‘Mandela’ Review: A Reminder That Our Vote Is a Privilege

(Alert: The review contains spoilers.)

Elections are a busy time. Digs and jibes like spears and arrows are shot all around, while the public stands in the middle of it. There is so much noise, that even the point of this drill starts getting overshadowed and undignified.

But on polling day, when the greatest exercise of a democratic country takes place, one is reminded of the power a person holds in their ink-stained finger. The voter is made to feel like part of something bigger than themselves.

One is also reminded of the value of a vote and made to question if a candidate sees the person and their problems behind each vote, or do we remain a statistic in vote-bank politics, surviving to be appeased once in a while.

Madonne Ashwin’s directorial debut, ‘Mandela’, revolves around these questions and is a must-watch this election season. The film is a drama-comedy set in the small village of Tamil Nadu’s Soorangudi, which is divided among two caste groups – Northerners and Southerners – and a nomad lower-caste barber, played by Yogi Babu, who has forgotten his own name after years of being referred to by insults.

The film begins in the misty hours of a morning when a truck comes and picks up all the men openly defecating in a forest. They’re taken to the inauguration of the village’s first ‘Soorangudi Public Toilet’, made by the leader (played by Sangili Murugan) – a Periyar follower who had married two women, one from each community.

The leader’s Northerner son, Rathinam, and Southerner son, Mathi, fight over who will use the toilet first. But when a dog uses it before anyone else could, nobody agrees to clean it. Typical privileged behaviour.

We’re introduced to our humble barber ‘Smile’ and his partner ‘Side Burn’ here, who are called to clean the toilet. The leader later gives out money to a character named Esaki, who, instead of passing it to the barber, keeps the money in his own pocket.

Ashwin does not show this scene in a way that warrants our pity. Smile’s exploitation throughout the film isn’t shown as a tragedy, as his dehumanisation was normalised way before the movie even began. It is the way of the world. Smile also never questions why he is asked to enter houses from the back door.

He also collects ration for several households in the morning and delivers it to their house, for which he is given a bowlful of ration as payment.

The prevalence of the caste structure is highlighted through such quick-cut instances. He is often seen not even being paid for his work as a barber.

Smile’s barber shop is set under a peepal tree, on the high branches of which he sleeps in his hammock. That tree is his only home, as he doesn’t own any land. Smile dreams of opening up his own salon, for which he is saving money. But on a rainy night, Esaki steals the money from the tree branch.

As stated before, his character is someone who everyone seems to have a claim over. He’s not just neutral but lower than both the caste groups, and hence, a public property waiting to be used.

When Smile confronts Esaki, he is told to deposit his money in a post office or a bank, if he wishes to keep it safe. The deep-rootedness of caste is witnessed right in the next scene when Smile goes to the post office. He realises there is no back door and hesitates to enter from the front, until Thenmozhi, played by Sheela Rajkumar, asks him to come through.

Thenmozhi, a postwoman who has just moved to the village helps Smile set up an account. But because Smile has neither an ID card and not does he remember his name, Thenmozhi picks out several names for him until they decide on Nelson Mandela – another man who had to fight for his identity.

Later, ‘Mandela’ ponders if the name sounds like an upper-caste one, when Side Burn says that if he likes it, it’s his. This is as far as the film goes in the claiming of a Dalit’s identity. It’s on paper, in his documents, not in the societal order.

Later, the leader’s ‘half sons’, Mathi and Rathinam, gear up for the local body elections. Various election malpractices prevalent in Tamil Nadu and several other states are highlighted, including cash-for-votes, handing out freebies, and the like.

Again, these are not shown as a failure of electoral democracy, but rather how things have always been. When both the parties realise that their vote bank is at a perfect balance, Mandela’s brand new voter ID is delivered.

The village rushes to the peepal tree. Side Burn tells them his name is not Jack**s, but Mandela and soon chants of his name can be heard. When Mandela tries to get off from the tree using a branch, they stop him and ask him to jump on the car.

The villagers then hold his bare feet and bring him down. Any notion of purity or caste prejudice is kept aside, and so begins the appeasement.

From clothes, to furniture, to watches and free meals, the candidates shower him with items. But all the ‘freebies’ given to Mandela are something he could’ve earned himself had he been given the money that was rightfully his.

His acceptance and later being shunned for taking them furthers the privileged thought that freebies make a person lazy or less hard-working, even if those ‘freebies’ improve a family’s standard of living or student enrolment in the state.

The whole scenario also comments on the hopes and desires of those marginalised communities that are never taken into consideration by politicians trying to win an election. Mandela is not able to decide why to vote and who to vote for, and the candidates keep trying to outbid each other.

Later, the MLA, who had drawn the candidates’ interest by five crores worth corporate offer, asks the candidates to auction Mandela’s vote. Questions of an underprivileged person’s agency are answered here when Mandela is picked up and literally kept on a plate for the auction.

The auction doesn't come to a conclusion (can’t give all the spoilers), but when on the verge of killing himself, Mandela understands the dignity of his vote and starts asserting the name he had adopted.

Now, instead of taking ‘freebies’ for himself, Mandela is seen using his one vote to develop his village. Knowing fully well that whoever loses will probably kill him, he uses the last few weeks to make the two candidates dance to his tunes and rebuild the village.

On voting day, Mandela is threatened by both the candidates and questioned again as to who he will vote for.

Mandela having realised the reverence for his vote says, “It is my vote. I get to decide whom I want to vote for.”

With all the changes brought about in the village, there is a change in people’s mindset as well. Seeing their children receive education and buses travel on new roads, people return the cash-for-votes they had received.

The village stops boycotting Mandela and gathers around him to ensure that no one can harm him. The film ends with one candidate winning by one vote but the winner becomes inconsequential because it’s the village who is the real winner.

The work each candidate would have done or could have promised was brought to completion by Mandela, and the same man who used to be exploited, abused, and boycotted now has a village standing with him.

'Mandela' Fails to Counter Caste While Having a Dalit Character as Its Lead

Ashwin’s ‘Mandela’ is a humorous take on the naivety that a person’s vote can have. The earnest work put by all actors also adds to the satirical and feel-good nature of the film.

Although the film satirises vote-bank politics and highlights the sacrosanct nature of a vote, it fails to counter caste while having a Dalit character in the lead.

The idea that anyone selling their vote is free of ridicule but Mandela doing the same makes him arrogant puts the burden of cleaning up the society, metaphorically, on him.

The village has divided itself and propagates their division daily, but it is Mandela – the public property – who has to clean up after them. The leader too, a reasonable, neutral man, comes in the end to save Mandela but only by again asking him for a shave.

Throughout the film, especially when Mandela improves the village, there is an expectation that the leader might nominate Mandela himself for the president’s post, but no such expectations are met. The people stand with Mandela in the name of collective morality, but not by breaking caste barriers. In the end, Mandela is still a barber, who suffers as a field endures a war.