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Indian (1996 film)

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Indian
Theatrical release poster
Directed byS. Shankar
Screenplay byS. Shankar
Dialogues by
Story byS. Shankar
Produced byA. M. Rathnam
Starring
CinematographyJeeva
Edited byB. Lenin
V. T. Vijayan
Music byA. R. Rahman
Production
company
Sri Surya Movies
Release date
  • 9 May 1996 (1996-05-09)
Running time
185 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil
Budget₹15 crore[1]
Box office₹64.25 crore[2]

Indian is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language vigilante action film directed by S. Shankar, who wrote the script with dialogues by Sujatha, and produced by A. M. Rathnam. The film stars Kamal Haasan in a dual role, alongside Manisha Koirala, Urmila Matondkar, Sukanya, Manorama, Goundamani, Senthil, Nedumudi Venu, Kasthuri, Nizhalgal Ravi and Ajay Rathnam. It is the first instalment in the Indian film series. The music was composed by A. R. Rahman, while cinematography and editing were handled by Jeeva and B. Lenin-V. T. Vijayan. In the film, Senapathy, a retired freedom fighter rebels against corruption in India, which puts him in conflict with his son Chandru, who lives by corruption.

Indian was released on 9 May 1996 worldwide and became the highest-grossing Tamil film upon release.[3] It was selected by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1996, but was not nominated. The film won three National Film Awards, including Best Actor (Kamal Haasan), two South Filmfare Awards and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. It was partially reshot in Hindi as Hindustani with Manorama being replaced by Aruna Irani and released on August 23 of the same year. A sequel titled Indian 2 was released in 2024 and a third film is in production.

Plot

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The film opens with an old man entering the Chennai Corporation's Rippon building HQ as the working hours start, and rampant corruption occurs all around him. He enters the Corporation Commissioner's room, stabs him to death and escapes unnoticed. Similiarly a series of killings had taken place Avadi in the same pattern within a few months; stabbing by a knife and the victim becoming paralysed before dying. The Chennai Police Department in liasion with the CBI form a joint team led by Krishnaswamy to nab the killer after the death of commissioner. They scrutinise the evidences and narrow down the killer by his age, which should be more than 70 based on the writing style of a letter left behind by the killer while killing an officer in the government treasury. The old man is later revealed to be Senapathy, a retired Indian freedom fighter and a member of Indian National Army led by Subhas Chandra Bose, for threatening a poor old woman to bribe him to hand over compensation amount of ₹10,000 (equivalent to ₹55,000 or US$660 in 2023) given by the government as her husband was killed in a riot.

Chandrabose alias Chandru is a small-time broker stationed outside the RTO at Chennai. Chandru and his assistant Subbaiah aid people in bribing the right officials inside the RTO in getting permits and licenses. At the same time Chandru's love interest Aishwarya, an animal rights activist, also comes into conflict with Sapna, a rich medical student and the daughter of Secretary of Transportation. Chandru attempts to win over Sapna and her family to secure a job as a brake inspector at the same RTO. Aishwarya is irked by the fact that Sapna and her mother are exploiting Chandru's situation, getting him to do household chores. Sapna realises that Chandru loves Aishwarya and gives up her love.

Krishnaswamy manages to trace his way to Senapathy's house, posing as a freedom fighter eligible for Swathantra Sainik Samman Pension Scheme. When Krishnaswamy tries to arrest him, Senapathy and his wife Amirthavalli, escape with his expertise in Varma kalai. Later, Senapathy and Amirthavalli reaches a hospital. At that time, Amirthavalli meets Chandru at an elevator. Soon, it gets revealed that Chandru is their son. They had fallen out due to Senapathy's excessive insistence on honesty and righteousness, which Chandru considers irrelevant in present day. Senapathy kidnaps and murders a corrupt doctor on live television as the doctor refused to treat Senapathy's daughter Kasturi, who was suffering from third-degree burns unless given a bribe, but Senapathy refused, leading to her death. The public support surges for Senapathy as he exposes many corrupt individuals. Meanwhile, Chandru, who became a brake inspector, takes a bribe and gives a safety certificate to a school bus with faulty brakes, which crashes and kills 40 school children.

