Kalki (1996 film)

Kalki
Poster
Directed by	K. Balachander
Written by	K. Balachander
Produced by	Rajam Balachander Pushpa Kandaswamy
Starring	Shruti Prakash Raj Geetha Rahman Renuka Fathima Babu
Cinematography	R. Raghunatha Reddy
Edited by	Suresh Urs
Music by	Deva
Production company	Kavithalayaa Productions
Release date	10 November 1996 (1996-11-10)
Running time	161 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Kalki is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by K. Balachander, starring Shruti, Rahman, Prakash Raj, Geetha, Renuka, Suvaluxmi and Fathima Babu. The film was released on 10 November 1996,^[1] and was dubbed into Telugu with the same name.^[2] For her performance, Shruti won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress, while Prakash Raj won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain.

Plot

Chellammaa, a singer, is wedded to a chauvinistic, sadistic industrialist Prakash. She is unable to beget a child and hence is the target of hurting words from Prakash and his mother. When he prohibits her from singing, it is the last straw for her, and they divorce. Prakash marries Karpagam, a doormat wife, while Chellammaa stays single, with a cook named Kokila around to help her. Kalki works in an ad agency and is relentlessly pursued by coworker and model Paranjothi. She not only rejects him but also debunks love and sentiments. Chellammaa becomes friends with Kalki after a few encounters, and Kalki moves in as a paying guest. However, she strikes up a friendship with Prakash, and as the result of an affair with him, she ends up bearing his child. Kalki makes him understand what he was doing to his wife by treating him like the way he treats his wife. During the time of delivery, Karpagam, with her lawyer, threatens Prakash that she is going to divorce him. However, upon realising the mistakes that he did, he asks sorry to Karpagam and asks for a chance to change himself. She agrees with a condition not to hurt Kalki's child and also to live with Kalki. Prakash agrees to both the conditions. When they meet Kalki and inform this, Kalki says that she does not want to live with them as well as she is not ready to give the child to them. Before delivery, she meets Chellamma and informs that she did live with Prakash to teach him a lesson and had a child just for Chellamma and leaves the child with Chellamma after delivery. After that, the society is not ready to accept her, so she goes to Paranjothi, who is waiting for her and confesses her love for him.

Cast

• Shruti as Kalki^[3]
• Rahman as Paranjothi^[4]
• Prakash Raj as Prakash^[4]
• Geetha as Chellamma^[3]
• Renuka as Karpagam^[4]
• Fathima Babu as Kokila^[5]
• M. N. Rajam as Ramamani, Prakash's mother
• Kathadi Ramamurthy
• Priyadarshini as Kalki's friend
• Thalaivasal Vijay
• Vasuki
• Mohan Raman as Shankaran
• Baby Anu
• K. S. Ravikumar as a lawyer (special appearance)
• K. Balachander as a film producer (special appearance)
• Suvaluxmi as an actress (special appearance)

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Deva and lyrics were written by Ilandevan, making his debut.^[6][7] The song "Poove Ne Aadava" is partly based on "Against Doctor's Orders" by Kenny G.^[8]

Song	Singers	Length
"Bhoomi Onnu"	Suresh Peters, Febi Mani	05:15
"Ezhuthugiren Oru Kaditham"	K. S. Chithra, Anuradha Sriram	06:14
"Lifekku 4 Eluthu"	Mano, Swarnalatha	04:07
"Poove Ne Aadava"	Sujatha	05:05
"Porul Thedum Bhoomiyil" (Lady)	Sudha Ragunathan, K. S. Chithra	05:44
"Porul Thedum Bhoomiyil" (Men)	P. Unnikrishnan	04:25
"Sariya Ithu Sariya"	K. S. Chithra	05:15
"Singapore Seela"	Mano	04:51

Reception

The magazine Kalki made a review as a discussion panel with people who were chosen to watch the preview of the film discussing with Balachander about the film.^[9] Shruti won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil,^[10] and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress. Prakash Raj won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain.^[11]

References

1. "கல்கி / Kalki (1996)". Screen 4 Screen. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
2. "కల్కి" (PDF). Zamin Ryot (in Telugu). 1 July 1997. p. 11. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
3. Surendran, Anusha; Venkatraman, Janane (4 July 2017). "Tamil films are getting more modern, and more misogynistic. Just look at Mani Ratnam's how women are treated in Kaatru Veliyidai, Vijay Sethupathi in Kavan". THread. The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
4. B, Shakthi Sai Prashanthi (2 March 2020). "10 times Tamil cinema's women protagonists broke stereotypes and led the show". DT Next. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
5. "Snake Found in Retirement Home Run by Tamil Actress Fathima Babu". News18. 30 December 2021. Archived from the original on 30 December 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
6. "Kalki". Gaana. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
7. "எங்கே, ஆஸ்தான கவி?". Kalki (in Tamil). 6 October 1996. p. 7. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023 – via Internet Archive.
8. S, Karthik. "Deva [Tamil]". ItwoFS. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
9. "சர்ச்சைக்குரிய 'கல்கி'" (PDF). Kalki (in Tamil). 17 November 1996. pp. 60–63. Retrieved 10 June 2024 – via Internet Archive.
10. "Best Actress". Filmfare. October 1997. Archived from the original on 3 November 1999. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
11. "1996 Cinema State Awards". Dinakaran. Archived from the original on 3 February 1999. Retrieved 17 March 2022.

External links

• Kalki at IMDb