The Great One) is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language neo noir action thriller film[1] directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by S. S. Lalit Kumar under Seven Screen Studio.

1968: Mohandoss is a middle-aged liquor-ban activist whose 12 year old son Gandhi Mahaan is the exact opposite of him, and is addicted to gambling.

1998: Gandhi, Sathya and Rocky are all rich from selling the liquor and plan to start a syndicate where only their drinks could be sold in the bars in Tamil Nadu.

At Rocky's wedding, Gnanam proposes a deal to Gandhi that he can let them produce the entire stock of liquor in Tamil Nadu by killing off the DC, which they do so.

In June 2020, Karthik Subbaraj was reported to direct a gangster film with Vikram in the lead role, which was tentatively titled Chiyaan 60.

[3] Vikram, initially greenlit the one-liner narrated by Subbaraj in 2016, while he was shooting for Iru Mugan, but he could not offer the role due to his commitments in other projects.

[3] Lalit Kumar officially announced the project on 8 June 2020,[4] with Vikram's son Dhruv also sharing a pivotal role in the film.

[12] Anirudh opted out of the project due to his busy schedule and was replaced by Subbaraj's norm composer Santhosh Narayanan.

[17] The next day, Vani Bhojan was confirmed, with her role reported to be Vikram's love interest; however her scenes did not make the final cut.

[22] Subbaraj fixed Kodaikanal as the principal location for the film,[23] and planned to start the shoot in February 2021 due to Vikram's commitments to Cobra and Ponniyin Selvan.

[24][25] With Vikram's return to Chennai after completing the shooting schedule for Cobra in Russia,[26] principal photography commenced on 10 March 2021.

Compositions for the soundtrack began during March 2021, where Santhosh and his music team recorded the first track, in collaboration with native folk musicians from Tamil Nadu.

[45] Mahaan was released on 10 February 2022 in Amazon Prime Video and the satellite rights of the film were sold to Kalaignar TV, where it premiered on 31 August 2022 .

[46][47][48][49] M Suganth of The Times of India gave 3.5/5 stars stating that "Thankfully, the emotional stakes keep getting higher and the actors deliver splendid performances.

[50] Praveen Sudevan of The Hindu wrote "Karthik Subbaraj attempts a meditation on morality and ideology within a crime saga that struggles to bear its own weight.

"[52] Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times wrote "Mahaan extracts a very uninhibited performance from Vikram, who is refreshing in a character that spans over five decades.

After leaving a strong impact with his debut film, a remake of Arjun Reddy, he delivers a slightly exaggerated performance which suits the character.

"[53] Manoj Kumar R of The Indian Express gave 3.5/5 stars stating that "Composer Santhosh Narayanan’s background score, cinematographer Shreyaas Krishna’s camera enriches the mood and atmosphere of Karthik’s vision.

If Karthik had slowed the pace a little and dug deep into the period and atmosphere of his characters, Mahaan could have been his own version of Once Upon a Time in America.

"[55] Aditya Shrikrishna of The Quint wrote "Vikram’s Gandhi transforms into ‘The Man with No Name’ in his sleep, belting out “get three coffins ready” like Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars.

But after a chance meeting with a beggar on his fortieth birthday and a harsh dressing down, and a day for himself without family, he takes matters into his own hands.

"[56] Vivek M V of Deccan Herald gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Mahaan begins with a quote from Gandhi that says, 'Freedom is not worth having if it doesn't include the freedom to make mistakes'.

"[57] Janani K of India Today gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Mahaan could have been a solid gangster drama with a conflict between a dad and son at the core.

"[58] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Mahaan grabs that freedom with both hands – like the eponymous character, it makes its share of mistakes and lives to tell the tale because Vikram injects just enough variety into it with a performance that serves to temper some of the film's excesses.

"[59] Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute stated that "Instead of the gangster saga that it is, I wish it had been a satirical comedy on Gandhism, and a man caught in the middle of an uptight family, and his adventures without their knowledge.

"[60] In an interview after the film's release, Karthik Subbaraj stated that some dialogues criticising Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse were censored.