Name: Mandaadi
Genre: Drama, Action, Sport
Released: 2026-09-10
Duration: 2 h 34 min
Rating: 6.3
Cast: Soori, Mahima Nambiar, Suhas, Ravindra Vijay, Sathyaraj

Madaharpakkam

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Mandaadi

Irumudi

Sandakari

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Set against the world of coastal Tamil Nadu, Mandaadi follows a story shaped by boat racing, strong emotions, and life by the sea. Starring Soori, this sports action drama unfolds in a unique maritime backdrop.

Times of India

India Today

The Indian Express

NDTV

Mandaadi turns sailboat racing into a full-blown big-screen spectacle

Sailboats, but make it Cinema

His restrained performance as Muthukaali reveals a more intense side of the actor

This isn't the Soori you expect

A boat capsized during filming, reportedly damaging equipment worth around ₹1 crore

When one boat went off script

Mahima's subtlety brings an emotional edge to the film beyond its boat-racing action

Quiet powerhouse steals the show

Mathimaran Pugazhendhi’s Mandaadi has been touted as an epic and the biggest film in Soori’s career. To begin with, the script has all the ingredients commonly associated with a mainstream hero-elevation film, including plenty of moments for the hero to show his valour.
Though Mandaadi doesn’t quite become the epic it sets out to be, it is still a perfectly decent watch. And that is primarily because of a pretty solid cast and, more importantly, the interesting backdrop of sailboat racing. The final race sequence, which is teased throughout the film and is meant to be the big culmination, helps elevate the otherwise uneven narrative. There is a sense of anticipation built around the race, and when the film finally gets there, the sequence more than compensates for the film's less engaging stretches.
GV Prakash Kumar’s music gets the tone of Mandaadi right. It's rousing without being overly loud. Meanwhile, the characters largely function in rather predictable ways. But luckily, Mathimaran Pugazhendhi is aided by a wonderful cast that elevates the written material. Soori is aptly cast as the protagonist Kaali. It's easy to root for a character that he is playing. Maybe, if another actor had played the part, some of Kaali’s actions could have come across as erratic. Soori helps bring a groundedness to him. Suhas plays Kaali’s friend-turned-enemy Sattapuli. His performance makes what could have been a one-note character into a menacing villain.
Kaali’s mentor and mentee are played by Sathyaraj and Tourist Family fame Mithun Jai Sankar, respectively. Both shine in what are arguably two of the film’s most fleshed-out roles. Mahima Nambiar as Angel is convincing in both the younger and older portions. But, it has to be said that, despite the strong performance, Angel sometimes feels more like a plot device and a source of conflict than a fully realised character.
It remains a question whether a more linear narrative or even the flashback coming in earlier in the film would have made it more impactful. In the initial portions, the characters’ interactions suggest that something has happened in the past for them to react this way. However, since the flashback comes much later in the narrative, we aren’t able to fully feel the weight of those reactions and interactions because of the lack of context. The delayed revelation does create a sense of mystery, but in the process, it also keeps the audience at a distance from the characters for a considerable portion of the film.
There are little moments that add texture to the world of Mandaadi, like a peace meeting being held in a dargah. These details may be brief, but they give the film’s setting a sense of specificity rather than making the village feel like a generic backdrop.
Usually, films of this nature are very much testosterone-filled. But Mandaadi does make a conscious effort to involve its women in what's going on. The village head is a woman. It’s Kaali’s mother who lends him money when in need. Sattapuli’s wife isn't just relegated to the sidelines to watch the men make decisions. The film finds space for her to share her opinions as well. Even the reason Kaali returns to the village is a woman. Whether all of these choices were intentional or not, Mathimaran ensures that the women have a purpose in the world of the film.
Mandaadi is an uneven ride but it has enough going for it. The performances are solid, the sailboat racing gives the film a distinct setting, and a terrific climactic race sequence makes a strong case for the film.

