Kaithi

Express News Service Over the years, the word ‘commercial’ has acquired certain negative shades when used to refer to cinema. A ‘commercial film’ having an indomitable hero. It meant having songs and humour. You had to have a good dose of action as well. And sentiment to reach the family audiences. These masala movies have led us to believe a ‘commercial’ film has to be built on a specific template. It couldn’t be anything else, especially if there’s a star in it. What will the fans say, you know? But around two years ago, Lokesh Kanagaraj, director of Maanagaram and Kaithi, emphatically stated that everything a star wants out of an ‘entertainer’, can be organically conjured even in so-called offbeat films. With Kaithi, Lokesh has delivered on his promise. Would you believe me if I said Kaithi is a thoroughly commercial film? Let’s take that list again. Mass moments? Humour? Sentiment? Name it and you will find it. Some terrific writing coherently weaves all these ‘commercial elements’ into the fabric of the premise and the screenplay, much like in Lokesh’s first film, Maanagaram. Kaithi is cut from the same cloth. Humour spurts from unlikely places. Both films have several ‘innocent’ characters who are pushed into extraordinary situations. They are also built around humanity, and the lack of it. Lokesh seems to enjoy expounding on the myriad equations that two strangers develop under extraordinary situations. But Kaithi is bigger, and in a way, better as well. The coincid...

How do you write an action-thriller without diluting our inner Kodambakkam emotions? There are two methods by which you construct your screenplay — a) restrict every trivial information thereby allowing the audience to partake in the proceedings and b) lay out your entire tactics and still make it engaging. The latter is the school of thought that Lokesh Kanagaraj subscribes to. The first 20 minutes of Kaithi is what you would get from a filmmaker who is not just grand with his ideas, but knows how to execute them. That, he does exceedingly well. Lokesh establishes his premise, his principal characters, the tonality and setting within that duration, like an anxious school kid who is asked to recite poems amidst relatives. But there is not a single air of suspicion when it comes to his craft. With Kaithi, Lokesh tries to achieve what seems like a rare feat for Tamil filmmakers — to marry Western tropes along with masala sensibilities. It is about showing a character devouring ‘bucket’ biryani and handling a machine gun at the same time. Words like ‘bounty’, ‘ghost’ and ‘dog within’ are casually served as dialogues. The title, Kaithi , gently surfaces over a theme song, like a typical James Bond movie. That too, in English! There is a lot happening in the first act — a little girl is awaiting a “visitor” at her orphanage, a team of police officers headed by Bejoy (a superb Narain from his Anjathey days) have busted a drug consignment, a group of some 50-odd ‘macho’ men are a...

“Bholaa” is an official remake of “Kaithi.” But, for better or for worse, it’s not a frame-by-frame copy of the original. They share the overarching narrative of an ex-convict rescuing a bunch of police officers from imminent death and a newly-appointed but aging policeman protecting a police station from gangsters. However, there are some minor and some major changes that will determine the fate of “Bholaa.” So, without further ado, let’s talk about the two films before answering whether “Bholaa” is better than “Kaithi” or if “Kaithi” still reigns supreme. Major Spoilers Ahead Dilli versus Bholaa The biggest difference between Dilli and Bholaa stems from their backstories. Dilli described himself as a drunkard and a rowdy whose life was fixed by Viji. The couple lived on the platform of a train station, and they were content. But one day, a bunch of criminals tried to abduct a pregnant Viji, and Dilli killed them all. That was why he was taken away to jail for ten years. When he learned about Amudha, he probably altered his attitude so that he could get parole and visit her. There were vague insinuations about Dilli’s gangster-esque behavior, but it wasn’t explained in detail. However, Devgn decided to flesh that out and gave Bholaa a full-on flashback where he was a gangster, and he fell in love with Amala Paul’s character (who didn’t have a single line of dialogue). However, Abhishek Bachchan’s metal-boned character swooped in to probably kidnap Bholaa’s wife and then s...

