Super hit movies and trendsetting movies are too many in Tamil cinema which is hard to count. But movies which are both super hits and trendsetters are few. One among them is Nayagan with the elite Kamalahasan as the protagonist and direction handled by the jubilant Manirathnam.

The decision to direct such an evergreen hit was taken in just few minutes. Kamalahasan called Manirathnam through the phone and requested him to direct a film which was to be remade into a Tamil film. With no intentions of directing a remake movie, Manirathnam told Kamal of directing a movie based on the life of Varadharaja Mudaliar, a dada in Mumbai (Bombay).

The stage was set for the movie’s production and G.V. produced the film with Illayaraja getting into his tunes for the movie. Kamal’s on screen name was Velu Naicker. The film was released during Deepavalli along with Rajinikanth’s Manidhan. The movie turned out to be a super hit with collections breaking earlier records.

The movie is about a boy who runs away from a village in Tamil Nadu to Bombay after killing the cop who cunningly killed his father. The boy turns out to be a local dada in his youth, helping the suppressed and as time progresses he becomes a don.

His family, his arrest and his killings form the crux of the later part of the film.

The cast in this movie includes Saranya(debut), Janagaraj, Nizhalgal Ravi, Nassar(debut)and various top artists from Tamil and Hindi industry. The songs by Illayaraja were all evergreen hits with Thenpandi Seemaiyilae impressing the most. The dialogue by Balakumaran was very impressive stealing the hearts of the masses.

Though the film was based on the life history of Varadaraja Mudaliar, some hail this film as a remake of Coppolo’s Godfather. Whatever might be the base of the story the movie turned out to be a trendsetter for the Tamil industry.

A lot of Tamil movies based on this story had been released and still this story seems to be the Atchaya patram (a vessel which is always filled with food) for many script writers. Movies based on this storyline are Gentleman, Badshah, Samurai, Citizen, Ramana, Villain ant the list is endless.

The movie won Kamalahasan his second national award. The film is one of the films in the “Hundred best movies ever made” released by the Times magazine. Such trendsetting movies are declining in Tamil film industry and it is the duty of the script writers to be innovative in their writing and pave way for movies like Nayagan.