Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

aravindia75 I first saw this movie during Diwali in 1991. I used to be a school student then. This movie got rave reviews during its release and with great difficulty I got tickets to watch this fi;m! At first viewing I just loved it though I had a tough time listening to the dialogues as theatre was packed with Rajni fans who would shout and whistle at almost every dialogue of Thalaivar! I then watched it many years later on TV and then got to watch a very good print on DVD.This is one of the most technically well made Tamil films till date. Mani Ratnam and his team made an all time classic! Wish more of such movies were made these days! The story, direction, screenplay, acting, music, cinematography are all spot on! I especially love this movie's cinematography and background music! I think this is on of the best photographed Tamil movies ever! Every cinematography student should study the photographic style of this movie! The lighting, camera angles, shot composition are just superb! And Then Ilaiyaraja's background music is just awesome! The story of this movie is inspired from Karna's character in Mahabharata. Karna was Kunti's illegitimate son (given to her womb as a boon by the sun god Surya) and had to let go of him as she was unmarried, She later married Pandu and gave birth to the Pandavas while Karna grew up on his own and later became a very good friend of Duryodhana who was a cousin and sworn enemy of the Pandavas. Rajnikanth's character is based on Karna while Mammooty's based on Duryodhana and Aravindswamy character is based on Arjuna.This movie has loose parallels with Mani Ratnam's Nayagan which was about a Don and one of his friends from young age became his main henchman. Thalapathi's story is about the main henchman of a don. Both movies have similar patterns such as the main character getting bruttally hit in the police station and later the police trying to destroy the entire gang of the main character.Like Nayagan Thalapathi is a violent film, In fact more violent. I remember when watching it first in theatre (had an U/A cert) this movie had lots of gory scene. I recollect with horror the scene where Rajni shoots of the fingers of Manoj K Jayan or the climax scene where Amrish Puri's head is blown of by Rajni's gun. THis and many gory moments were later removed for broadcast on TV and surprisingly even the DVD didn't have it! I doubt there any original unrated prints of this today.This movie isn't without its flaws. To start with I wasn't convinced over the way Rajni and Mammooty became friends whereby Rajni swears to give his life for Mammooty. It takes years of understanding and loyalty to develop between friends to get to point where they are ready to give life for each other! Its true in Mahabharata Karna swore life long loyalty the minute Duryodhana saved his honor but over here it just doesn't make sense. Then in the end the Rajni's character is let to go scot free after like killing so many people and his family have no issues with it either, even his mom wants to stay with him in the end! I personally feel this is the best performance ever by Rajni in his entire career. His acting is very convincing and in many scenes he plays the part in an understated manner! I guess it takes a director like Mani Ratnam to bring out the best from a superstar like Rajni! A sad thing associated with this movie was the parting of Mani Ratnam and Ilaiyaraja, as for his next movie he launched AR Rahman who has remained his composer till date! Although Mani and Rahman have given lots of hits together its the combo of Mani and Ilaiyaraja which I cherish and remember even today! Wish they both come together again to weave another magical movie!

Venkat Subramanian For this movie, 10 out of 10 is probably too low. That's how good this movie is. Among Tamil cinema's timeless classics, it came in the late 80's and now its 2010 but still I watch it with the same enthusiasm and clap/whistle at some of the dialogues from this film. Maniratnam had a hard time directing Rajnikanth and Mammootty but if he can give a product like this through such hardships, I pray he goes through such hardships again (Sorry Mani Sir!). Ilayaraja is the life and soul of this film. Rajni's best ever performance along with Mammooty. There were the few Nayagan inspirations (Doing good for 4 people cannot be wrong, the inspector beating the hero and then the inspector getting killed by the same hero, etc). Who else can take the Karna-Duryodhana friendship from the Mahabharatha and weave such a magical story in accordance to today's times? Mani is magic!

prasivenk The movie with the combo of Mani and Thala's of neighboring states and with splendid tunes from Illayaraja ,a certain delight is a sure bet !! Trite , crisp dialogues are characteristics of this movie just as any mani ratnam flick is. The scene which stands out for its 'crispness' comes the intensely set one in which Rajni after being imprisoned in the initial scenes is released as somebody else turns in as approval for the crime which he created. Surya,(Rajni) unaware of who has sent him, walks across to him n asks him, " YYYYEN?" After a few pauses he gets the reply," DEVA!! ". He comes out of the room and walks in the corridor just to witness Deva (Mamooty) and there begins the friendship between Surya and Deva which is so deep, committed and brilliant. The tone of most of the scenes keeps one gripping and with its melodramatic ingredients and songs, contributes to a bit of dilution of its intensity though. The storyline, a slight adaptation of mahabarata with superstar playin the Karna character to finesse is simply awesome.A sure must watch flick !!

Pranavan Ramachandran A fight between two brothers (Rajnikanth and Arvindswamy) is a classy version on Modern Mahabbaratha, is truly unique. Maniratnam has adapted the screenplay to the modern version and it's really awesome. Mammootty as Rajnikanth's friend Deva is amazing. Music and cinematography by Illayaraja and Santosh Sivan (The terrorist) commend each other. For me it's the best gangster movie made in India. Just loved the movie from beginning till end.