Directed by Writing Credits (in alphabetical order) ... (dialogue) ... (hindi dialogue) Cast (in credits order) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Rest of cast listed alphabetically: ... Produced by ... executive producer ... producer ... producer ... creative producer ... co-producer Music by Cinematography by Editing by Art Direction by Costume Design by Sound Department ... sound effects editor (as Sankaran) ... assistant sound engineer ... re-recording mixer ... adr ... sound designer ... additional sound effects editor ... foley supervisor ... foley artist ... sound effects editor ... sound effects editor (as Sidharthan Kc) ... Foley Recording and Foley Mixing Engineer ... sound designer ... foley artist ... sound effects editor Visual Effects by ... visual effects supervisor ... cg supervisor: Phantom-FX ... Fx Lead ... visual effects artist ... cg supervisor ... Visual effects director ... visual effects supervisor ... visual effects coordinator Stunts ... stunts (as Anbu and Arivu) Camera and Electrical Department ... data manager ... digital imaging technician ... data wrangler Animation Department ... Animation Surpervisor: Phantom-Fx Editorial Department ... on-line editor ... on-line editor (english version) Music Department ... playback singer ... lyricist ... music producer Additional Crew ... marketing & promotions manager ... hindi dubbing director ... promotions & marketing manager / script curator

New Delhi, Oct 8 (PTI) Actor Karthi says he is looking forward to the Hindi version of his Tamil hit “Kaithi”, headlined by Bollywood star Ajay Devgn. Titled “Bholaa”, the remake of the 2019 blockbuster is Devgn’s fourth project as a director and also features Tabu in a pivotal role. Karthi, who played the lead in “Kaithi”, said the makers were approached by many filmmakers from across the country for the remake rights. “A lot of people called me and they wanted to buy the rights to ‘Kaithi’, but then Ajay sir was the first one to get it. I’m really glad that he is doing the Hindi remake and he is directing it as well,” the 45-year-old actor told PTI. Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, “Kaithi” featured Karthi as Dilli, a recently released prisoner who finds himself in a dangerous situation where he has to rush poisoned cops to a hospital in exchange for meeting his daughter. Karthi, who currently stars in historical action drama “Ponniyin Selvan-I”, said he is confident that Devgn will do justice with the film’s story as well as the lead character. Before becoming an actor with 2007 critical hit “Paruthiveeran”, Karthi had served as an assistant director on ace filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s 2004 political thriller “Yuva”, which featured the Hindi film star as one of three main leads. “When I worked in ‘Yuva’ as an assistant director, I saw him perform up close. I have always loved the intensity in his eyes and the way he is relaxed when he’s performing a scene. He brings a certain i...

Running time 146 minutes Country India Language Tamil Budget ₹25 crore [ citation needed] Box office est. ₹105 crore Kaithi ( transl. Prisoner) is a 2019 Indian Lokesh initially worked on two scripts after the success of Kaithi was released on October 25, 2019, ahead of the ₹105 crore. The film was further selected for official screening at the International Indian Film Festival Toronto (IIFFT) in August 2020 and had won two Vikram (2022), also directed by Lokesh, with both films forming a part of the planned Kaithi 2. Plot [ ] The caretakers inform a young girl named Amudha that an important person will meet her at the orphanage tomorrow, and she waits anxiously. Meanwhile, Inspector Bejoy and his team catch a smuggling van carrying 900 tons of Bejoy convinces Dilli, an ex-prisoner detained for looking suspicious and being the only one who can drive a truck, to help him save the officers' lives by threatening him that he would not let him meet his daughter Amudha the following morning, with the help of a truck borrowed from Kamatchi, a caterer present at the party. Dilli, Bejoy, and Kamatchi load the unconscious officers into the truckand try their best to get them to the hospital quickly. Anbu announces a massive bounty as a reward for catching the police officers, and gangsters from Anbu's gangs try to hunt down Bejoy and his team. Paalpandi, a corrupt cop (who Stephen Raj, Bejoy orders Constable Napoleon and a group of college students, detained due to Adaikalam tries ...

How do you write an action-thriller without diluting our inner Kodambakkam emotions? There are two methods by which you construct your screenplay — a) restrict every trivial information thereby allowing the audience to partake in the proceedings and b) lay out your entire tactics and still make it engaging. The latter is the school of thought that Lokesh Kanagaraj subscribes to. The first 20 minutes of Kaithi is what you would get from a filmmaker who is not just grand with his ideas, but knows how to execute them. That, he does exceedingly well. Lokesh establishes his premise, his principal characters, the tonality and setting within that duration, like an anxious school kid who is asked to recite poems amidst relatives. But there is not a single air of suspicion when it comes to his craft. With Kaithi, Lokesh tries to achieve what seems like a rare feat for Tamil filmmakers — to marry Western tropes along with masala sensibilities. It is about showing a character devouring ‘bucket’ biryani and handling a machine gun at the same time. Words like ‘bounty’, ‘ghost’ and ‘dog within’ are casually served as dialogues. The title, Kaithi , gently surfaces over a theme song, like a typical James Bond movie. That too, in English! There is a lot happening in the first act — a little girl is awaiting a “visitor” at her orphanage, a team of police officers headed by Bejoy (a superb Narain from his Anjathey days) have busted a drug consignment, a group of some 50-odd ‘macho’ men are a...

