Wow! Such a good movie.

Fresh and Exciting

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This movie is by far the best (and I think it'll remain the best) Tamil movie I've ever seen. Superb acting by Kamal Hassan and excellent directing by Mani Ratnam considering the resources he had in that era back then...no special effects/CGI or any of that bullshit modern age mumbo-jumbo, just pure flawless acting, cinematography and a great and moving music score to fit the story oh so ever well. People seem to compare this movie to the Hollywood's version of the Godfather but in my opinion this one surpasses the Godfather by a mile simply for the fact cause of the way the harshness of the lead character's life is portrayed and the circumstances in his life that compels him to do the things that he does and for the cause that he does them for. A whole city of people who love and fear him but the true affection that he seeks from his daughter eludes him due to what he does and eventually connecting the events that would bring about his demise. Kamal Hassan's best performance to date and for those Godfather fans out there, take a look at this one and perhaps you'd change the ranking spots in your movie lists.

If it is featured in the time magazine's 100 all time movies from all over the world, then it must be something. Mani Ratnam has done some great movies in south India. I like all his movies. And he pays more attention to all the details of the movie such as music, photography, casting, editing etc. You can see the quality of the movie and see the involvement of the director in the movie. I treat this more as a Mani Ratnam movie than Kamal Hasan though Kamal is one of my favorite actors. Go rent the movie. You will not be disappointed. Also, check out Mani Ratnam's other movies such as Roja, Mouna Raagam (Telugu), Githanjali, Sakhi, Iddaru, Guru etc. Also, in case you didn't already know, A R Rahman was introduced by Mani Ratnam through Roja. Check out. http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html

An amazing movie that changed the trend of Indian cinemas during the late eighties. Is three hours enough to show the life of a man at different stages and that too with a heavy emotion that will make you to think about it again and again ? the answer is yes and the proof is Nayakan. Kamalhasan i believe if he would have born in Hollywood by now he will be sharing the honors with Tom Hanks and Mel Gibson. Such a great actor who can show the difference in each and every single action he does. The movie is a biography of a commoner who raises to the level of the God father but the way Maniratnam told the story is really interesting. The Climax of the movie created a big impact when it was released. Even now this movie is considered as a mile stone for the young directors who would like to direct a great movie. Nayakan for sure is the "Godfather" of India .

It is really difficult to express the experience of watching nayakan in words, the real life story about the transformation of a boy into a rebel and then a don, brilliantly portrayed by one of the greatest actors alive today, Kamal Hassan.While the film draws little inspiration from "The Godfather trilogy", the emotions and trauma associated with many events , along with ilayaraja's rendition of 'thenpandi seemayile' , really does make this movie very special!, nothing to beat this one, among the best movies i have ever seen. I can rate it along with American beauty, shawshank redemption or even amelie.