Kabali (2016)

Returning from prison, aged gangster Kabali confronts those who had destroyed his life. While doing so, he learns about what had happened to his family when he was gone.

Director:

Pa. Ranjith

Writer:

Pa. Ranjith

Stars:

Rajinikanth, Winston Chao, Radhika Apte

4 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rajinikanth	...	Kabali
Winston Chao	...	Tony Lee
Radhika Apte	...	Kumudhavalli
Dhansika	...	Yogi
Kalaiyarasan	...	Kumaran
Dinesh	...	Jeeva
John Vijay	...	Ameer Bhai
Kishore Kumar G.	...	Veerasekaran
Riythvika	...	Meena
Mime Gopi	...	Loga
Hari Krishnan	...	Tiger (as Hari)
Nassar	...	Tamilnesan (as Nasser)
Uday Mahesh	...	Durai
Gajaraj	...	Marthandam
Vinoth	...	Tamilmaaran

Storyline

Kabaleeswaran, a revolutionary who fights for the betterment of his race in a foreign land, is falsely implicated and thrown behind bars. When he returns after his prison term, he starts a search for his wife and ends up confronting those who were the reason behind his miseries. What follows is a tale of revenge, emotion, drama, jealousy, treason, loyalty, love and payback.

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Plot Keywords:

revenge | character name as title | organized crime | gangster | tamil | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

At that time it was Most Liked Indian Movie teaser, Now the record is hold by Mersal. It was also Most Viewed Indian Movie teaser at that time, but now the record is hold by Mersal.

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Goofs

In the flashback scene,Tamilmaran comes to apologise to Kabali while he is eating with family, the scene is set at the backdrop of Merdeka Square, the scene is supposed to have happened 25 years back but modern buildings which was not yet constructed in KL can be seen.

Also in various other scenes, various cars which were not released in early 90's can be still be seen,.

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Quotes

Kabali: Even this is a form of protest. Why did Gandhi wear dhotis and why did Ambedkar wear suits? Politics Thamizhmaran...
[when Thamizhmaran asks him if all his money goes into buying suits]

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Alternate Versions

The UK theatrical release was passed in three separate versions; two of which have not been released, upon a formal submission the film was passed '15' uncut which the distributor was displeased with and attempted to edit the film in order to obtain a 12A (which would allow viewers under 12 to watch the film with an adult). The first version submitted removed two minutes which contained visual detail of drug taking as well as masking two uses of strong language (which would've been acceptable at 12A) however this attempt was unsuccessful and was passed at '15' for violence. The distributor then submitted a second version which was edited by around 20 minutes and toned down the violence quite heavily (removing a throat stabbing, a character's fingers being blown off, sight of a severed arm, machete attacks and further violence) as well as completely removing the two aforementioned terms. Despite this however the film was still passed at '15' citing 'strong bloody violence' as an issue particularly the depiction of a stabbing to the hand. The distributor ultimately agreed to release the uncut version into UK cinemas (meaning viewers below 15 could not view the film) after the BBFC advised that 35 minutes of cuts would be needed for a 12A.

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Connections

Featured in Dil Bechara (2020)

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Soundtracks

Neruppu Da
(Tamil)
Written by: Arunraja Kamaraj
Produced by: Santhosh Narayanan
Performed by: Arunraja Kamaraj and Rajinikanth

User Reviews

Despite starring Rajinikanth, Kabali is more than a mere big budget entertainer

I saw Kabali in Hindi. I think I need to see it again in its original language, Tamil, because I feel that there are certain issues this film raises that can be understood in a better way only if one watches them in Tamil. There are several references to history of Tamils in Malaysia. Kabali (played by Rajanikanth), his wife (played by Radhika Apte), and several other Indian and Tamil characters in the film are supposed to be new generation Indians/Tamils in Malaysia whose ancestors were taken to the Malaya peninsula from the India as workers in plantations run by the British. In these plantations, these Indian/Tamil workers were treated as being inferior to the Chinese (another community present in Malaysia). Kabali, in the first half of the film, has never been to India. He is shown as leading a revolt in one of the plantations demanding an equal pay for Indian/Tamil workers. This episode of the history of Indians/Tamils will, I am sure, never be shown in mainstream Hindi films. A Tamil film has shown this and this is an important thing. I did not understand if most of the Indian characters in the film Kabali were Tamils or a mix of north- and south-Indians, for some of them had north-Indian sounding names. For example, a villain named Vijay Singh. It could also be that some Tamil characters were turned into north-Indian characters in the dubbed Hindi version to appeal to north-Indian viewers. This method does not work, because it reduces Kabali to a mere entertainer. And Kabali, I felt, was not a mere entertainer. There were several slices of history in it that we need to mull upon. The history of the Tamils in British plantations in Malaysia is one. Then, there is the chemistry among the Indians (or Tamils) there. In one dialogue, Kabali explains the importance of wearing suit to one other Indian. Kabali says: "Mahatma Gandhi gave up wearing suit and Babasaheb Ambedkar started wearing suit for one reason." In Hindi, this dialogue seems powerful and entertaining enough. But why did Kabali speak this dialogue? What is the background behind this dialogue? This, perhaps, could be understood in a better way if this film is seen in Tamil, or if we get to see more films (in Tamil or in any other language, but best in Tamil) on the lives of Tamil plantation workers in Malaysia. Also, there is another scene where a Tamil character thinks that just because Kabali started wearing suits, he has become very arrogant. There are sequences like these which made me think about the lives of these Tamil workers, their journey from India to Malaysia, their history in Malaysia, etc. It is a remarkable thing that a completely commercial and mainstream film - that too one starring Rajinikanth - speaks of these things, speaks of the politics. How many Hindi mainstream films starring the biggest 200-crore-plus-earning stars of Bollywood would be able to talk of politics like this? I wouldn't say much about Rajinikanth. He is endearing, as usual. He plays his age; and even in his younger looks, the special effects have been suitably executed. He does his trademark style once in a while, though it was not needed. Rajinikanth looks special the way he is. The scene where he sits like a king on a couch with the Petronas Twin Towers in the background, that is one memorable scene. Radhika Apte shines in every scene. Reminiscent of Aishwarya Rai of the mid- and late-1990s, Apte lights up the screen the moment she comes in. I was intrigued by Dhansika's presence in the film's trailer➖her action scenes are awesome. However, more than its stars, I admired Kabali for its characters and the issues it talked about. Kabali is, I will say it again, more than a mere big budget entertainer. I need to see it again, in original Tamil, because, I think, much was lost in its Hindi dubbed version.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Teaser

Country:

India

Language:

Tamil Telugu Hindi English Malayalam Mandarin French

Release Date:

22 July 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kabali

Filming Locations:

Malaysia

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,157,621, 24 July 2016

Gross USA:

$3,903,095

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,388,789

Company Credits

Production Co:

Oveyen Studio, V. Creations

Technical Specs

Runtime:

153 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Atmos (RCA Sound Recording) Dolby (Dolby Atmos)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1