Mandela 2021

In Soorangudi, a tiny village tucked in Tamil Nadu with about 840 residents, life runs along a brittle divide between two caste-based factions: the Northerners and the Southerners. The village president, long unchallenged and staunch in his support of caste discrimination, keeps two wives—one Northerner and one Southerner—so that each side feels represented. The elder son’s mother is Northerner, while the younger son’s mother is Southerner, and both sides are led by their respective offspring. This split governs every aspect of village life, stifling progress and planting the seeds of constant friction.

During the ceremonial opening of a public toilet, a fierce confrontation erupts between the Northerners and Southerners, leaving the president paralyzed. With elections looming and the president’s health fragile, a local MLA weighs appointing one of his sons, Rathinam or Mathi, as a potential successor to secure a three-crore work contract. Unable to reach a consensus, the brothers decide to contest the election against each other, turning the electoral battle into a raw clash of caste loyalties. The pre-polling picture suggests a carefully balanced contest, with votes split evenly between the two sides.

Into this volatile mix steps Smile, a homeless barber from a lower caste who programs his life around a banyan tree where his assistant Side Burn keeps him company. He subsists on the margins, moving between the village and the post office where he goes to deposit money. Lacking identification, he receives help to apply for a new ID, and the postmaster urges him to adopt a bold new name—“Nelson Mandela”—as a metaphor for staying detached from a single faction in the coming election.

As Mandela’s voter ID and list arrive, both brothers shower him with gifts and favors, each hoping to win his crucial vote and sway the balance. For days, Mandela remains undecided, prompting the MLA to propose a dramatic auction of his vote. The auction stalls when Mandela’s assistant exposes a brutal plan by the losing side to maim him. A cruel trick follows: the assistant deceives the brothers into believing that the president has died, derailing the auction and sparking a violent response. Realizing they’ve been manipulated, the brothers beat the assistant and keep him from leaving the village.

Hope flickers briefly as the two rivals abandon the auction, but it is reignited when the MLA reveals the true scale of the contract—30 crore. The brothers surge back into the fray, determined to win Mandela’s support once more. Mandela, however, sets a new condition: the money spent to secure his vote must be redirected to the village’s development, and the vote will go to whichever side contributes most to that development. Reluctantly, both brothers agree, though the hardships of the campaign weigh on them. A grim undertone remains: the losing side has pledged to kill Mandela.

Election day arrives with a tense plan to safeguard Mandela. The postmaster suggests that Mandela escape after casting his vote, but Mandela insists on continuing his father’s legacy by keeping the barber shop’s doors open. After he casts his ballot, he returns to his banyan tree, where waiting thugs—emissaries of the rival factions—eye him with lethal intent. The president, the postmaster, and a large contingent of villagers step forward under the pretext of getting a haircut, signaling solidarity with Mandela. The closing sequence unfolds as a standoff among the two brothers, Mandela, and the determined villagers, all while the election results are about to be announced, testing loyalties and resilience in equal measure.