Kaththi

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Kaththi

Theatrical release poster

Directed by

AR Murugadoss

Produced by

Ayngaran International
Lyca Productions

Written by

AR Murugadoss

Starring

Vijay
Samantha Ruth Prabhu
Neil Nitin Mukesh
Tota Roy Chowdhury
Sathish

Music by

Anirudh Ravichander

Cinematography

George C. Williams

Edited by

A. Sreekar Prasad

Production
company

Ayngaran International

Distributed by

Ayngaran International

Lyca Productions

Eros International[1]
Release dates

October 22, 2014

Running time

165 minutes

Country

India

Language

Tamil
700 million(US$11 million)[2]

Budget

Kaththi (English: The Knife) is a 2014 Indian Tamil action thriller film written and directed by AR
Murugadoss. The film stars Vijay in dual roles while Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Tota
Roy Chowdhury and Sathish play supporting roles. Anirudh Ravichander composed the film's
soundtrack and score. Cinematography was done byGeorge C. Williams and the film was edited
by A. Sreekar Prasad. Lyca Productions and Ayngaran Internationalbankrolled the venture and Eros
International purchased the theatrical and audio rights for the film. The story revolves around the tale
of two lookalike's Kathiresan and Jeevanantham which focuses on the burning issues of farmers
committing suicide due to corporate encroachment.The film, which commenced production in
January 2014 in Kolkota,was released on 22 October 2014 worldwide,coinciding with the festival
of Diwali. Upon release, the film opened to mostly positive reviews from critics [3] and was one of
the highest grossing Tamil films of 2014.[4][5]
Contents
[hide]

1 Plot

2 Cast

3 Production
o

3.1 Development

3.2 Casting

3.3 Filming

4 Music

5 Release

5.1 Marketing

5.2 Plagiarism allegations

5.3 Business link allegations

6 Critical reception

7 Box office
o

7.1 India

7.2 Overseas

8 See also

9 References

10 External links

Plot[edit]
At a Kolkata prison, Kathiresan "Kaththi" (Vijay), a petty criminal, helps the police capture an
escaping prisoner Vivek Banerjee (Tota Roy Chowdhury), but he himself escapes afterwards. He
goes to Chennai and decides to escape toBangkok with his friend and fellow-criminal Ravi (Sathish).
However, he drops this plan after meeting and falling in love with Ankitha (Samantha Ruth Prabhu)
at the airport, who dupes him into believing that she wants to marry him after realising that he is
having a crush on her. Later, Kathiresan(Vijay) and Ravi(Sathish) notice a man who resembles
Kathiresan named Jeevanandam "Jeeva"(Vijay), being shot by a group of thugs. They admit him to
hospital, following which Kathiresan decides to impersonate the injured Jeevanandam to escape
from the police. Under the name of hisdoppelgnger, Kathiresan and Ravi enter an old-age
home run by Jeevanandam with the aim of collecting 25 lakhs (which is meant for the inmates of
the old-age home) for their Bangkok trip, until he learns about his doppelgnger's mission.
Jeevanandam is a communist ideologue and a post-graduate in hydrology from the arid village of
Thanoothu in Tirunelveli district who had discovered groundwater under some lands of the village
which could be used as an irrigation source not only for the village, but for the entire Tirunelveli
district and the neighbouring Thoothukudi district as well. But, an MNC owned by Chirag (Neil Nitin
Mukesh) cheated the villagers into giving their lands for the construction of a factory.Jeevanandam
was arrested by the police and the six villagers as for convince the issue with media and release of
Jeevanandham attempt mass suicide. On learning of the plight of Jeevanandam and the villagers,
Kathiresan decides to fight for their cause while still under the name of Jeevanandam. The people of
the old home and Kathiresan go to the jury and try to convince him to go in favour of them, but
Kathiresan starts stating rules and scares the main jury person (whom Chirag had bribed).
Kathiresan then sends a person (disguised as a hairdresser) to Chirag and makes him lay a
fingerprint on Chirag's neck. After that Chirag sends 50 men to kill Kathiresan but he soon defeats
them using the coins the villagers gave when he was attending a ceremony for him.
Meanwhile, the real Jeevanandam gains consciousness and finds himself in the Kolkata prison
where Kathiresan was locked up. With the help of Vivek, who has heard his story and has plans to
kill Kathiresan in revenge for getting him caught and thrown back into prison, he soon escapes along
with Vivek's henchmen.

