Mahanadhi (1994) on Netflix
In a village near Kumbakonam, Krishna raises his son and daughter with his mother-in-law Saraswathi Ammal. A con artist, Dhanush, draws him into a chit fund built on public deposits.
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- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb8.6/105,195 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Krishnaswamy is a widower who lives near Kumbakonam with his mother-in-law Saraswathi Ammal, his daughter Kaveri and his son Bharani. Dhanush, a con artist from Madras, proposes a chit fund business that runs on public deposits and asks Krishna to join him. Krishna hesitates at first, but a visit from a wealthy friend living abroad makes him want the same comfort for his family, and his mother-in-law wants him to marry again and looks for a bride. He agrees to the venture and travels to Madras. When the deposits are swindled away, Krishna is implicated in the fraud and wrongfully convicted.
Cast
- Mahanadhi Shobanaas Kaveri (Krishna's Daughter)
- Mahanadi Dineshas Bharani
- Mohan Natrajanas Venkatachalam
Show all 20 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Mahanadhi (1994)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Kamal Haasan based Mahanadhi's story on a real scare: his domestic help had plotted to kidnap his daughters for a ransom, and he discovered the plan. He avoided publicising this for over twenty years, saying he wrote the script with fear, apprehension and paranoia.
- Mahanadhi was the first film in India to use Avid Technology for editing, and one of the first digitally edited films made outside the United States.
- Sivasankar, later known as "Mahanadhi" Shankar, was cast as the prison warden Thulukaanam because the makers wanted someone who could act and do stunts. The stuntman, recommended by Vikram Dharma, weighed 66 kg and pushed himself to 82 kg in three months for the role.
- Cinematographer P. C. Sreeram turned Mahanadhi down and suggested his own assistant, M. S. Prabhu, instead. The film became Prabhu's first as an independent cinematographer.
- Cheran, an associate director on Mahanadhi, later accused Kamal Haasan of mistreating him and other assistant directors during production.
- The Mahanadhi song "Pongalo Pongal" grew into one of Tamil cinema's most popular Pongal songs, played on radio and television every Pongal.
