Mari Selvaraj directed Maamannan starring Vadivelu, Udhayanidhi Stalin, Fahadh Faasil, Keerthy Suresh, Lal, Raveena Ravi among others, is a political thriller that released in theaters on June 29, 2023. The movie with AR Rahman for music made its OTT premiere on Netflix on July 27, 2023.

Maamannan is about how the titular character belonging to an oppressed caste makes it big in politics, despite facing continuous social injustices and unfathomable social segregation. Director Mari Selvaraj is said to have based Vadivelu's character Maamannan on real life Tamil Nadu politician P. Dhanapal. 

Malayalam film actor Fahadh Faasil who is known to be an acting-ace plays the role of a dominant caste politician/villain in Maamannan. At one point in the movie, Fahadh Faasil's ruthless-bigot Rathnavelu character is shown trying to rally the support of all dominant castes against Maamannan. To an extent, this has become an ironical reality for the movie Maamannan post its digital premiere, on the Netflix streaming platform.

Not only is social media found romanticizing Fahadh Faasil as Rathnavelu, people from several dominant castes are seen trying to claim the character as "theirs". 'Rathnavelu edits' has become a social media phenomenon, with caste-based songs serving as the BGM. [Once again ironically, director Mari Selvaraj is against such unintended consequences given he famously wrote a letter to actor Kamal Haasan over the unintended consequences of  the 1992 hit movie Thevar Magan, and spoke about it at the Maamannan audio launch]. 

#FahadhFaasil சேலம் ஆளுமை
அழகாபுரம் ரத்தினவேல் கவுண்டர் 🔥 pic.twitter.com/qOGpEI988e

— Pallavas 🦁🇮🇳 (@CholaPallavan) July 30, 2023

Ipo than perfect match💥🥵❤️#FahadhFaasil pic.twitter.com/a573tRfrPN

— ❥Crazy__dreame✪ (@Harish_pkp_2) July 28, 2023

Thevar Magan Rathnavelu 💥✨…#Rathnavelu

pic.twitter.com/sEFVX5mzIE

—  𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐧~✨ (@_AKMadhan) July 30, 2023

ரத்னவேல் செட்டியார்...🔥#Rathnavelu pic.twitter.com/0jilf3V5H8

— AK (@iam_K_A) July 30, 2023

Rathnavelu Iyengar🔥🔥🔥

Perey Mass ah irukey🥵 https://t.co/ZXQzHDc6tV

— Jithu (@enzo_jithu) July 31, 2023

ரத்தினவேல் தாக்கூர் version 🔥🔥😎#Rathnavelu pic.twitter.com/GaXg12YmcZ

— Dr. 2G Spectrum 🍇 💰 (War Room: Navy 🇮🇳🪷⚓️) (@EURONGREYJOY007) July 30, 2023

The conundrum of director Mari Selvaraj's plot getting lost on social media has elicited both sarcastic and humorous tweets from those fed-up with the situation.  

This what happens when you cast extra ordinary performer to the character that you wants to hate @mari_selvaraj na ..he finally steals the show

— Kundalakesi 122 (@122Kundalakesi) July 30, 2023

Fahadh Faasil created a masterclass on how to play a Casteist bigot. Even though he has nothing to do with the social landscape of the Erode-Salem belt, look at the perfection in his performance. pic.twitter.com/QEEC4Kzvbg

— Chay! (@illusionistChay) July 29, 2023

The name is rathnavelu 😎🥵🔥 pic.twitter.com/cb5axkOgBX

— naveen (@Pragade3) July 30, 2023

தேவர் டா...

இல்ல நாடார் டா....

இல்ல வன்னியர் டா...

இல்ல கவுண்டர் டா...