Not knowing that Jeevanandam and Vivek's henchmen are headed for Chennai, Kathiresan makes
efforts to convince the media to bring the plight of the villagers to national consciousness, but the
media is not interested as they feel that it is not a sensational news. A few days later, at the Madras
High Court, the judge declares the verdict in favour of Jeevanandam and the villagers, but adds that
Chirag(Neil Nitin Mukesh) has claimed that certain villagers who are working abroad have shown
their support for the factory. If they cannot prove that their support was faked by Chirag(Neil Nitin
Mukesh) within the next 5 days, the verdict will then go in favour of Chirag(Neil Nitin Mukesh) and
the villagers will lose their lands. Since the villagers, who have denied supporting the factory, are
abroad and cannot come to Chennai within 5 days to rebut Chirag's claims as their passports are
held by their contractors, and the verdict is to be decided within 5 days, Kathiresan decides to take
drastic measures to sensationalise the issue. He, Ankitha(Samantha Ruth Prabhu),Ravi(Sathish)
and the inmates of the old-age home block water supply to Chennai by sitting on the pipelines which
carry water to Chennai from 5 lakes. With the plight of the Chennaites due to no water supply having
gained national attention, Kathiresan comes out of the pipeline after a few days and highlights the
villagers' plight in an emotionally-charged speech to the media, which is telecast nationwide and
moves many people. By now, Kathiresan has discovered that Jeevanandam has escaped and is
searching for him.
Meanwhile, Jeevanandam and Vivek's henchmen reach Chennai, but Jeevanandam is soon
kidnapped by Chirag's henchmen. While in Chirag's custody, he sees Kathiresan's speech on
television and is moved by the efforts made by his doppelgnger to help the villagers. On the night
before the verdict, Kathiresan's bluff is exposed, but Kathiresan assures the old men that he is
genuinely interested in their cause, that Jeevanandam is alive and that he will rescue Jeevanandam
from Chirag(Neil Nitin Mukesh) and hand him back over to the villagers with the assurance of a
positive verdict. Kathiresan goes to Chirag's office, where Jeevanandam is being held. He rescues
Jeevanandam and fights Chirag and his henchmen, killing Chirag in the process.
The next day, the verdict is declared in favour of Jeevanandam and the villagers. Kathiresan, despite
his efforts to thwart Chirag (Neil Nitin Mukesh) and the MNC, does not take part in the ensuing
celebrations over the verdict and instead surrenders to the police and returns to the Kolkata prison,
but not before promising Ankitha(Samantha Ruth Prabhu),who has now fallen in love with him, that
he will marry her once he is released.

Cast[edit]

Vijay as Kathiresan /Jeevanandham

Samantha Ruth Prabhu as Ankitha

Neil Nitin Mukesh as Chirag

Tota Roy Chowdhury as Vivek Banerjee

Sathish as Ravi/Sethu

Yuvina Parthavi as Ankitha's niece

Sudip Mukherjee as Kolkata Police Inspector

R. Ravi as Collector

Rama as Jeeva's Mother

Rupesh Gupta

Veera Santhanam

Sreerag Nambiar

Tamiko Brownlee as Jennifer

Elisabeth P. Carpenter as Katherine

AR Murugadoss in a cameo appearance

Production[edit]
Development[edit]
In 2012, it was reported that Murugadoss and Vijay would work together again. [6][7] Murugadoss
confirmed the same on his Twitter page.[8] According to sources, the film was not a sequel
to Thuppakki.[6] Ayngaran International and Lyca Productions were confirmed to be the producers
and distributors of the film.[9]Murugadoss replaced his usual music director Harris
Jayaraj with Anirudh Ravichander and signed George C. Williams as the cinematographer, who had
filmedRaja Rani (2013) which was produced by Murugadoss himself. [10] Art director Lalgudi N.
Ilayaraja, who had won the National Film Award for Best Production Designin Vishwaroopam (2013),
was selected to handle the art direction for the film.[11] The film was earlier rumored to be titled
as Dheeran.[12] Another potential title for the film was Vaal.[13] In March 2014, Murugadoss confirmed
that the film would be titled Kaththi and that it was scheduled to be released on Diwali.[14]

