In 1987 , Mani directed '' Nayakan '' starring Kamal Haasan , and the film became a huge success and brought him recognition at the national level . Inspired by the 1972 American crime film , '' The Godfather '' , the film was based on the real-life story of underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar , and tells the story of an orphaned slum-dweller and his rise to top of the Mumbai underworld hierarchy . It was included in '' Time '' magazine 's All-Time 100 Greatest Movies in 2005 . Satyajit Ray 's The Apu Trilogy and Guru Dutt 's '' Pyaasa '' are the only other Indian films that have appeared in the list . Indian critics dubbed the film as India 's answer to '' The Godfather '' . '' Nayakan '' was both commercially successful and critically acclaimed winning three National Awards — Best Actor , Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction — at the 35th National Film Awards . The film was India 's official entry to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not nominated
35th National Film Awards
35th National Film Awards
Mani Ratnam