Nayakan

Directed by Mani Ratnam, Nayakan is a crime drama film in Tamil cinema from 1987. It features Kamal Haasan, Saranya (her debut film) and Janagaraj. The film follows Sakthivel, a young boy whose comfortable life is shattered when he witnesses his father's brutal murder. He then stabs the officer responsible and flees to Mumbai, where he becomes a feared gangster.

The police detain Velu, the son of a leader of an anti-government union, to track down his father. He is freed after being duped into thinking they are his well-wishers. He is killed by the police when he meets his father. After escaping to Bombay, Velu is raised by Hussain, a generous smuggler. The corrupt inspector Kelkar is killed as a result of the smugglers' anger at Velu's smuggling activities. Later, Velu looks after Kelkar's wife and his son Ajit, who has a mental illness. Surya and Charumathi are the couple's two children. Velu marries Neela, a schoolgirl who was forced into prostitution.

In Dharavi, Velu's authority and control grow, and he becomes more well-liked by the general populace. To exact revenge for Neela's passing, he ascends to the position of king of the harbour and murders her. A few years later, Velu is the target of Patil, a new ACP in Bombay, who gathers evidence to have him arrested. He chooses to turn himself in to the authorities after Velu flees and his associates are taken into custody. The lack of solid evidence against Velu astounds Patil, who also encounters Ajit and Kelkar's widow, who denies the truth about her husband's passing. Due to the absence of reliable evidence, Velu is produced in court and found not guilty. When he meets his grandson Shaktivel, who shoots him to exact revenge for the death of his father, he is overcome with emotion.

Nayakan repurposes the tropes of mafia movies into a purely tragic, gut-wrenching spectacle. It's a remarkable balance of drama with feeling, and following a man’s complicated evolution, it still feels fresh and exciting. The film’s legacy continues, but nowhere is this more celebrated today than with the legendary catchphrase “Neenga nallavara kettavara?”. It was a great popular and creative success both critically and commercially, winning several National Awards and popular acclaim not just in India but all over the globe, including Time magazine’s “All-Time 100 Best Films” list, earning the film a true legendary status in world cinema. Later, this film was remade in Bollywood titled Dayavan in 1988.