Running time 146 minutes Country India Language Tamil Budget ₹25 crore [ citation needed] Box office est. ₹105 crore Kaithi ( transl. Prisoner) is a 2019 Indian Lokesh initially worked on two scripts after the success of Kaithi was released on October 25, 2019, ahead of the ₹105 crore. The film was further selected for official screening at the International Indian Film Festival Toronto (IIFFT) in August 2020 and had won two Vikram (2022), also directed by Lokesh, with both films forming a part of the planned Kaithi 2. Plot [ ] The caretakers inform a young girl named Amudha that an important person will meet her at the orphanage tomorrow, and she waits anxiously. Meanwhile, Inspector Bejoy and his team catch a smuggling van carrying 900 tons of Bejoy convinces Dilli, an ex-prisoner detained for looking suspicious and being the only one who can drive a truck, to help him save the officers' lives by threatening him that he would not let him meet his daughter Amudha the following morning, with the help of a truck borrowed from Kamatchi, a caterer present at the party. Dilli, Bejoy, and Kamatchi load the unconscious officers into the truckand try their best to get them to the hospital quickly. Anbu announces a massive bounty as a reward for catching the police officers, and gangsters from Anbu's gangs try to hunt down Bejoy and his team. Paalpandi, a corrupt cop (who Stephen Raj, Bejoy orders Constable Napoleon and a group of college students, detained due to Adaikalam tries ...

Express News Service Over the years, the word ‘commercial’ has acquired certain negative shades when used to refer to cinema. A ‘commercial film’ having an indomitable hero. It meant having songs and humour. You had to have a good dose of action as well. And sentiment to reach the family audiences. These masala movies have led us to believe a ‘commercial’ film has to be built on a specific template. It couldn’t be anything else, especially if there’s a star in it. What will the fans say, you know? But around two years ago, Lokesh Kanagaraj, director of Maanagaram and Kaithi, emphatically stated that everything a star wants out of an ‘entertainer’, can be organically conjured even in so-called offbeat films. With Kaithi, Lokesh has delivered on his promise. Would you believe me if I said Kaithi is a thoroughly commercial film? Let’s take that list again. Mass moments? Humour? Sentiment? Name it and you will find it. Some terrific writing coherently weaves all these ‘commercial elements’ into the fabric of the premise and the screenplay, much like in Lokesh’s first film, Maanagaram. Kaithi is cut from the same cloth. Humour spurts from unlikely places. Both films have several ‘innocent’ characters who are pushed into extraordinary situations. They are also built around humanity, and the lack of it. Lokesh seems to enjoy expounding on the myriad equations that two strangers develop under extraordinary situations. But Kaithi is bigger, and in a way, better as well. The coincid...

“Bholaa” is an official remake of “Kaithi.” But, for better or for worse, it’s not a frame-by-frame copy of the original. They share the overarching narrative of an ex-convict rescuing a bunch of police officers from imminent death and a newly-appointed but aging policeman protecting a police station from gangsters. However, there are some minor and some major changes that will determine the fate of “Bholaa.” So, without further ado, let’s talk about the two films before answering whether “Bholaa” is better than “Kaithi” or if “Kaithi” still reigns supreme. Major Spoilers Ahead Dilli versus Bholaa The biggest difference between Dilli and Bholaa stems from their backstories. Dilli described himself as a drunkard and a rowdy whose life was fixed by Viji. The couple lived on the platform of a train station, and they were content. But one day, a bunch of criminals tried to abduct a pregnant Viji, and Dilli killed them all. That was why he was taken away to jail for ten years. When he learned about Amudha, he probably altered his attitude so that he could get parole and visit her. There were vague insinuations about Dilli’s gangster-esque behavior, but it wasn’t explained in detail. However, Devgn decided to flesh that out and gave Bholaa a full-on flashback where he was a gangster, and he fell in love with Amala Paul’s character (who didn’t have a single line of dialogue). However, Abhishek Bachchan’s metal-boned character swooped in to probably kidnap Bholaa’s wife and then s...