Kabali (film)

Plot

A Kuala Lumpur–based don Kabaleeswaran alias Kabali (Rajinikanth) is released after spending 25 years in prison on a false charge of starting a massacre at a local Hindu temple that killed many, including his wife Kumudhavalli alias Kumudha (Radhika Apte). He immediately resumes charge of his old gang and soon confronts Loganathan alias Loga (Mime Gopi), a drug smuggler. Loga insults Kumudha, saying that she would have been sold into prostitution had she been alive. In retaliation, Kabali rams his car into Loga, killing him; however, the incident makes him believe that his wife may be still alive. Later, Kabali survives an assassination attempt by Tamizh Kumaran alias Kumaran (Kalaiyarasan), whose father Tamilmaaran (Charles Vinoth) was killed by Kabali when Kumaran was a young boy. The next day, at a function organised by the Free Life Foundation School, a school started by Kabali's friend Ameer (John Vijay) to reform youngsters involved in criminal activities, Kabali talks about his past.

Kabali was the protege of Tamilmaaran's father Tamilnesan (Nassar), a don who fought for the rights of the Tamil Malaysians. Tamilnesan was killed by Veerasekaran alias Veera (Kishore), who was also a part of Tamilnesan's gang, but disliked his rules such as not involving in illegal activities like drug smuggling and prostitution. Following Tamilnesan's death, Kabali took charge of Tamilnesan's gang. But Veera manipulated Tamilmaaran by telling him that he, being Tamilnesan's son, should lead the gang and not Kabali. Tamilmaaran invited Kabali and a pregnant Kumudha for a temple function. However, this was revealed to be a trap as Veera and his men confronted Kabali and Kumudha at the function. In the ensuing scuffle, Kabali was brutally attacked while Kumudha was shot and seemingly killed. Kabali then killed Tamilmaaran for his betrayal in front of a young Kumaran and was soon arrested on a false charge of instigating the massacre.

Kumaran, after hearing Kabali's speech, realises his mistake and apologises to him. He tells him that Velu (R. Amarendran), one of Veera's henchmen who was present at the temple massacre, is aware of what happened to Kumudha. Kabali then leaves for Thailand, where Velu is residing. On confronting Velu, he learns that his daughter is still alive. At this juncture, Kabali is confronted by Yogi (Dhansika), a contract killer hired by Veera and his boss Tony Lee alias Tony (Winston Chao), who heads the rival Gang 43 in Kuala Lumpur, to eliminate Kabali. But Yogi instead kills the men who had come with her and reveals herself to Kabali as his daughter, who had been raised by Velu. She also tells him that Kumudha is still alive and is living with a French family in Puducherry. Kabali and Yogi then leave for Puducherry, where, after several days of searching, they reunite with Kumudha and spend a few days with her there. While in Puducherry, Kabali and his family are attacked by men sent by Tony. However, Kabali and Yogi fight them off and escape safely with Kumudha.

Kabali and his family soon return to Kuala Lumpur, where he is told that Ameer has been severely injured in a car accident set up by Tony; his henchman Jeeva (Dinesh) was brutally chopped to pieces by Tony after refusing to join the Gang 43; and the Gang 43 had destroyed the Free Life Foundation School and started to control the Kuala Lumpur underworld, eliminating any gang who dared to oppose them. On hearing all this, Kabali decides to finish Veera and Tony once and for all. He and his family attend the 100th birthday party for a respected Malaysian don Ang Lee, who had invited all gangs, including the Gang 43. At the party, Kabali starts a shootout with the help of Kumaran, which ends with him killing Veera and Tony.

Some months later, Kabali, Kumudha and Yogi attend a function organised by the Free Life Foundation. One of the Free Life alumni, a youngster name Tiger (Hari Krishnan), who is known to be aggressive and reckless, walks up to Kabali, with scenes showing him speaking to the police prior to the function. The screen cuts to black, and the sound of a gun clicking and a gunshot afterwards is heard.

