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Mandela review
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Filmi Score
Exceptional
9 reviews
82
What the critics say
Audience Score · not yet · appears once three readers have written a review
Critics praise Mandela as a sharp, socially conscious caste-politics satire anchored by Yogi Babu's best-ever performance and strong writing, though several flag a melodramatic, dragging second half and a rushed ending.
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Summary
Mandela (2021, Tamil) has a Filmi Score of 82 from 9 critic reviews, and streams on Netflix in the US.
An underprivileged hairdresser becomes the game changer in a local body election in a village where caste politics rules the roost. Will he be able to bring some changes to people's lives?
Where to watchAvailability by JustWatch · some watch links pay filmi.ai a small commission; it never changes what we show or how we score.
Box office collection
No sourced figure yet.
Cast & crew
Directed and written by Madonne Ashwin · music Bharath Shankar
Cast
Yogi BabuLead
G. M. Sundar
Kanna Ravi
Sangili Murugan
Sheela Rajkumar
Arumugam Bala
Prasanna Balachandran
George Mariyan
Senthikumari
Subadhini Subramanian
Mandela Mukesh
Saranya Ravichandran
Full crew
SoundRaju Albert · Arun S Mani · P. C. Vishnu
Production designRamu Thangaraj
CostumeDinesh Manoharan
LyricsYugabharathi · Arivu
ActionStunner Sam
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Summary
An underprivileged hairdresser becomes the game changer in a local body election in a village where caste politics rules the roost. Will he be able to bring some changes to people's lives?
Mandela (2021, Tamil) has a Filmi Score of 82 from 9 critic reviews, and streams on Netflix in the US.
Where to watch
Availability by JustWatch · some watch links pay filmi.ai a small commission; it never changes what we show or how we score.Not streaming yet
What the critics said
9 reviews · the critic’s own number where they gave one
Five of 9 · the critic’s own number where they gave one
YouTube, Hindi · transcript read · 2 May 2021
The reviewer calls this small-budget Yogi Babu film a masterpiece, praising its twist-filled, socially conscious story and calling Yogi Babu's… Watch it there →
Derived by Filmi
90
Ranjani Krishnakumar · 5 Apr 2021
Krishnakumar praises Mandela's layered writing, Yogi Babu's understated lead performance and its clear-eyed take on caste and small-town politics,… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
85
Siddarth Srinivas · 2 Apr 2021
Mandela Movie Review Read it there →
Published · 4/5
Filmi’s reading 84
80
Haricharan Pudipeddi · 5 Apr 2021
Calls Mandela the one film to watch before the next election, praising Yogi Babu's sincere performance and Ashwin's mature handling of caste… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
82
By Shaheen | OTTPlay · 2 Sep 2026
Mandela movie review: This Yogi Babu-starrer is a must-watch Read it there →
Published · 3.5/5
Filmi’s reading 80
70
Thinkal Menon · 2 Apr 2021
Mandela Movie Review: The movie, which inarguably has the best performance of Yogi Babu till date, is also aided by beautiful visuals, sensible cuts, captivating music and engaging narration Read it there →
Published · 3.5/5
Filmi’s reading 80
70
Navein Darshan · 4 Apr 2021
Praises Mandela's bold writing, comedy and Yogi Babu's performance as balancing humour with real anger about caste, but calls the convenient,… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
80
Srivatsan S · 3 Apr 2021
Praises Mandela's self-aware, earnest handling of caste and its inversion of the saviour template, with Yogi Babu's performance as a highlight,… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi
78
Manoj Kumar R · 6 Apr 2021
Mandela review: The timely political satire is a must watch this election season Read it there →
Published · 3/5
Filmi’s reading 76
60
How this number was made. We read every review and derive a 0–100 reading from each — including where the critic printed a number, which stays first on its row, because it’s theirs. The Filmi Score is the mean of 9 readings; 4 of those rows also carry the critic’s own rating, shown beside ours. Rubric v2.1, computed 26 Oct 2026. Any critic can ask us to remove a derived reading.
PublishedStated in videoDerived by FilmiNo score
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Mandela: quick answers
Box office, where to watch and what critics said — from the same data as the page.
Where can I watch Mandela?
Mandela is streaming on OTT: Netflix (India, the US and Canada). Availability comes from JustWatch and is checked every Friday.
What did critics say about Mandela?
Mandela has a Filmi Score of 82 (Exceptional), the mean of 9 readings of critic reviews, one per review. Readings run from 76 (The Indian Express) to 90 (Suraj Kumar). Every review and how it was scored is listed below.
What readers say
The Audience Score appears once three readers’ reviews have been read under the rubric — built from what people write, never from the rating numbers.
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