Manithan is a Tamil-language courtroom drama directed by I. Ahmed, starring Udhayanidhi Stalin and Hansika Motwani in the leading roles. A remake of Subhash Kapoor’s 2013 Hindi film Jolly LLB, the film was released on 29 April 2016 to positive reviews.
Manithan begins with a drunk Rahul Dewan (Suraj) , racing in a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado against a Audi, after he is seduced by a woman in the passenger seat. He loses control and crashes into a wall on the footpath by the road. The film cuts to a court scene where Sakthivel aka Sakthi (Udhayanidhi Stalin), an LLB (law-degree) graduate defending a surgeon against a Public interest litigation (PIL) filed against him after the surgeon had his son operate upon a patient in his pursuit of Guinness Book of World Records. Sakthi loses the case but decides to move to the capital Chennai to try his luck. He happens to see prominent criminal lawyer Adhiseshan (Prakash Raj) defending Rahul Dewan in a sessions court. Rahul Dewan is accused of causing death under the influence of alcohol. Adhiseshan convinces the judge that prosecution had no evidence to implicate Rahul Dewan and he was being deliberately targeted by the media as he was from a rich family, resulting in Dewan’s acquittal.
Adhiseshan, though, is not satisfied with the fee paid by the Dewans. Sakthi, desperate to have some money and fame, decides to pursue the case and files a PIL in the court against Rahul Dewan’s acquittal. After initially reprimanding Sakthi for his mistakes in filing the PIL and taking the press reports as an evidence, Justice Dhanapal (Radharavi) gives a date for hearing and warns Sakthi to collect some evidence before the hearing. He then runs into Vijay Nair(Krishna kumar), who claims to have witnessed the accident. Then Sakthi introduces him as a witness in the court and Judge Dhanapal, after cross-examining him, gives a date for the next hearing. He also summons Rahul Dewan to be present in the court for the hearing. Sakthi becomes a celebrity overnight and is admired by Moorthy who donates a room in his restaurant to Sakthi for using it as his office. However, Sakthi’s plans turn upside down, when Vijay nair reveals to him that he is no witness, but a crony of Adhiseshan and it was part of a plan to extract more money from Dewan clan. As part of the deal, Nair gives Sakthi his share of the money paid by Dewans to silence Nair. Sakthi gleefully accepts the money and regrets that had he known this plan earlier, he would have demanded more money. Vijay nair turns hostile in the court and Sakthi accepts the statement given by Nair. Judge Dhanapal postpones the judgement for the next hearing. Priya(Hansika Motwani), cousin and fiancee of Sakthi, chides him for compromising on justice for his greed. Sakthi realises his mistake once. Moorthy slaps him for his treachery. He returns the money to Adhiseshan and challenges him to win the case.
With the help of his uncle (Vivek), he collects the video footage of the Land Cruiser involved in the accident and presents it to the court. Though Adhiseshan counters him that the Land Cruiser was driven by the driver of Dewan family, Sakthi refutes his statement by submitting the necessary evidence. Judge Dhanapal orders the Police to provide a bodyguard for Sakthi after he was manhandled by alleged assistants of Adhiseshan. Sakthi comes to know that a survivor of the accident stays in Vandavasi and decides to leave for Vandavasi. Inspector Selvam tries to sabotage Sakthi’s investigation, but is rescued by his bodyguard. He identifies Kamalakannan as the survivor in Vandavasi and brings him to Chennai. Sakthi prosecutes inspector Selvam and finds that he has botched up the investigation by declaring Kamalakannan as dead and snatching his hard-earned money to stop him from killing Kannan. He also identifies Rahul Dewan as the one who drove the Land Cruiser. After conclusion of arguments and counter-arguments between Adhiseshan and Sakthi, Judge Dhanapal directs Tamil Nadu Police to suspend inspector Selvam and initiate a criminal inquiry against him and also declares Rahul Dewan as guilty of the crime and sentences him to fourteen years in jail under Section 304 and under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code. The film ends with Sakthi celebrating with his team while Adhiseshan is crestfallen as he suffers defeat after a long time.
Directed by I. Ahmed
Produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin
Written by Ajayan Bala (dialogues)
Screenplay by I. Ahmed
Story by Subhash Kapoor
Based on Jolly LLB By Subhash Kapoor
Starring Udhayanidhi Stalin, Hansika Motwani, Prakash Raj, Radharavi, Aishwarya Rajesh
Music by Santhosh Narayanan
Cinematography R. Madhi
Edited by J. V. Manikanda Balaji
Production Red Giant Movies
Distributed by Fox Star Studios
Release dates April 29, 2016
Country India
Language Tamil
