Thevar Magan

One of the most successful movies of Kamal Hassan's Rajkamal International production company. A cult classic that got both critical acclaim and huge box office collections. About a dozen movies were released along with it, on Diwali '94 but all these were reduced to box-office disasters(including the Rajinikant starrer 'Pandian'). Such was the impact of Thevar Magan. The thespian Sivaji Ganesan was aptly cast in the role of Kamal's father, the village chief. Nasser, Revathi and Gouthami reveled in their roles and Revathi won the National award for 'Best Supporting actress'.

But more than everything, this is the movie which spawned a deluge of flicks based on the caste-feuds happening in villages, none of which could match the original in terms of grandeur, story or performances. Thevar Magan, upon its release, was literally worshipped by the 'Thevars', a warring caste in Tamil Nadu's rural areas. Some political organizations still argue that the movie itself is the reason for the violence happening in these villages.

The telugu dubbed version 'Kshatriya Putrudu' was an equally big hit. Later the movie was remade in Hindi as 'Virasat', starring Anil Kapoor, Tabu, Amrish Puri and Pooja Batra. The Hindi version too was a success.

Shivaji and Kamal are two great legends of Indian cinema and if there was a movie that could get them together it had to be a movie as strong as "Thevar magan". Yes it has shades of Godfather but not completely. This story couldn't have asked for better screenplay.Role of Shivaji could be performed only by him. Kamal is often criticized for suppressing other characters in his movies but this is an exception , it has great characterization for everybody in the movie right from Shivaji to vadivelu. PC Sriram is amazing with his camera work and gives us pleasant visuals throughout the movie.The biggest asset of the movie is Illayaraja, his back ground music is heavenly, he brings out the intensity in the scene superbly with his BGM score. The story is already discussed by others but the highlights of the movie are - The Scene were Kamal argues with Shivaji on his decision to leave the village, The Panchayat scene were Nasser shows disrespect to Shivaji and the aftermath, Kamal's entry with the Devar getup(he looks majestic in it), The marriage scene,The Hospital scene were Vadivelu excels as a faithful servant to Kamal,Kamal's acting when he fails to convince Gautami, The climax scene after he kills Nasser. Every dialogue in the movie is carefully and masterly crafted. Bharathan has done a splendid job. Overall it is a movie which highlights the Thevar community in a very realistic way. It will go down as one of the Best movies of Indian cinema.

Devar magan is my all time favourite movie.It brings the two versatile actors of Tamil Cine industry,even Indian Film Industry together to give a movie which depicts the reality of most villages and Devar's religion.The scene between Kamal and Shivaji remains one of the best ever scene in tamil cinema.May be Urban people may find it different, but the peoples from villages, will find at least one character or one event similar to their place or peoples.Though two Gems acting in same movie there is lot of scope for others to act and they all used it well.(Nasser,Gautami,Revathi and even Vadivelu).KamalHaasan-Ilayaraja music combination once rocks for the nth time.

Don't forget to watch it.

Don't miss the scenes between our dear Kamal and late Shivaji Ganeshan. It's an incredible movie with the best of best performances by Kamal and Sivaji Ganeshan Sir. Kamal is in top form and unmatchable when it comes to method acting. The movie grows on you scene to scene. Illayaraja's music is apt for the script. Support cast Revati and Gautami have done their best. I grew up watching Kamal and watching this masterpiece after decades made me salute to Kamal and the makers of yester years.

The Movie won the all time best Tamil film award in the Vijay awards ceremony(2007), which analyzed the complete list of Tamil movies from the early 1940's. Need i say more?. Its the best movie there is in Tamil cinema even today. The movie is aptly paced and portrays the courage and pride of the Thevar community as realistic as possible. The performance of all the actors are outstanding, especially Kamal Hassan and Nasser in the climax. The duo even outperform the veteran Sivaji Ganeshan, considered to be the greatest Tamil actor of all time, with their stunning acting. Hats off to Kamal and the director for taking Tamil cinema to new unknown heights.