Mandela: Reminds us, we are still stuck in a warp!
Mandela has to be one of the definitive films of 2021. Mandela and Karnan (featuring Dhanush and another 2021 release) trudge the same path of caste based oppression but the genre of the two remains starkly different. While Karnan pretty much follows the age old path of revenge, violence and the down and out protagonist fighting back; Mandela takes a completely different route to addressing the issue of caste based oppression. In a small village Soorangudi (Tuticorin district) a small time low caste barber suddenly becomes the most important man in the village, as his only vote will decide the future of the village elections and the gram panchayat. The village has a history of conflict with the northern and southern part of the village at loggerheads (a caste based divide). Both the sides have their respective leader and who are ironically the sons of the local panchayat head. The head has strategically married two women from the two different sides of the village, but it still d...