Chandru tries to inject alcohol into the driver's corpse to frame him for drunk driving. Senapathy catches him in the act and tries to kill him for corruption, but is caught by Krishnaswamy and sentenced to prison, but later escapes. Despite pleas from Amirthavalli and Aishwarya to spare Chandru's life, Senapathy heads for the airport where Chandru is attempting to flee to Mumbai. A chase culminates, where Senapathy mournfully kills Chandru and apparently dies in an explosion involving an aeroplane and a jeep. While investigating recorded footage, Krishnaswamy discovers that Senapathy escaped moments before the jeep exploded. Senapathy calls Krishnaswamy from Hong Kong and says he will return, should the need for his presence arise.

Cast

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Production

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Development

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Soon after the release of Gentleman (1993), Shankar narrated a script titled Periya Manushan to actor Rajinikanth, but the pair did not end up collaborating. Since the subject revolved around a father and son, he considered Rajasekhar for the father role, with either Nagarjuna or Venkatesh as the son, but the plans did not materialise. The film eventually materialised under the title Indian, produced by A. M. Rathnam, with Kamal Haasan playing both roles.[4] Haasan was initially reluctant to do the film because of its similarities to his 1977 film Naam Pirandha Mann, but relented after Rathnam paid him the entire salary before he began acting.[5] On 17 February 1995, the official muhurat pooja for this film took place, with Rajinikanth attending the event as its chief guest.[6]

Casting and filming

[edit]
Sydney Harbour Bridge is seen in the song "Telephone Manipol".

Shankar tried to cast Aishwarya Rai to make her debut and portray the leading female role. Her commitment to her advertisement agency until October 1995 meant that she was unavailable to sign the film.[7] Subsequently, Manisha Koirala was selected after Shankar was impressed with her performance in Bombay. The producers wanted Radhika to play the pair of the older Kamal Haasan in the film, but her television commitments meant that she was unable to sign a contract. Urvashi subsequently replaced her, only for Shankar to throw her out for missing a day's schedule to attend her sister's wedding. The role was finally handed to Sukanya, who had previously appeared alongside Kamal Haasan in Mahanadhi. Bollywood actress Urmila Matondkar was signed to play another leading role after the producers were impressed with her performance and the success of her 1995 Hindi film, Rangeela.[7] Malayalam character actor Nedumudi Venu signed on to play the role of CBI officer Krishnaswamy at Haasan's recommendation,[8] while Nassar dubbed his voice.[9] The producers engaged Hollywood make-up artists Michael Westmore and Michael Jones to work on the designs for the senior Kamal Haasan's and Sukanya's look in the film.[10] The senior Kamal Haasan's look for the character Senapathy was based on Haasan's father.[11] Shankar initially wanted P. C. Sreeram to handle cinematography; however due to his other commitments, Jeeva was chosen as cinematographer.[12] One of the assistant directors chanced upon a book by varma kalai practitioner R. Rajendran about the martial art, and Rajendran was hired to teach Haasan the same.[13]

For production work, Shankar visited Las Vegas to learn about new technology and purchased cameras for production. Furthermore, the director visited Australia alongside cinematographer Jeeva and music director A. R. Rahman to location hunt and to compose tunes.[7] The film's unit was given strict orders to maintain privacy, with Hindi actor Jackie Shroff being notably turned away from visiting the shooting spot. A song for the film was shot at Prasad Studios featuring Haasan and Matondkar alongside 70 Bombay models.[14] This led to a protest from the Cine Dancers Union who argued that Tamil dancers should have been utilised instead, with Shankar opting to pay them off to avoid further hassle. Another duet between Haasan and Koirala was shot near the Sydney Opera House in Sydney and Canberra for fifteen days.[15] A flashback song was canned with four hundred dancers and a thousand extras at Gingee with Kamal Haasan and Sukanya, while another song featured shooting in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.[7][10] A fight scene was shot at Irungkaattukottai Motor Racing Track.[16] The flashback sequences, set during pre-Independent India, were in black-and-white.[17] Graphic designer Venky noted that Indian was his most difficult project to date (in 1997) with a scene constructed to feature Kamal Haasan's character alongside Subhas Chandra Bose. Venky had to remove blemishes on the film reel of Bose provided by the Film Division's archive before merging Haasan on to the shot to make it appear that the pair were marching in tandem.[18]