Actor Soori’s transformation from a comedian to a protagonist is a testament to his hard work, perseverance and resilience. If there’s one thing that deserves appreciation in this renewed journey, it’s his script choices. With Mandaadi, Soori has picked a story centred on a sailboat race, a sport rarely seen in films. The unusual setting gives the film a distinct identity from the outset.
A young Maari (Mithun Jai Sankar), in the opening sequence of Mandaadi, almost kills antagonist Saatapuli (Suhas) and his son. A commotion at a local temple festival stops Maari from completing the murders. Saatapuli, an influential man who controls the sailboat business and racing team, is now hunting Maari. He escapes to Chennai and seeks help from Muthukaali (Soori), who works at a theme park in the city.

Muthukaali has a calm personality, but there’s a storm beneath it. Who is Muthukaali? Why does he want to take Maari back to his village, where his life is in danger? What is Muthukaali’s past? Mandaadi presents the story of a righteous Muthukaali, who returns to his village seeking a second chance in life, over the course of two hours and 34 minutes.

Director Mathimaran Pugazhendhi’s Mandaadi, at the outset, reminds you of director Tamizharasan Pachamuthu’s Lubber Pandhu. The parallels between the two films cannot be ignored. Both films revolve around a sport, feature men with ego issues and use women as catalysts in their stories. Friendship and betrayal are also common threads. While Lubber Pandhu laid bare the politics surrounding its sport without being preachy, Mandaadi takes a more commercial and mainstream approach.

One of Mandaadi’s biggest strengths is its sailboat race and the way the makers make it accessible to a lay audience. The rules are explained clearly, the strategies are easy to follow and, in no time, you find yourself invested in the game. The film also moves quickly towards the racing angle, ensuring that the sport remains central to the narrative. Characters such as Maari, Saatapuli and Kaali bring the action alive with their rugged presence.
The story’s progression, especially the friendship and betrayal arcs, can feel predictable. But they don’t significantly affect the overall impact. Soori and Suhas’s characters are pitted against each other and remain fairly one-note throughout. Interestingly, it is the women in the film who often push the story forward, despite having less screentime than the men.

Be it the panchayat head who is a woman, Kaali’s mother, his ex-girlfriend or Maari’s girlfriend, the women in Mandaadi are not merely passive characters in a story built around a male-dominated sport. They make decisions, take stands and, at crucial moments, influence the men around them. The conscious decision to give women agency in this world deserves special mention. Take the scene in which the news about Kaali’s ex-girlfriend is revealed to young Maari. It could have easily taken a conventional route, but the film gives the woman the agency to stand up for herself.

It is scenes like these that make Mandaadi an enjoyable affair. As a sports drama, the film has ample scope to become a full-fledged hero-elevation vehicle for Soori. And it does give him several moments to announce his arrival as a commercial hero. However, the film’s ensemble and its women characters ensure that the narrative does not rest entirely on him.

Soori and Suhas bring the rooted lives of the fishermen folk to the screen with earnest performances. One is driven by righteousness, while the other is powered by greed. You can anticipate where the two characters will eventually end up. It is in the whys and hows that Mandaadi holds your attention. Ravindra Vijay, Mahima Nambiar and Sathyaraj get well-rounded arcs despite limited screentime. Tourist Family fame Mithun Jai Sankar impresses as an impulsive youngster and a mentee.
Apart from the performances, Mandaadi benefits from SR Kathir’s cinematography, which captures the tension and physicality of the races well. Particularly, a fight between Suhas and Soori’s characters involving a sword and an anchor is wonderfully staged. Composer GV Prakash elevates the film’s emotional and racy beats with his background score.

Mandaadi may not reinvent the sports drama, and some of its emotional beats are predictable, but its unusual setting, rooted performances and assured treatment of its women make it an engaging watch.

Every great sports film has a moment when the sport stops being the heart of the story and the sportsperson takes over. When Soori is on the water, gripping the mast of a twin-hulled boat as the sea tries to drag him under, you understand the film is no longer about who wins the race. It is about a man from a fishing community whose entire identity, his livelihood, his dignity, his place in a world that is being taken from him, rides on whether he can stay on that boat longer than the man next to him. In those moments, Mandaadi is as good as any sports film India has produced. The problem is what happens when he gets off the boat.