Development

In June 2015, director Pa. Ranjith announced his third directorial venture, which would follow his previous two films Attakathi (2012) and Madras (2014), with Rajinikanth via Twitter. Rajinikanth had been impressed with Ranjith's work in Madras (2014) and subsequently Rajinikanth's daughter, Soundarya, asked Ranjith to work on a script for her father. Working with Ranjith would make Kabali Rajinikanth's first film with a novel director for the first time since his collaboration with S. Shankar in Sivaji (2007). In an interview with IndiaGlitz, producer S. Thanu revealed that Rajinikanth had personally asked him to produce the Ranjith-directed film. The producer's commercially successful Bairavi (1978) was Rajinikanth's first lead role film and the two had not collaborated since. It was speculated that Rajinikanth's role would be based on a real-life mob boss from Chennai. Santhosh Narayanan was confirmed as the film's music composer, continuing his partnership with Ranjith after the latter's previous two films. Ranjith also retained G. Murali, the cinematographer of Madras.

On 17 August 2015, Ranjith announced the title of the film to be Kabali and that Rajinikanth would play the role of Kabaliswaran. The makers of the film had earlier considered using title Kaali, which was the title of Rajinikanth's 1980 film. As that film did not do well in the Tamil Nadu box office at the time, the makers passed on using it for the new film. Another title, Kannabhiran, was also considered but it was later found that the title's rights were already held by director Ameer Sultan for a future film.

Casting

In the film, Rajinikanth plays the role of an aged crime boss. According to the Telugu newspaper Eenadu, Rajinikanth, after being impressed with Nayakan (1987), requested its director Mani Ratnam to write a similar script, but the project never materialised; its similarities with Ranjith's script for Kabali made him accept to star in the latter film. Dinesh Ravi, who played the lead in Ranjith's Attakathi (2012), and Kalaiyarasan, who played pivotal roles in both of the director's previous films, were also confirmed to be part of the film. An important role was offered to Prakash Raj initially, but later it was said that the role was declined due to scheduling issues and John Vijay was cast for the role instead. It was later confirmed that the role of the lead character's wife would be given to Radhika Apte, who was introduced to Tamil films through Dhoni (2012). Dhansika was signed to play a supporting character in the film. Soundarya Nandakumar, a television actress best known for her participation in Star Vijay's Airtel Super Singer 3, was chosen for a cameo appearance.

Filming

On 18 August 2015, director Pa Ranjith announced on his Twitter page that principal photography would begin the following week, which was confirmed on 22 August when Behindwoods covered a photo shoot which took place on 21 August at AVM Studios in Chennai. First schedule of the filming started on Vinayagar Chaturthi on 17 September 2015 at the Russian Centre of Science and Cultural in Chennai.

Music

Think Music has acquired the audio rights for the Tamil version, as well as the dubbed Telugu and Hindi versions. The original Tamil soundtrack album featuring five songs was released on 12 June 2016. According to Thanu, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, who usually sings the introduction songs of films starring Rajinikanth, was not hired for this album because he was not in the city at the time of recording.

Release

Kabali was released in Tamil worldwide, along with dubbed versions in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, and Malay. The film was scheduled to be released simultaneously in Singapore and Indonesia. Malik Streams Productions and Distribution, a Malaysian media company, will simultaneously release the film in Malay for exclusive screening in Malaysia alongside the original Tamil version. The film will also be dubbed in Thai and Chinese, where talks are under way to simultaneously release the film in Hong Kong and China. Kabali will also premiere at the Le Grand Rex in Paris, France.

Marketing

After the airline AirAsia India became an official partner for Kabali, an Airbus A320 owned by the airline was wrapped with the film's title and an image of Rajinikanth depicted as Kabaleeshwaran. It was the first time a passenger jet had been wrapped for advertising an Indian film. The Indian financial company Muthoot FinCorp who is also an official partner of the film produced silver coins embossed with the image of actor as cast in the film. Its teaser trailer was released in April 2016 and went viral in Asia and gained 5 million views in less than 24 hours becoming the most viewed teaser in Asia.

Online piracy issue

On July 19, 2016, three days prior to the film's worldwide release, it was reported that pirated copies of the film were leaked online in darknet. The Indian Express reported that although the leaked copies were available only in the darknet, lots of fake links were being circulated in the web. The makers of the film had approached Madras High Court in anticipation of piracy and had requested the authority to ensure that it does not happen. CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani commented on the issue by saying that the leak had nothing to do with his office in Mumbai and reiterated the fact that Kabali, a Tamil film, was certified by CBFC's Chennai office. He also added that the leak would not have much effect on the film's box office collection.

