Mahanadi (film)

Mahanadi
Directed by	Santhana Bharathi
Produced by	S. A. Rajkannu
Written by	Kamal Haasan Ra. Ki. Rangarajan (dialogues)
Screenplay by	Kamal Haasan
Story by	Kamal Haasan
Starring	Kamal Haasan Sukanya Cochin Haneefa Poornam Viswanathan
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography	M. S. Prabhu
Edited by	N. P. Satish
Production company	Sree Amman Creations
Distributed by	Sree Amman Creations
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹37 million (equivalent to ₹190 million or US$2.8 million in 2016)
Box office	₹45 million (equivalent to ₹230 million or US$3.4 million in 2016)

Mahanadi (Tamil: மகாநதி) is a 1994 Tamil-language Indian drama film directed by Santhana Bharathi featuring Kamal Hassan, Sukanya, and Cochin Haneefa. It portrays the grief of a humble villager, who sees his family, property being ruined. The film dealt with several issues such as corruption and child trafficking. It was dubbed in Telugu with the same title. It is critically acclaimed but above average grosser at the box office. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.

Krishnaswamy (Kamal Hassan) is a widower living happily along with his mother-in-law Saraswathi (S. N. Lakshmi), daughter Kaveri (Mahanadi Shobana) and son Bharani (Mahanadhi Dinesh) in a village near Trichy. Dhanush (Cochin Haneefa); a con from the city has an eye on Krishnaswamy's prosperity and asks him to join his chit fund business. At first Krishnaswamy is reluctant; however when a rich friend from a foreign country visits house, he too wants to be rich like them. Hence he agrees to Dhanush's proposal and arrives at the city. However, he is unaware of Dhanush's tricks and when Dhanush swindles away the chitfund money, the blame is put on Krishnaswamy. and he lands up in jail. He finds that even his future father-in-law Panjapakesan (Poornam Viswanathan) is also in jail for same reason whose daughter is Yamuna (Sukanya) working as nurse. He advises Krishnaswamy not to be angry if the jailor is cruel; as he might be released sooner if he is submissive in the jail. During Krishnaswamy's tenure in jail, Yamuna takes care of his family. Due to unavoidable situations, his mother-in-law dies and his son and daughter go missing. Krishnaswamy learns this after coming out from the jail suffering unnecessary hardships.