Mandaadi is set in the coastal fishing communities of Tamil Nadu, where catamarans, the traditional twin-hulled boats that fishermen have used for centuries, are not just vessels but a way of life. The word “catamaran” itself is Tamil, derived from “kattumaram,” meaning logs tied together. The film follows a young fisherman, played by Soori, whose life revolves around the sea, his community and the catamaran races that serve as both sport and cultural tradition in his village. When a conflict arises that threatens both the protagonist’s livelihood and his community’s way of life, the catamaran race becomes the arena where everything is settled.

The film works because the cast does not let the screenplay’s weaknesses define their performances. Soori does not play a fisherman, he looks like he has spent his life on the water. His hands grip the mast like they have done it a thousand times. His body moves with the catamaran rather than against it. The physical demands of the racing sequences are enormous, and he handles them with conviction. If anyone still introduces him as a comedian, they have not been paying attention.
Suhas, making his Tamil debut after building a strong reputation in Telugu cinema, does not just hold his own against Soori, he matches his energy. The character could have been a one-note rival, the man standing between the hero and victory. Suhas refuses to play it that way. He finds humanity in the competition, the respect buried under the aggression, the awareness that the man on the other boat is fighting for the same things as he is. It makes you wonder why Suhas is not being cast in more films across more languages. He has the talent for a much bigger career than his filmography currently reflects.

Mahima Nambiar is functional in a role the screenplay does not develop beyond necessity. She is present and she is competent. She is not given enough to make a lasting impression. The film’s emotional energy belongs to the men and the sea.

Mandaadi lives and dies by the sea. When it is on the water, it is one of the most viscerally exciting sports films Indian cinema has produced in years. When it steps onto land and tries to be a drama, the screenplay loses the current that was carrying it and starts drifting.
The catamaran racing sequences are the film’s reason for existing. Shot on actual water with a combination of practical work and carefully deployed CGI, the races have a raw, physical quality that most Indian sports films, with their over-edited montages and inspirational background scores, cannot match. The camera does not watch the race from the shore. It sits on the water, low enough that you feel the spray on your face. You sense the instability of the boat beneath you. The sound design is half the experience: the creak of wood under pressure, the slap of water against twin hulls, the wind tearing across the frame, the shouts of racers who know that a split-second mistake means the sea wins.

What makes the racing work beyond the spectacle is the rivalry underneath it. The relationship between Soori and Suhas is not built on hatred; it is built on recognition. Two men who do the same thing, love the same water and need the same victory, looking at each other across a starting line and understanding that the man opposite them is the only person in the world who knows exactly what this race costs. The film takes its time letting that complexity breathe rather than rushing to declare one the hero and the other the obstacle. It is patient work, and it pays off.

The problem is everything between the races. When the film leaves the water and becomes a land-based drama about power, exploitation and survival, the screenplay loses the specificity that made the sea portions so compelling. The conflicts on land feel borrowed from a dozen other Tamil rural dramas.
When the racing returns for the climax, it delivers. The final race is staged with the same ferocious energy as the first-half sequences, and by this point the emotional stakes are high enough to make every wave, every tilt of the boat, every near-capsize feel like it matters. But the journey from the interval to the climax is not as clean as it should be. The ending, when it arrives, works. It is satisfying without being predictable. But it arrives after a second half that tested your patience.

The cinematography is the film’s crowning technical achievement. The sea is shot in natural light with long lenses and low-angle compositions that make you feel the size and power of the water. The catamaran racing sequences, with the camera mounted on the boats themselves, water spraying across the lens, the horizon tilting on turns, are genuinely exhilarating.

The sound design deserves special mention. During the racing sequences, the natural sounds of the sea, the wood, the wind and the racers’ shouts, are layered into a soundscape that is as responsible for the immersion as the visuals. The decision to let the ocean breathe rather than drowning it in background music is one of the most disciplined sound choices in a Tamil film this year.