Two days later, on July 21, 2016, a two-minute long sequence of the film was also leaked online, which subsequently went viral on instant messaging app, WhatsApp. Commenting on the leak, producer Kalaippuli S Thanu said, "Watching Thalaivar entry on phone or computer won't give you goosebumps. Say thank you to pirates, let's watch it in theaters from Friday" through his Twitter account. The News Minute reported that the sequence leak, which carried English as well as Arabic subtitles, could have been released from Gulf countries.

Following the film's release, a partial copy which had been filmed with a mobile phone in a cinema was posted to Vimeo, but was subsequently removed from the website.

Alternate ending

The Malaysian version of the film proceeds beyond the fade to black and offers a concrete ending, stating that Kabali surrendered to the police. This alternate ending was created at the behest of Film Censorship Board of Malaysia, which does not allow showcasing of policemen encouraging violence.

Critical reception

Kabali was a highly anticipated film throughout the country, including cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. The film received mixed reviews.

IndiaGlitz rated the film 3 out of 5 and called it "A very different Rajinikanth Experience". Behindwoods rated the film 2.75 out of 5 and stated that ''Rajinikanth in a different dimension,but Kabali might not work for everyone''. The Indian Express rated the movie 3.5 out of 5 and said that,''Rajinikanth's film lacks pace and mass''. Filmibeat rated the movie 3 out of 5 stars and stated that ''You might be disappointed if you go into the cinema hall keeping in mind the recent hype and hoopla around Kabali". However, this is definitely Rajinikanth's best in the recent times''. International Business Times rated the film 3.5 out of 5, stating "Rajnikanth shines in politically charged movie".

Controversy

Some reviewers attacked the movie for portraying Rajinikanth as a dalit leader. The film was targeted for depicting Dalit caste which the whole team refused to accept. However, some dalit outfits referred it as a Dalit movie.

Box office

Kabali had the highest worldwide opening day for an South Indian film, surpassing the record set by Baahubali: The Beginning by earning ₹875 million (US$13 million) on the first day. The film also had the highest opening weekend for an Indian film surpassing the ₹2.06 billion (US$31 million) record set by Sultan two weeks earlier as it earned ₹2.11 billion (US$31 million). The film earned around ₹3.09 billion (US$46 million) worldwide during its 10 days of theatrical run.

Disputed gross figures

Box office gross values of ₹6–6.75 billion were reported in the first 13 days, which were more than double the estimates made by other sources. International Business Times (IBT) and Firstpost criticized these estimates as inflated, explaining the discrepancy as due in part to the addition of "pre-release business" figures, such as music and satellite rights sales of ₹2 billion, being factored into the box office sales totals. Firstpost wrote, "More conservative estimates put Kabali’s collections at around Rs [3 billion] from worldwide ticket sales." IBT's analysts estimated the film's worldwide gross total at around ₹3.5 billion (US$52 million).

India

Kabali had the highest opening day for an South Indian film in terms of nett collections, earning ₹447.5 million (US$6.6 million) nett on the first day of its release in India from all the languages. Kabali was just behind the 2015 film Prem Ratan Dhan Payo for the highest first day gross, earning ₹530 million (US$7.9 million) in India in a single day. It also became the first Tamil film to surpass ₹200 million (US$3.0 million) nett in a single day from Tamil Nadu. Kabali went on to record the top-earning first weekend in India, grossing ₹1.2425 billion (US$18 million) in three days from all its versions. Kabali grossed ₹2.05 billion (US$30 million) in ten days in India.

Overseas

Kabali grossed US$15.70 million (₹105 crore) till its tenth day. The film had earned US$11.20 million (₹75.27 crore) in its first four-day weekend overseas, breaking the record previously held by Dhoom 3 (US$10.32 million) as the highest-grossing first weekend for an Indian film in overseas markets.

Sequel

Shortly after the film's success, in an interview with Forbes, S. Thanu said that the initial results exceeded his expectations and that the film’s ending sets up a sequel. On 25 July 2016, he spoke, "We created an open climax for Kabali. So, director Ranjith and I are interested in a sequel for this gangster flick. However, Rajinikanth will have to give us the nod to carry on. The film’s collections indicate that it is a sensational hit, and has surpassed all records".

On August 29, 2016, Dhanush announced that his next production after Vada Chennai would be directed by Ranjith and starting Rajinikanth, making it his first collaboration with the two. While details of the script or title were not announced, the media initially speculated that the film may be the sequel to Kabali.