டேய் நான் முஸ்லிம் டா... pic.twitter.com/S9V8hed6U0

— சோ.சதீஸ் குமார் (@SathishCbi) July 31, 2023

Now that several castes in Tamilnadu have staked their claim on Fahadh Faasil's character Rathnavelu in 'Maamannan', it is only fair we rightly hand over the 'Pure & Original Chozha' title to Mr. Rathnavelu. pic.twitter.com/RqiyZYQYYF

— Rajesh Rajamani (@rajamanirajesh) July 31, 2023

அன்றே கணித்த ரத்னவேல்... pic.twitter.com/QmIXpvQVkr

— Jayam Sk Gopi (Jsk Gopi) (@JSKGopi) July 31, 2023

The Name Is #Rathnavel #Rathnavelu pic.twitter.com/9Ds5YWPTpt

— Simbu (Aka) Smt.Thiliban (@SMTThiliban) July 31, 2023

ஒங்கோலை நோக்கி செல்கிறார் சேலத்து #Rathnavelu 😎🔥🤣pic.twitter.com/ICdsTPp0xE

— Dr. 2G Spectrum 🍇 💰 (War Room: Navy 🇮🇳🪷⚓️) (@EURONGREYJOY007) July 30, 2023

முற்றுப்புள்ளி பதிவு

என்னோட பங்கிற்கு
ஏதோ என்னால் முடிந்தது 😅#மாமன்னன் #Rathnavelu pic.twitter.com/yi9HO3nNqE

— Royal Nadar History (@royal_nadar) August 1, 2023

#Rathnavelu Pastor 🙏➕ pic.twitter.com/nxLfRM618L

— 𝘼𝙟𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 ᵛᶦᵈᵃᵃᴹᵘʸᵃʳᶜʰᶦ (@ajithianforeve) July 30, 2023

Veera parayan Fafa #Rathnavelu ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 #Maamannan #FahadhFaasil pic.twitter.com/pcjeHbhxiw

— RANDOM MEMES (@AssaultArunHere) August 1, 2023

ராமா் என்ன தர்மரென்ன
மாமன் மனசு தங்கம் தான் ❤️
மகளிர் அணி whats App Status
ரத்னவேலு ரசிகர் மன்றம் ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/TkexNFHH6Y

— Bhuvan (@UnmaturedB) July 31, 2023

When Mari Selvaraj saw all the #FahadhFaasil video edits #Maamannan pic.twitter.com/9G45YnBVFM

— Kαииαи Kя (@krrkannan94) July 29, 2023

#FahadhFaasil வெச்சு ரத்தினவேலுனு படம் எடுத்தா pan India 1000 Crores கியாரண்டி 🔥 pic.twitter.com/5rNyfpiUz6

— குளவி 🧞 (@AttomLegend) July 31, 2023

Meanwhile Rathnavelu from the sets of #Maamannan 😁!#FahadhFaasil #BehindTheScenes #MariSelvaraj pic.twitter.com/se9d7IYIx0

— Fahadh Faasil Trends (@FaFaTrends) August 1, 2023

Would be funny if someone else writes a letter to Mari now

— Kutreya Saaleya (@KKutreya) July 29, 2023

Bang bang 🤙🏻🔥#FahadhFaasil 🥵🕶️🤏🏻#Rathnavelu#MaamannanOnNetflix #GoodEvening tweeples 🤞🏻💚#MaamannanBlockbuster pic.twitter.com/USPhi23wIS

— RifaHassan (@RifaHassan143) July 31, 2023

We still cannot accept .... we are using #x @X

— AnAs𓃵 (@anasz_s) July 31, 2023

சாதிய ஒழிக்கிறேன் என்ற பேர்ல படம் எடுத்தான் மாரி...!!

எல்லா சாதிகரர்களுக்கும்
செட் ஆகுற மாதிரி வில்லன் கேரக்டரை வச்சு , ராஜராஜ சோழனுக்கு பிறகு அனைத்து சாதியும் கொண்டாடும் நபராக வில்லன் ரத்னவேல் (பகத் பஷில் ) ஆகிவிட்டார்.#Maamannan#Rathnavelu #FahadhFaasil pic.twitter.com/spDz6C4wTO

— Mahendravarman (@MaheMariyappan) July 31, 2023

😂😂😂 https://t.co/G38Df1jUPG

— உமாசங்கர் மருத நிலம் (@shankarkanna2) August 1, 2023