Maamannan [dir. Mari Selvaraj]

Caste identity and discrimination has been the backbone of most of Mari Selvaraj's filmography thus far - those that haven't seen them, I heartily commend Baradwaj Rangan's reviews of Pariyerum Perumal (2018) and Karnan (2021). Pariyerum... told the non-fluffy story of a  romance that transgressed caste norms and the fallout that occurred in its wake. Karnan, in which Dhanush plays the Angry Young Man from an outcast community, can plot-wise be regarded as a "Hero stands up for the oppressed masses" potboiler, but the script and direction gave it a distinctive identity - for me it was one of the best films of 2021. With his latest, Maamannan, Mari leans towards the commercial angle in his telling. This has the consequence of making the narrative more mundane than his previous ventures, but it is still quite acceptable as a mainstream movie told from the POV of the oppressed class.

As the title character, Tamil cinema's favorite 90's crass comedian Vadivelu gets a rare serious role, and he plays with obvious relish. His Maamannan is the respected leader - an MLA - from the scheduled-caste community, courted by the state ruling party for his ability to garner public support. Maamannan is admired all around him...that is, all except his son Athiveeran (Udhayanidhi Stalin). A la Ramesh Sippy's Shakti, there is between father and son a coldness, a wall of silence, whose reasons are couched in an incident from the past. There is also a marked difference in their attitudes. While Mamannan works for the upliftment of his people, there is still a core of servility in him: he accepts his rise in the political world as a gift given him by his upper-caste masters and at political meetings stands with folded arms, ready to receive instruction. Athiveeran, who runs a martial arts school, is more militant, preferring to demand and, when required, snatch by force his rights from the privileged. As a proud symbol of his caste origins, he rears pigs, and has a pig tattoo on his hand. He even paints pictures of pigs with wings, a symbol of the liberation he hopes for his community.

The third major player is Rathnavel (Fahadh Faasil), the rowdy upper-caste politico who treats Mamannan like a family serf. Rathnavel's character screams 'Bad Man' - when his prized hound fails in the local dog race, he beats the poor pooch to death. His cruel and domineering attitude eventually brings him in conflict with Athiveeran and later Mamannan. Pushed against the wall, it is up to Mamannan, whether to crumble and bow down to his masters' wishes or grow a spine and stand up against them regardless of cost.

Mamannan is a masala film, but within that space it tries to stand out. While there are fight scenes where Athiveeran shows his ability to beat up dozens of goons, the film does not devolve into a brainless machismo action fest. Female lead Keerthi Suresh is not the usual birdbrained damsel in distress - she has both the courage and the wits to be an equal companion to Athiveeran's fight for equality. 

There are a few caveats, of course. Apart from Stalin being some 20 years older than the role he plays, the utter lack of nuance in Faasil's villain is a letdown. The screenplay could have done with some serious tightening - the lengthy stretch where Maamannan fights a guerrilla poll war against Rathnavel is mostly uninvolving. This notwithstanding, I found Maamannan more palatable than 2021's hyped Jai Bhim which reduced the lower castes to faceless victims dependent on being rescued by benevolent upper-caste heroes. Like Karnan, this movie at least exhorts the oppressed to stand up for themselves instead of looking for external saviors, and that's a sentiment I approve of.