Kaali (1980 film)

Kaali
Poster of Tamil version
Directed by	I. V. Sasi
Written by	Mahendran
Produced by	Hem Nag
Starring	Rajinikanth Vijayakumar/Chiranjeevi Seema Fatafat Jayalaxmi Shubha
Cinematography	Ashok Kumar
Edited by	K. Narayanan
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Production company	Hem Nag Productions
Release dates	3 July 1980 (1980-07-03) (Tamil) 19 September 1980 (1980-09-19) (Telugu)
Running time	144 minutes
Country	India
Languages	Tamil Telugu

Kaali is a 1980 Indian action film written by Mahendran and directed by I. V. Sasi. Produced by Hem-Nag,^[1] the film stars Rajinikanth, Seema, Fatafat Jayalaxmi and Shubha.^[2][3] The film was simultaneously made in Tamil and Telugu languages, with Chiranjeevi replacing Vijayakumar in Telugu.^[4] The cinematography was handled by Ashok Kumar and soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.^[5] Kaali ran for less than 50 days in Chennai and was considered a box office failure in both Tamil and Telugu.^[6] The film is infamous for a fire accident which caused the deaths of some stuntmen and horses.^[7]

Plot

Cast

Cast (Tamil)	Cast (Telugu)	Role (Tamil)	Role (Telugu)
Rajinikanth		Kaali
Vijayakumar	Chiranjeevi	G. K.
Seema		Anitha	Geetha
Fatafat Jayalaxmi		Alangaram
Major Sundarrajan	Kantha Rao	Sampath
Manorama		Thayamma
Suruli Rajan		Sokku
Shubha		Sampath's wife
Vennira Aadai Nirmala		Kaali's sister
V. Gopalakrishnan	Giri Babu	Somu
Kaikala Satyanarayana		Rajaram	Rajarao
Prasad Babu		Rajaram's sons	Rajarao's sons
Sundar Raj
Pushpalatha		Rajaram's wife	Rajarao's wife
Anuradha Sriram		child artist
Master Haja Sheriff		child artist

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.^[8] The film had Vairamuthu's first written song, "Kali Bhadrakali".^[4]

Tamil tracklist

Song	Singers	Lyrics	Length
"Adi Aadu"	Malaysia Vasudevan	Kannadasan	4:39
"Azhagazhaga"	P. Susheela		4:46
"Kali Bhadrakali"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki	Vairamuthu	4:00
"Thithikkum"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Kalyan, S. P. Sailaja	Kannadasan	4:33
"Vaazhumattum"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam		4:46

Release and reception

Kaali was released on 3 July 1980 in Tamil,^[9] and 19 September the same year in Telugu clashing with another Chiranjeevi-starrer Thathayya Premaleelalu (1980).^[10][11] Saavi wrote that I. V. Sasi has started taking roots in Tamil. The critic added that the makers have mixed the colour in the cinemascope and added by looking at the title if you guess this film as revenge plot then you have better intelligence than Sasi.^[12] Ananda Vikatan rated the film 43 out of 100, criticising its excessive reliance on violence and expressed concern it would inspire real life violence which was already rampant in India.^[13]

References

1. Ramachandran 2014, p. 169.
2. S.B., Vijaya Mary (22 August 2002). "Ready for the challenge". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 25 October 2002. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
3. "Superstar's next with Ranjith titled Kaali?". The Times of India. 22 July 2015. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
4. Ramachandran 2014, p. 114.
5. "பிரபல ஒளிப்பதிவாளர் அசோக்குமார் மரணம்". Dina Thanthi (in Tamil). 24 October 2014. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
6. "சூப்பர் ஸ்டார்கள் மோதிக் கொண்ட இந்தத் திரைப்படம் எது தெரியுமா?". News18 (in Tamil). 13 May 2022. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
7. Subramanian, Anupama (23 October 2013). "Karthi's film 'Kaali' renamed as 'Kabali'?". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
8. "Kaali Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by Ilayaraja". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
9. Mahendran 2013, p. 344.
10. "Kali". Indiancine.ma. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
11. "Chiranjeevi : నలబై ఏళ్ల లవ్ ఇన్ సింగపూర్.. ఆసక్తికర విషయాలతో ప్రత్యేక కథనం." News18 (in Telugu). 27 September 2020. Archived from the original on 11 August 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
12. "காளி". Kalki (in Tamil). 28 June 1981. p. 50. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023 – via Internet Archive.
13. "காளி - ஆனந்த விகடன் விமர்சனம்". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 20 July 1980. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023 – via Rajinifans.com.

Bibliography

• Mahendran (2013) [2004]. சினிமாவும் நானும் [Cinema and I] (in Tamil). Karpagam Publications. OCLC 54777094.
• Ramachandran, Naman (2014) [2012]. Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-342111-5.

External links

• Kaali at IMDb