Casting[edit]
In September 2013, Samantha Ruth Prabhu was selected as the lead female lead.[15] Bengali
actor Tota Roy Chowdhury was signed for portraying the antagonist role, an international gangster
named Vivek Banerjee.[16] In March 2014, Bollywood actor Neil Nitin Mukesh was selected to be a
part of his project, thereby making his debut in Tamil cinema thorugh the film. Murugadoss also
stated that Vijay would play a dual role.[17] Sathish was chosen to play a supporting role.[18] Sayaji
Shinde and Subbu Panchu were selected to play pivotal roles in the film.[14]
Neil was inspired by his look in his debut film, Johnny Gaddaar (2007). He described his character
as one who does not "fight the hero with physical power, but with intelligence". [19] He learned Tamil for
his role, as he did not want to speak his dialogues without understanding their meaning. [20] Neil had
lost weight for the role and modelled his looks to be along the lines of Brad Pitt and David Beckham.
[21]

Filming[edit]
The film was launched in Kolkata on 3 February 2014 by its producers Ayngaran International with a
pooja ceremony in front of the Kalighat Kali Temple, after whichprincipal photography began.[22][23] The
first schedule of filming was done on Kolkata and Hyderabad.[24][25] In between, Murugadoss, took a
break to promote his then upcoming Bollywood film, Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty (2014),
the Hindi remake of Thuppakki (2012).[26] The film was then shot in Pushpa gardens inChennai,
where a huge set which costed around 12.5 million (US$200,000) was erected and most of the
indoor scenes were completed in this set.[27] Shooting continued for a 40 day long schedule in and

around the city. By July 2014, 60% of the shooting had been completed and the team shot a few
scenes in Kadapa.[28]The final leg of the film began on 1 August 2014 at Chennai.[29]
In late August 2014, 15 days of filming, including patch-work and a few fight sequences, remained.
[30]
Filming moved back to Hyderabad where the rest of the fight sequences were canned. [31] On 1
September 2014, the second half of the film was nearly completed.[32] Additional filming took place at
the Chennai Central railway station.[33] On 4 September 2014, Neil Nitin Mukesh dubbed in Tamil
himself for his role and completed his dubbing portions for the first half of the film. [34] The climax
sequences were shot in Nellore on 23 September 2014.[35] The song "Selfie Pulla" was shot in
Mumbai. About 100 dancers participated in the song sequence.[36] Filming of the song was completed
on 30 September 2014, with the filming of the entire movie also being completed as a result. [37]

Music[edit]
Main article: Kaththi (soundtrack)
The soundtrack album and background score were composed by Anirudh Ravichander. The
soundtrack album consists of seven tracks.[38] The audio launch took place on 18 September 2014, at
the Leela Palace Hotel in Chennai.[39]

Release[edit]
Jaya TV purchased the satellite rights.[40] T Shibu of Thameens Films promoted and distributed the
film in Kerala.[41] The theatrical rights in Tiruchirappalli andThanjavur were sold to T. Siva.[42] Producer
Tagore Madhu bought the film's Telugu dubbing rights.[43] MM Media, previously known as GK Media,
acquired the film's theatrical rights in the USA.[44] The film released worldwide on 22 October 2014.[45]

