The Mathimaran Pugazhenthi-directed film has pulled in over a hundred crore since release, and a filmmaker's Facebook post about meeting Soori amid the rush has gone around Tamil film circles.
Soori has his first hundred-crore film as a lead actor. Mandaadi, directed by Mathimaran Pugazhenthi, has pulled in more than Rs 100 crore since it opened in theatres a few weeks ago, according to Filmibeat Tamil, which tracked the film's run from day one.
The response was strong from the start. Reviewers liked what Soori did with the role, and the box office numbers followed the reviews rather than fighting them, a rare enough combination in Tamil cinema right now. Filmibeat Tamil notes that among the films Soori has led since Viduthalai turned him into a hero rather than comic relief, only Maamannan drew genuinely negative reviews. Everything else, including Mandaadi, has landed with the audience.
Mandaadi stars Sathyaraj, Mahima Nambiar and Suhas alongside Soori. Elred Kumar produced it, and GV Prakash Kumar composed the music.
The office visit
Amid the film's run, filmmaker R Saravanan has put out a Facebook post about catching up with Soori in person, and it's the kind of anecdote that travels fast in Tamil film circles because of what it says about the actor rather than the film.
Saravanan writes that his office door was knocked on and Soori was standing there. With Mandaadi, in his words, spinning around like a tsunami, he hadn't expected to even get Soori on the phone, let alone see him walk in. An assistant, identified as Suresh, rushed in to tell Soori that a lot of people were waiting to meet him at the office. Soori ignored that queue and stayed anyway.
According to the post, Soori sat, talked and laughed for over half an hour, and even once he'd started walking to his car, he kept standing on the road holding hands and chatting while a crowd gathered around, chanting his name and jostling to get photographs. He finally left with what Saravanan describes as a mix of apology and exhaustion, saying there was too much to talk about and no time for it, that he was running from one thing to the next, and that it had been days since he'd seen his own family.
Saravanan's post frames it as proof that success hasn't changed Soori much, closing with the image of the actor's black car pulling away down the road.
Whether Mandaadi's run has more room left at the box office isn't clear from current reporting, but with the film still riding a wave of goodwill and Soori now sitting on his first Rs 100 crore hit as a lead, the bigger question for Tamil cinema watchers is what he picks next.
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