Indian was the most expensive Indian film at the time. According to an estimate by critic G. Dhananjayan, the production budget was ₹8 crores (worth ₹96 crores in 2021 prices).[19] Rediff.com however estimated budget to be ₹15 crore.[20][21] The music video for "Akadanu Naanga" directed by Padam Kumar and choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant, cost ₹1.5 crore.[22]

Music

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Indian
Soundtrack album by
A. R. Rahman
Released1996
RecordedPanchathan Record Inn
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length30:05
LabelPyramid
Ayngaran Music
Star Music
Sa Re Ga Ma
Aditya Music
T-Series
TIPS
ProducerA. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman chronology
Love Birds
(1996) 		Indian
(1996) 		Kadhal Desam
(1996)
External audio
audio icon Audio Jukebox (Tamil) on YouTube
audio icon Audio Jukebox (Telugu) on YouTube
audio icon Audio Jukebox (Hindi) on YouTube

The soundtrack album includes five tracks composed by A. R. Rahman,[23] and was released in 1996 by Pyramid. The soundtrack was also released in Hindi as Hindustani by TIPS and in Telugu as Bharateeyudu by T-Series.[24] The lyrics were written by Vaali and Vairamuthu for the original version, P. K. Mishra for Hindustani and Bhuvanachandra for Bharateeyudu.

The Tamil soundtrack of Indian was a major success, having sold about 600,000 records within days of release.[25] The Hindi soundtrack, called Hindustani, sold a further 1.8 million units,[26] bringing total sales to at least 2.4 million units.

Track listing for Indian (Tamil)
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Akadanu Naanga"VaaliSwarnalatha5:44
2."Maya Machindra"VaaliS. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Swarnalatha5:37
3."Pachai Kiligal"VairamuthuK. J. Yesudas, Nirmala Seshadri5:50
4."Telephone Manipol"VairamuthuHariharan, Harini, Srinivas6:15
5."Kappaleri Poyaachu"VaaliP. Susheela, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam6:28

All lyrics are written by P. K. Mishra

Track listing for Hindustani (Hindi)
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Latka Dikha Diya Humne"Swarnalatha5:44
2."Maya Mahindra"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Swarnalatha5:37
3."Pyaare Panchhi"K. J. Yesudas, Nirmala Seshadri5:50
4."Telephone Dhoon Me"Hariharan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Srinivas6:15
5."Kashtiyaan Bhi"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sadhana Sargam6:28
6."Latka Dikha Diya Humne (version-2)"Suchitra Krishnamurthy5:48

All lyrics are written by Bhuvanachandra

Track listing for Bharateeyudu (Telugu)
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Adireti"Swarnalatha5:44
2."Maya Mahindra"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Swarnalatha5:37
3."Pachani Chilukalu"K. J. Yesudas, Nirmala Seshadri5:50
4."Telephone Dhwani La"Hariharan, Harini, Srinivas6:15
5."Teppalelli Poyaka"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sujatha Mohan6:28

Release

[edit]

Indian was released worldwide on 9 May 1996.[27] Prior to the release of the film, the team also planned a Hindi version of the film. It was partially reshot in Hindi as Hindustani with Aruna Irani in place of Manorama. The Hindi version also did well after its release on 23 August 1996.[28] The film was also dubbed in Telugu as Bharathyeedu and in Malayalam under the same title. In 2015, the Hindi version Hindustani was screened at the Habitat Film Festival.[29]

Reception

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Box office

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Indian became a major box office success by grossing ₹64.25 crore (US$7.7 million) worldwide.[2] Both the Telugu and Hindi dubbed versions also emerged successful.[30]

