Spoilers ahead…
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Review: Madonne Ashwin’s ‘Mandela’, with Yogi Babu and Sheela Rajkumar
Posted on April 5, 2021
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Baradwaj Rangan 
Nawaf Khan
April 6, 2021
It started off so well, it’s a shame the makers didn’t really know what to do with such a fantastic premise, or maybe they knew but took too long to get there. Absolutely love this genre, though. Can you look at Mandela as a companion piece to the more understated Newton? Now that I think of of it, the leads from both films name themselves after famous historical figures, and want to bring about change.
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Jay S
April 9, 2021
Below the comedy angle, is actually a sad story.
Sad, because it made me wince, every scene where there is discrimination, there are many intricate one’s.
City dweller will not know the pain of holding yourself and walking with a water tin, after sunset.
It is shameful to see the way we are in this Elon Musk age.
YogiB is seen to be taking the insults light, but I see something else (usual imagination).
Perhaps he had heard some of the comments on his apprearence and absorbed the sting.
I hope no intellectual suggests taking this movie to a larger audience, like festivals.
It is a SHAME to show the garbage in my house, or even to see my own garbage.
Yes. I think Slum Dog M and from the days of Mira Nair – look how ugly we are in the way we treat fellow men.
-got sold and appreciated (yes. only some scenes, look at the big picture – you may say my dear friend)
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Madan
April 14, 2021
Agree with your reivew and Nawaf Khan’s comment. It kind of takes too long to end and the whole conceit of undecided voter milking it to the hilt gets played out for too long. Could have easily shaved off 20 -30 min there. Still, the conceit itself was so terrific I have to forgive that.
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krishikari
May 4, 2021
@jay look how ugly we are in the way we treat fellow men
-got sold and appreciated*
Not sure what you are saying here but
yes, we should be ashamed and change our ways.
Mandela is on Netflix, the whole world can see it without any film festival. There are all kinds of foreign YouTube reviewers reacting to all sorts of Indian film now. Cat is out of the bag already. Yesterday a friend of mine who is not Indian, and knows very little about India saw White Tiger and was so curious about it. Should I recommend this film or hope nobody sees our dirty secrets?
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Madan
May 5, 2021
These sort of views about shielding our underbelly now sound so antiquated as the entire world watches our epic f-up of covid. Clarissa Ward has now reported from a UP hospital. What is left to hide now? Our leaders can hide their heads from the reality, ostrich-like, but the world has seen it all. And it’s about time.
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krishikari
May 5, 2021
I swear, Madan. Worrying about image rather than fixing our problems is exactly what got us into the mess we are in.
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Anu Warrier
May 5, 2021
The entire problem in India seems to be be not that we have a problem, but that the world is talking about it! I get quite a few Whatsapp messages talking about how India is doing very well, thank you, but the world press is ‘sensationalising’ it. In return, I point them to the horrifying pictures of mass cremation taking place in the country’s capital.
Perhaps they can send these ‘India is doing so well, the world press is lying’ posts to those people who have lost their loved ones and see what their reactions are.
And our PM is still holding rallies. Ugh!
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Osiyan Hater
May 7, 2021
Yogi Babu absolutely killed it in this movie! All the actors were great but Yogi got the most well written character and made the best of it…
Also, as an aside, what’s the reason behind us placing so much importance on an actor’s (both male and female) looks? It’s one thing to want to ogle at a good looking person of the opposite gender while watching a candy floss movie…but I’ve heard straight men refusing to watch a certain hero’s movie because he’s ugly or straight women disliking a heroine cause she’s too plain looking… what’s the psychology behind this?
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anonymousviolin20
May 8, 2021
@Odiyan Hater:
There is the halo effect (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect)
People might just attribute good qualities (like competence) to better looking actors
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Arjun
May 9, 2021
@anonymousviolin: thanks 🙂
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