi" is a Tamil drama film scripted, produced, and directed by M. Manikandan from Tribal Arts Production. The film features Nallandi, a genuine farmer, as the title character Mayandi, with Vijay Sethupathi and Yogi Babu in supporting roles.

The narrative revolves around “Mayandi” (Nallandi), who is an 80-year-old farmer leading a peaceful and plain life in a village close to Usilampatti. In a village where farmers have sold all their lands to financiers, Mayandi alone remains a traditional cultivator. He is requested to offer the first grain during the temple festival, a custom intended to bless the village. While preparing his field, he discovers a dead peacock and two peahens and buries them with respect, regarding them as sacred. However, a villager misinterprets the act, and the police, seeking revenge for past humiliation, arrest him for killing India’s national bird.

At court, Mayandi explains the situation calmly. Though the magistrate sees the lack of proper evidence, she is forced to keep him in jail due to procedural delays. The police delay the revised report, and during Mayandi’s extended stay in prison, his crop suffers. A kind-hearted constable tries to help, and later, Mayandi’s relatives take over the responsibility. Mayandi advises using a traditional pest spray, but the labour involved causes them to use chemical pesticides instead. The crop is ultimately destroyed.

Mayandi manages to escape custody momentarily and goes to look at his devastated field. Touched by his situation, the magistrate decides to hasten his release and organize assistance to plant a new crop in time for the festival, which honours Ayyanar gods and brings together the caste communities of the village, including the downtrodden potter community.

The movie interweaves subplots as well, “Ramaiah” (Vijay Sethupathi), a bereaved person taken for insane, and Thadikozhanthai, who purchases an elephant following the sale of his land. Through these, “Kadaisi Vivasayi” critically critiques post-farming methodologies, industrialisation, and the decline of rural occupations.