Critical response

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Nirupama Subramanian from India Today praised Shankar's script, noting that "with the right mix of pop patriotism, anti-establishment diatribes and other commercial cinema ingredients, Shankar's latest creation has south India applauding" before adding that "the real triumph of the film is the effective make-over that believably transforms the actors".[31] Tharamani of Kalki praised the film for depicting romance in a dignified manner, narrating flashbacks in black-and-white and keeping the beauty shining and budding everywhere without being blinded but criticising the film for giving a wrong message of justifying the murders.[32] The Hindu wrote, "Shankar establishes himself as one who thinks big and executes what his mind has conceived in a lavish style on the screen be it the dance sequences or action and thrills the Tamil viewers have not witnessed before". The critic added, "Kamal is simply superb as Senapathy, his thick voice and the dhoti-jubba attire adding to his portrayal. As Chandru he underplays his part".[33]

Accolades

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Indian was selected by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1996, but was not nominated.[34]

List of awards and nominations
Award Date of ceremony Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
National Film Awards July 1997 Best Actor Kamal Haasan Won [35]
Best Art Direction Thota Tharani Won
Best Special Effects S. T. Venky Won
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards  – Best Film (First prize) A. M. Rathnam as a producer Won [36]
Best Actor Kamal Haasan Won
Filmfare Awards South 30 August 1997 Best Film – Tamil A. M. Rathnam as a producer Won [37]
[38]
[39]
Best Actor – Tamil Kamal Haasan Won
Cinema Express Awards  – Best Film A. M. Rathnam as a producer Won [citation needed]
Best Actor Kamal Haasan Won

Re-release

[edit]

Indian was re-released on 7 June 2024, in over 600 screens worldwide.[40]