Marketing[edit]
The first look motion poster teaser of Kaththi was released on 22 June 2014 on Vijay's birthday.[46] It
crossed 2 million views on YouTube.[47] The motion poster teaser showed Vijay playing the role of a
youth activist named Kathiresan and that he heads a youth brigade. [48][49] Two promotional posters
were released on 22 August 2014.[50][51] One of the posters showed a still featuring the lead pair and
the other had Vijay sporting the typical angry young man look.[52] The posters fetched positive
feedback from fans and trended on social networking sites following their release. [52][53] To promote the
song "Selfie Pulla", Anirudh started a selfie contest online, where fans were asked to post a selfie
with the film's poster in the background.[54] A video of the making of a song sequence shot at
the Chennai International Airport was released on YouTube on 15 September 2014.[55] A still featuring
Vijay in the song "Pakkam Vanthu" surrounded by dance artistes, each of whom played different
instruments, was released on 8 October 2014.[56] A 40-second song teaser of "Aathi"
featuring Vijay and Samantha was released on 17 October 2014.[57] The song teaser of "Selfie Pulla"
was released on 18 October 2014.[58]
The official teaser was unveiled at the audio launch of the film.[59] Behindwoods stated in its teaser
review, "Sheer Mass is the word!"[60] Nivedita Mishra of theHindustan Times wrote, "Its powerful and
gripping, synthetic yet elemental: without doubt, one of the best for a crime thriller." [61] Indiaglitz, in its
teaser review, asserted, "The 360 degree camera spin with the bombastic BGM of Anirudh; is sure to
give goosebumps to the fans of Vijay."[62] The teaser crossed 1 million views 2 days after its release.
[63]
It crossed 2 million views in 3 weeks.[64]
The official trailer of the film was released on 19 October 2014. The trailer crossed 1 million views
within a day and had gone viral after its release. [65]

Plagiarism allegations[edit]
The 41-second first-look motion poster the film drew comparisons with the popular minute-long
advertisement campaign run by a Turkish newspaper, Sabah, to announce their distribution of

the New York Times as a supplement. The original advertisement features iconic images of the cities
of New York and Istanbul, designed using news articles and headlines from the newspaper to show
the two cities in the form of newspaper clippings. The motion poster of the film showed prominent
places in Chennai and the entire city itself in the form of newspaper clippings and headlines, just like
the advertisement campaign, without an acknowledgement to the makers of the original. [66][67]
Minjur Gopi filed a case against Murugadoss, claiming that the plot of the film was copied from his
novel Mootha Kudi. Responding to the issue, Murugadoss said that he was neither aware of Minjur
nor that his story was a copy, further citing the allegation as a tactic by the plaintiff to garner free
publicity. He, in turn, requested the court to dismiss the petition.[68] In late September 2014, the court
declared the case in Murugadoss's favour citing lack of proper evidence found against him. [69]

Business link allegations[edit]

Subaskaran Allirajah, chairman of Lyca Mobiles, whose company Lyca Productions co-produces the
film along with Ayngaran International, was claimed to have had business links with the President of
Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa. Murugadoss and Karunamoorthy of Ayngaran International met proEelam leaders P. Nedumaran, director Seeman and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchis (VCK) Thol.
Thirumavalavan to explain their position regarding the allegation, but the talks proved to be
inconclusive at that time.[70] A collective of four student bodies Maatram Maanavar Ilaiyor Iyakkam,
Free Tamil Eelam Students Organisation, Tamil Youth and Students association and Progressive
Students Front in Tamil Nadu called for a ban the film, stating the film promoted the economic and
political interests of Sri Lanka. The students were willing to reconsider their position on the film, if
Lyca Productions formally withdrew as producer.[71] In August 2014,
directors Seeman and Vikraman showed support for the film.[72][73]
Despite clarifications, as many as 65 Tamil groups came together to oppose the film, leading to
speculations regarding Lyca stepping down as producer, thereby handing the reins to another
production group.[74][75] Karunamoorthy, however, again denied that Allirajah had business links with
either Mahinda Rajapaksa or his family in any way, further saying that a press meet would be held
where all doubts and suspicions regarding Lyca Productions would be clarified and that the film
would be released under the Lyca Productions banner.[76]
As per Karunamoorthy's statement, a press meet was held on 16 September 2014, where the vicechairman of Lyca Productions, Premananthan Sivasamy, Subaskaran and Karunamoorthy were
present. A statement with a detailed clarification was shown in which it was mentioned that Lyca did
not have any business links with Rajapaksa or anyone else related to him, thereby confirming the
planned release of the film on Diwali.[77]

