Mandaadi team celebrates Soori and Mathimaran at success meet

Mandaadi took its team back to sea for another 20 days when the footage did not yet match director Mathimaran Pugazhendhi’s vision. At the film’s success celebration in Chennai, Vetrimaaran recalled producer Elred Kumar telling the crew to return and get the sequence right despite the additional expense. It was one of several stories that gave the gathering a sense of how much work had gone into the coastal drama.

Vetrimaaran, whose long association with Soori made his remarks especially personal, said the audience’s embrace of the film was the reason to celebrate. Watching Soori move from brief screen appearances to a leading role, he said, felt like watching someone the audience considered one of their own find his place. He also had advice for his former assistant Mathimaran: having reached a hard-won moment, take the next steps with patience.

Elred praised Mathimaran’s discipline as a first-time director. He said the filmmaker had promised to shoot only what the script needed, then delivered the film in time for its IMAX finishing schedule, handing over a cut 22 days ahead of the deadline. The producer called Soori’s arrival as an action lead a significant turn and said the theatrical response in Telugu-speaking markets had encouraged the team.

For Mathimaran, the celebration belonged first to the owners of the sailboats and the fishing families who have kept the racing tradition alive across generations. He dedicated the film’s reception to them. What began as a medium-budget project intended for Tamil screens grew into a five-language release and an IMAX presentation, he said, because Elred trusted the scale of the idea. Mathimaran described Muthukaali, Soori’s character, as a deeply personal creation and thanked the actor for giving him life.

Mahima Nambiar remembered being unsure whether she could carry the role when Mathimaran first approached her. He told her it would demand difficult work and asked if she was ready; she agreed. Now she considers the character one she will not forget. She spoke warmly of audiences treating Soori’s achievement as their own, and singled out Bala Saravanan’s comic scenes for the laughter they drew in theatres.

The film’s open-water racing and Soori’s performance have been central to its appeal, while the actor had already dedicated its early reception to fishing communities. Ravindra Vijay, unable to attend because he was shooting in Hyderabad, sent a video message praising Mathimaran, cinematographer S.R. Kathir and editor Pradeep E. Ragav for the film’s scale and pace.

Soori’s account returned to the character’s inner life. Muthukaali comes back to his village after 20 years away, and the actor said he spent a week with the director working out how that history would change the man’s posture, reactions and temper. He thanked stunt director Peter Hein and his son Kiran for the demanding water action, Kathir for shaping the images, and G.V. Prakash Kumar for the music.

He also recalled a congratulatory call from Rajinikanth after the release. At the gathering, that personal memory sat alongside the thanks for the boat owners, crew and performers who carried Mandaadi through its long days at sea.