Sequels

[edit]
Main articles: Indian 2 and Indian 3

A sequel Indian 2 again directed by Shankar and starring Haasan was released on 12 July 2024.[41] A third film is also in production and was shot alongside Indian 2;[42] the film, titled Indian 3, is being aimed for release in 2025, six months after its predecessor.[43] In 2008, Shankar planned on a crossover film featuring characters from Indian, Nayak: The Real Hero (2001) and Sivaji: The Boss (2007), but dropped the idea due to lack of encouragement from his assistant directors.[44]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ Saraswathi, S. (7 November 2014). "Birthday Special: Kamal Haasan's 60 years of excellence". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b Jogani, Rishil (10 July 2024). "Box Office Throwback: Revisiting Kamal Haasan and Shankar's All Time Blockbuster 1996 release, INDIAN". Pinkvilla. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  3. ^ Dhananjayan 2014, p. 352.
  4. ^ "Rajinikanth was Shankar's first choice for Indian but Superstar turned it down". India Today. 18 January 2019. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  5. ^ "அதுக்கு மயங்காதவர் உண்டா!..'இந்தியன்'படத்தில் கமல் நடித்தது இப்படித்தான்!." Cinereporters.com (in Tamil). 17 October 2021. Archived from the original on 14 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  6. ^ "An UNSEEN video from the sets of 'Indian' goes viral as the Kamal Haasan starrer completes 27 years". The Times of India. 10 May 2023. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d Sitaraman, Sandya (3 February 1996). "Tamil Movie News--Pudhu Edition(Cont.)". Google Groups. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  8. ^ സംവിധായകൻ ശങ്കർ നെടുമുടിയുടെ അഭിനയം കണ്ട് അന്ന് ചോദിച്ചത് | Kamal Hasan | Nedumudi Venu | Kairali TV (in Malayalam). Kairali TV. 23 October 2021. Archived from the original on 12 March 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ Balaji (7 September 2018). "|கமலைத் துரத்தக் காத்திருக்கும் நெடுமுடி வேணு". Minnambalam (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 3 November 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  10. ^ a b Sitaraman, Sandya (29 March 1996). "Tamil Movie News--Pudhu Edition(Cont.)". Google Groups. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Kamal Haasan's Senapathy look from 'Indian' was based on his father: Shankar". India Today. 27 June 2024. Archived from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  12. ^ "எனக்கு யாரும் சிஷ்யர்கள் இல்லை!". Kalki (in Tamil). 30 July 2006. pp. 56–57. Archived from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ Ramanujam, Srinivasa (5 May 2021). "25 years of 'Indian': Meet 'Aasaan' Rajendran, who taught 'varmakkalai' to Kamal Haasan". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  14. ^ Sitaraman, Sandya (3 February 1996). "Tamil Movie News--Pudhu Edition". Google Groups. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  15. ^ Rajitha (4 April 1997). "'The story line is important, the rest are like cosmetics'". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  16. ^ Raman, Mohan (25 August 2020). "#MadrasThroughTheMovies: Films that captured the 'sport'y Madras". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 6 March 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  17. ^ Sundaram, Nandhu (2 October 2017). "Kamal Haasan's Indian set benchmark for special effects, art direction — How will the sequel fare?". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  18. ^ Rajitha (4 November 1997). "The Grand Illusion". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  19. ^ Dhananjayan 2014, p. 353.
  20. ^ Saraswathi, S (7 November 2014). "Birthday Special: Kamal Haasan's 60 years of excellence". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  21. ^ "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average)". World Bank. 1996. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  22. ^ Chopra, Anupama (15 March 1997). "Film scripts demand extravagant song sequences to make box office jingle". India Today. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  23. ^ "Indian". arrahman.com. Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  24. ^ "The Complete Discography of A.R.Rahman". gopalhome.tripod.com. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  25. ^ Pillai, Sreedhar (3 July 2003). "Singing a different tune". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 May 2004. Retrieved 3 July 2003.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  26. ^ "Music Hits 1990–1999 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  27. ^ M V, Vivek (9 May 2021). "25 years of Indian: when grandeur had no limit". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 23 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  28. ^ "Ready for another Sivaji release this Diwali?". Behindwoods. 21 August 2007. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  29. ^ "The 10th Habitat Film Festival 2015" (PDF). Habitat Film Club. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  30. ^ "Zero And KGF (Hindi) Third Week Update". Box Office India. 11 January 2019. Archived from the original on 26 February 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  31. ^ Subramanian, Nirupama (15 August 1996). "Pop patriotism". India Today. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  32. ^ தரமணி (2 June 1996). "இந்தியன்". Kalki (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  33. ^ "Inthian/Chutti Kuzhandhai". The Hindu. 17 May 1996. p. 29. Archived from the original on 20 December 1996. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  34. ^ "39 Countries Hoping for Oscar Nominations". oscars.org. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 13 November 1996. Archived from the original on 9 February 1999. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  35. ^ "44th National Film Festival" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  36. ^ "1996 Cinema State Awards". Dinakaran. Archived from the original on 3 February 1999. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  37. ^ "Best Film". Filmfare. October 1997. Archived from the original on 3 November 1999. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  38. ^ "Best Actor". Filmfare. October 1997. Archived from the original on 18 October 1999. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  39. ^ "Kamal wins 17th Film fare award for role in Indian". The Economic Times. 9 July 1997. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  40. ^ Jose, Jilce (7 June 2024). "Kamal Haasan's 'Indian' Re-Releases Grandly; Fans Enjoy The Film With Fireworks In A Theatre". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  41. ^ "Kamal Haasan's Indian 2 gets a new release date; Shankar's film to hit screens in July". Hindustan Times. 20 May 2024. Archived from the original on 22 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  42. ^ "Kamal Haasan to play guest role in Kalki 2898 AD, confirms Indian 3". Hindustan Times. 25 March 2024. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  43. ^ "'Indian 3' to be out 6 months after 'Indian 2' release; Kamal Haasan and Shankar reveals". The Times of India. 19 May 2024. Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  44. ^ "Shankar Wanted Film Universe With Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Anil Kapoor: 'No One Responded...' | Exclusive". News18. 29 June 2024. Archived from the original on 30 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.

Bibliography

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