Two routes to success in Bombay is the route to stardom in Kollywood!

From Nayakan to Ulaga Nayakan

When Mani Ratnam made Nayakan in 1987, I’m pretty sure he didn’t think that he was laying a long road to stardom.

The movie redefined the career path of Kamal Haasan. It reinstated him as a global star. People across the world started to notice the legendary actor in Kamal Haasan. In other words, Nayakan made him Ulaga Nayakan (Global Star).

Kamal Haasan in Nayakan. (Supplied)

Nayakan was a part-true, part-fictional biopic which was loosely based on the life of an underworld don named Varadaraja Mudaliar aka Varadha Bhai. Though a criminal in the eyes of law, Varadha was a demi-god for Tamils living in the Dharavi area of then Bombay.

Amidst threats from the locals, the Tamils who migrated to the city for menial work settled in the largest slum in the world. And Varadha was their protector, leader and, of course, the real “Nayakan’.

In Nayakan, Velu Nayakkar (a fictional character based on Varadha) flees to Bombay after killing a cop while avenging his father’s death. There, he is fostered by a small-time kindhearted smuggler Hussain Bhai.

Velu, in his youth, follows in the footsteps of Hussain to become a smuggler himself. This smuggler eventually questions the system and becomes the protector of the Tamil community in Dharavi. His evolution as Velu Bhai/Nayakkar Baba, over the years, sets the rest of the story.

Until Nayakan hit the screens, it was just a film of Kamal Haasan made by “that guy who directed Mouna Raagam”. But, post-release, there was a change in the scene.

The Tamil film audiences witnessed a never-seen-before period drama that narrated the life of a gangster. That opened a global market for the film industry as well.

Nayakan became the talk of the town for the next few months, everywhere. Everything fell in place just because the film had one simple USP: Tracing the life of a commoner who becomes a larger-than-life persona.

The Nayakan template influenced the rest of India. Ram Gopal Varma made Satya (1998), the film that changed the course of Bollywood. Every other industry attempted and went on to be successful with the formula.

Meanwhile, in Kollywood, the impact was contagious at different levels.

Rajinikanth’s Baashha sets the course

Every superstar aspired to rule Mumbai as a don. The contagion didn’t leave even the supreme superstar Rajinikanth. But he redefined the route with his style, literally.

Suresh Krissna made Baashha (1995) with Rajinikanth in the lead role. It tells the story of an underdog autorickshaw driver Manickam who had a gory past.

Rajinikanth in Baashha. (Supplied)

In the past, he was the don Baashha who ruled Mumbai. Fighting the anti-social elements that are a threat to communal harmony, Baashha ends up being, of course, the protector. Thus, Baashha became the most successful movie in Rajini’s career.

If Nayakan was about a common man becoming a saviour, Baashha’s template was an underdog with a violent past.

It inspired many other filmmakers to work on underdog stories, which were narrated till Dhanush’s Asuran (2019), made by ace filmmaker Vetri Maaran.

Now, the Tamil cinema heroes had two routes to reach and rule Mumbai, and there started the unending saga of Bombay-ka-Baasha from Kollywood.

Vetri Maaran followed both routes and found success. If Asuran was a descendant of Baashha, Vada Chennai was a spiritual follower of Nayakan.

One reason Vetri was able to pull off both and be successful was because he rooted the stories in Tamil soil. And this is where we can see the hook line of KGF: Chapter 2 in action: “Powerful people make places powerful.”

Rajan and Anbu made Vada Chennai (2018) powerful. And that’s why the stories worked well with the audiences. But other attempts by other stars weren’t that fruitful.

Ajith, Vijay & Suriya’s failed attempts

Director P Vasu made Jana (2004) with Ajith in the lead, where he plays the saviour of innocents in Mumbai. The movie, in a few places, was inspired by Baashha verbatim. However, the screenplay could not place its protagonist Jana as Baashha did for Manickam.