Critical reception[edit]
Kaththi opened to positive reviews from critics.[78]
Behindwoods gave 3 out of 5 and stated "Murugadoss delivers a strong commercial movie with a
nice social angle, in true Vijay style".[79] Iflickz gave 3.35 stars out of 5 stars and over viewed that
"'Kaththi' is very sharp and hits you with indigestible facts. Vijay and AR Murugadoss create a
different kind of magic this time around".[80] Sify gave 4 out of 5 and stated the movie is a well made
entertainer with a powerful message.[81] M. Suganth of The Times Of India gave 3.85 out of 5 and
wrote "'Kaththi' will definitely be picked up by a big Bollywood star for a remake.For, the knife which
was bang on target.[82]
International Business Times gave 4 out of 5 and stated "Kaththi" is a message-oriented and highly
entertaining commercial movie.[83] S.Saraswathi of Rediff stated "Kaththi entertains with a message"
and rated 4/5 as well.[84] Indiaglitz said "A very sharp solid commercial entertainer movie packaged
by Vijay and AR Murugadoss and rated 3.25 stars out of 5[85]TruthDrive said "the movie has received
a grandeur response from the audience" and stated "Vijay does justice to his role as we can clearly

distinguish the different roles he is enacting and rated 4/5 as well"[86]Cinemalead.com stated "the
knife shines on both the sides" and rated 3.85/5. [87]

Box office[edit]
India[edit]
Kaththi had the biggest opening for a South Indian film as on the opening day, the film netted
around 125 million (US$2.0 million) in Tamil Nadu alone.[88] Itgrossed around 238
million (US$3.7 million) wordwide on its opening day and 710.5 million (US$11 million) worldwide in
its extended five-day weekend.[89] In Chennai city alone, the film netted 30.10 million (US$470,000)
in the first week with an average theatre occupancy of 97% and stood in the first position. [90] The
second week witnessed an occupancy of 85% in the city and netted around 53.24
million (US$840,000).[91] The film took a worldwide distributor share of 620 million(US$9.7 million) in
just 11 days.[92] The film still stood at the number one position in Chennai by the third week resulting
in a total collection of 67.98 million(US$1.1 million).[93]
Kaththi reached the 1 billion (US$16 million) mark in 12 days of its release.[94] The film was bought
for a record price in Karnataka by a leading distributor, and opened well at the box-office there. The
film collected around 360 million (US$5.7 million) in Tamil Nadu, 50 million (US$790,000) in
Karnataka and 55 million(US$860,000) in Kerala in five days.[95] After a long run for 9 weeks at the
Chennai box office, the film netted around 78.29 million (US$1.2 million), the second highest figure
among Tamil films.[96]

Overseas[edit]
The film earned $142,805 in its USA premiere and also became the biggest opener for a film
starring Vijay.[97][98] In France, Kaththi opened with about 3.1 million(US$49,000) which is a new
record for an Indian film. The distributor Ayngaran International stated that Kaththi had the biggest
opening for a Tamil film in UK since it released in over 70 screens there and also topped the
weekend box office in Malaysia. It also has set new records in Singapore grossing over $201,408. [99]
Kaththi created a new record in the United States by emerging as the first film starring neither of
Rajinikanth or Kamal Haasan to surpass $400,000. The film later minted $600,000 at the US box
office. It became the highest grossing Tamil film of 2014 by surpassing the earnings
of Kochadaiiyaan in US.[100]
Kaththi has performed exceptionally well at the UK box office and the film has grossed 319,310 in
12 days. According to reports, the film has surpassed Kamal
Haasan's Dasavatharam and Vishwaroopam and has taken the third spot in the list of highest
grossing Tamil films in UK after Rajinikanth's Enthiran and Sivaji. In Australia, Kaththi collected
$160,890 and has surpassed the opening weekend collection of Kochadaiyaan ($119,597)
and Anjaan ($107,013) for 2014. The film had a life time business of over A$194,341 in Australia and
became the highest grossing Tamil film of the year there.[101][102] Kaththi has minted approximately
$1.86 million in Malaysia and has emerged as the third highest grossing Tamil film of all time only
next to Enthiran and Sivaji. The film has surpassed the total collections of Thuppakki and Singam II,
which had earned $1.78 million and $1.73 million respectively.[103]