Mandaadi is a film that earns respect for what it attempts and forgiveness for where it falls short. Here is the thing, the strongest material in Mandaadi, the racing, the sea, the community, the physicality, is strong enough to carry the film past its weaknesses. You will remember the water long after you have forgotten the land. You will remember Soori on the catamaran long after you have forgotten why he was fighting. Go for Soori. Go for the sea. Go for the racing. Accept that the land portions will not match the water, and hope that whatever Mathimaran does next gives him the screenplay his visual instincts deserve.

The sea looks calm and beautiful one minute but becomes dangerous and unforgiving the next. It is precisely this unpredictability that director Mathimaran Pugazhendhi uses as the backdrop to narrate the story of Muthukaali, aka Kaali (Soori).

A middle-aged Kaali, who's now living in Chennai after being forced to leave his village, gets an urgent call from his niece pleading with him to save a young man named Maari (Mithun Jai Sankar) who has run away from their village. When Kaali hears Maari's story, he decides to take him back to their village and find him justice, and this is also when we find the backstory of Kaali's life.

Twenty years ago, Kaali, like Maari, was a sailboat racer, and his life takes a tragic turn after a betrayal by his best friend Saattappuli (Suhas). Once friends, they are now bitter enemies thanks to a boat race, which unwittingly rears its head in the present and brings them face-to-face once again.

They are confronted by their past and also the present, where a boat race once again becomes a question of pride, revenge, protecting the people, and survival. What made Kaali and Saatta such bitter enemies? What happened between them during that fateful boat race 20 years ago that changed the course of their lives forever?
There have been several sports dramas in Tamil cinema, but Mandaadi scores simply because it takes us into a sporting world that has hardly been explored on screen. Set in the coastal villages of Ramanathapuram, the film revolves around traditional sailboat races, with the person leading the boating team referred to as the mandaadi. The sport is not merely a competition here - for the people of these villages, it is tied to identity, pride, and their standing within the community.

The loser eventually winning against all odds is familiar in sports dramas, and it's visible here too, but Mandaadi shines thanks to its setting and the authenticity of the world that Mathimaran Pugazhendhi has shot it in. The sea, the boats, the fishermen, and their daily lives are all part of the narrative, and this is what makes Kaali's story engaging and emotionally resonant.

Mandaadi is more than just about a boat race - it is not just about the conflict between two men in a village, but it is also about loyalty, relationships, community, and the deep-rooted bond between the community and the sea. The sport is a metaphor in Kaali's life, and he tries to redeem himself and unite his community that stands sharply divided, once again decades later. Mathimaran Pugazhendhi gives us an exciting new world in Mandaadi, though the emotional beats are familiar. Even though the sport is hinged on rivalry like most films, the way the thrilling rustic boat races have been shot and presented has put the audience on the edge of their seats - literally. And this is where the director scores big time.

After Viduthalai, Garudan, and Kottukkaali, Soori continues to make interesting and good choices as a lead actor. He is perfect for the role of Muthukaali, and given the physicality the role requires, he has really pushed himself. In this film, he plays the lead role set in a particular rural community rather than a commercial film, and this shows his understanding of his strengths and weaknesses.

Soori as Kaali is not brash or loud but is understated and confident, lending the required gravitas and making his transformation into a leader feel convincing. Telugu actor Suhas as Saattappuli, a man with negative shades, is a revelation in this film - he brings a quiet menace and intensity to the character, making it his own.

Mahima Nambiar has a significant role with a strong character arc, and she provides the important emotional connection between various characters in this film. Veteran actor Sathyaraj adds weight to the proceedings as Muni, while Mithun Jai Shankar makes an impression as Maari, the catalyst to the entire proceedings.

The visuals in this film, especially the boat race portions in the sea, are captivating and immersive, and all credit to DOP SR Kathir. A special mention must be made of the pre-interval action scene, which was choreographed well and had impact. The editing by Pradeep E Ragav keeps the narrative moving but could have been tighter in some parts. Music director GV Prakash Kumar has outdone himself once again with the BGM in Mandaadi - the coastal scenes and the racing portions have been elevated and add the required tension too thanks to his music.

Mandaadi is a Soori film all the way, and he truly shines in this coastal sports drama, making it a highly engaging watch.

Mandaadi

Mandaadi(2026)

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