The problem was that Jana turned out too much of an underdog that neither the actors in the film nor the audiences could believe that he could be a protector!

Ajith made another attempt to become a Mumbai don and again ended up with a failure in Billa-2 (2012), the origin story of the pop culture character of Tamil cinema. The film had a heavy western influence and a few scenes were even ripped off from films like Scarface (1983). So, it wasn’t relatable.

If Ajith was taking Rajini’s route, Vijay surprisingly was taking Kamal’s route. AL Vijay made Thalaivaa (2013), which was a spiritual sequel of Nayakan itself. Vijay, as Vishwa Bhai, became the leader of Dharavi, to save, yes, the Tamil community.

Though this film had a rooted story and technically sound making, there were a few external factors like delay in release and early release of pirated versions that affected the box office run.

In the midst of these, Suriya tried his luck with the Baashha template in Lingusamy’s Anjaan (2014).

Although the second and third acts of the screenplay worked well, the first act failed to set up the story and the characters made the entire film unbelievable. The central conflict of the story wasn’t rooted. Otherwise, Anjaan could have been another Baashha in the history of Tamil cinema.

Kaala, Vada Chennai, Asuran & KGF succeed

Following this series of failures, the idea of Mumbai-don was put to rest for some time until Pa Ranjith painted it in blue and made Kaala (2018) with Rajinikanth. This Rajini himself, as Kaala Sait, followed the Nayakan route.

The film had its political stance right and was speaking about a real-time issue of land ownership rights of the working-class people.

Kaala became a huge success and also helped Rajini to rediscover the performer inside him. This success was followed by the successes of Dhanush-Vetri Maaran combo’s Vada Chennai and Asuran.

However, the most successful film on the list is undoubtedly KGF. The film, through its racy editing, unusual writing and the USP of rhythmic scene construction managed to blend both Nayakan and Baashha in the right proportion.

Rocky Bhai is a common man, but he is ultra-violent. He puts himself into an underdog zone to conquer the greatest treasure on earth. And that’s exactly where it cracked the new template for this genre.

And now, the path has led itself to Gautham Menon’s Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu (VTK).

What to expect from Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu?

As someone who claims to be Mani Ratnam’s Eklavya, Gautham has always tried to make classics out of even the simplest of the stories, much like his master. Though this is new ground for him, the story of VTK isn’t new to the audience. It is going to narrate the story of Muthu, a guy from a marginal and humble background in the Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu.

He travels to Bombay to be a parotta shop waiter and ends up becoming a henchman of a gang leader in Mumbai. Finally, he ends up being the gang leader climbing up the ladder of the underworld.

Gautham Menon-Simbu’s VTK is releasing on 15 September. (SilambarasanTR_/Twitter)

VTK is going to be a flick that would tone down Rocky Bhai’s nature, make a Muthu out of it and put him through real problems. This film’s soul is all about how Muthu will witness, along with the audience, the transformation he goes through.

The writer of the film, Jeyamohan, recently shared this in an interview. A person won’t be the same self during different periods of their life. VTK is going to visualise those transitions.

Now we know that the story is rooted and the character is real. But what kind of conflict he will be facing is going to be the surprise and the selling factor of VTK. The narrative is going to be a slow burner, which is just a “kindling”, as the crew has termed the first instalment of this two-part story.

I believe that’s where VTK is going to stand apart from other films of its kind. Just remove the super soldier serum out of Rocky Bhai, we get a Muthu Bhai.

There is a scene in one of the Gautham Menon-Simbu combo’s previous films, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa.

In the movie, Karthik asks Jessie when he surprises her at Alleppey, “Haven’t guys gone crazy about your beauty and proposed to you?”. To this, Jessie replies: “No. I think they haven’t seen me through your eyes!”

That’s the metaphor I’d like to use to describe VTK. If we watch Rocky Bhai, Velu Naicker and Baasha Bhai through Gautham Menon’s eyes, Muthu is exactly going to be the same!

(The views expressed are personal.)