Kabali (film)

Kabali
Theatrical release poster
Tamil	கபாலி
Directed by	Pa. Ranjith
Produced by	Kalaipuli S. Thanu
Written by	Pa. Ranjith
Starring	Rajinikanth Winston Chao Radhika Apte
Music by	Santhosh Narayanan
Cinematography	G. Murali R. Thamizh Thendral (Additional cinematography)
Edited by	Praveen K.L
Production company	V Creations
Distributed by	Gemini Film Circuit, Maxlab Cinemas and Entertainments, Fox Star Studios
Release date	21 July 2016 (2016-07-21) (Malaysia) 22 July 2016 (2016-07-22) (Worldwide)
Running time	152 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹1 billion
Box office	Disputed - See box office

Kabali is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language gangster-drama film written and directed by Pa. Ranjith and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu. The film revolves around the gang war between Kabaleeswaran (played by Rajinikanth) and Tony Lee (portrayed by Winston Chao). Radhika Apte, Dhansika, Dinesh Ravi, Kalaiyarasan, and John Vijay also star in pivotal roles.

Principal photography for the film began on 21 August 2015 in Chennai. While filming mostly occurred in Malaysia, smaller scenes were shot in Bangkok and Hong Kong.

The film was released in Tamil along with dubbed versions in Telugu and Hindi on 22 July 2016, while the film was released in Malay a week later.Kabali was released on 3200 screens in India, of which 2200 were in South India. Upon release, the film had the largest opening weekend for any Indian film worldwide.

A Kuala Lumpur–based don Kabaleeswaran alias Kabali (Rajinikanth) is released after spending 25 years in prison on a false charge of starting a massacre at a local Hindu temple that killed many, including his wife Kumudhavalli alias Kumudha (Radhika Apte). He immediately resumes charge of his old gang and soon confronts Loganathan alias Loga (Mime Gopi), a drug smuggler. Loga insults Kumudha, saying that she would have been sold into prostitution had she been alive. In retaliation, Kabali rams his car into Loga, killing him; however, the incident makes him believe that his wife may be still alive. Later, Kabali survives an assassination attempt by Tamizh Kumaran alias Kumaran (Kalaiyarasan), whose father Tamilmaaran (Charles Vinoth) was killed by Kabali when Kumaran was a young boy. The next day, at a function organised by the Free Life Foundation School, a school started by Kabali's friend Ameer (John Vijay) to reform youngsters involved in criminal activities, Kabali talks about his past.