Vadivelu and director Mari Selvaraj fans can rejoice. Netflix has announced that Maamannan is set to stream on the OTT platform from July 27. Mari’s third film, and another success, is an anti-caste take on the cult classic, but caste-pride film Thevar Magan (1992) that had starred Vadivelu in a supporting role. Set in the Kongu belt of Tamil Nadu, in Salem, Maamannan also provides an insight into electoral politics in the region. Vadivelu as the titular character, plays a Dalit MLA from a reserved constituency. The story tracks his empowering journey alongside his son Adheeveran (Udhayanidhi Stalin) as he takes on caste oppressors within his own fictional political party.
The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. Maamannan cements Vadivelu, known primarily for comedy roles, as a powerful character actor. Maamannan also marks Malayalam star Fahadh Faasil’s fourth Tamil film. His role as the primary antagonist, Rathnavel, has received wide praise.
Maamannan also stars Keerthy Suresh as the main female lead and has music scored by Academy Award winner AR Rahaman. The film released on June 29 to a great deal of excitement even as protests were seen in some parts of the state by Thevar (Other Backward Class) groups. The reaction from Thevars came in the wake of Mari’s open criticism of Thevar Magan at the audio launch of Maamannan. At the time, he had said, with Thevar Magan’s lead actor Kamal Hassan himself present, how deeply the casteism in the film affected him as a Dalit man.
Maamannan was dubbed in Telugu as Nayakudu. The dubbed version was released last week.