Kala Pani (1996 film)

Kaalapani
DVD cover
Directed by	Priyadarshan
Produced by	Mohanlal R. Mohan (co-producer)
Screenplay by	T. Damodaran Priyadarshan
Story by	Priyadarshan
Starring	Mohanlal Prabhu Ganesan Tabu Amrish Puri John Kolvenbach Nedumudi Venu Sreenivasan Alex Draper
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography	Santosh Sivan
Edited by	N. Gopalakrishnan
Production company	Pranavam Arts Shogun Films Ltd. (in association with)
Distributed by	Shogun Films Ltd. Amitabh Bachchan Corporation (Saza-E-Kala Pani)
Release date	12 April 1996 (1996-04-12)
Running time	178 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	₹2.5 crore (US$370,000)

Kaalapani (English: Black Water) is a 1996 Indian Malayalam language epic historical period drama film co-wriiten and directed by Priyadarshan, set in 1915 it focus on the lives of Indian freedom fighters incarcerated in prison during the British Raj. The film stars Mohanlal, Prabhu Ganesan, Tabu, Amrish Puri, Nedumudi Venu, Sreenivasan, Tinnu Anand, Annu Kapoor, Alex Draper, and Vineeth. Kaalapani is regarded as one of the classics in Malayalam cinema. Originally produced in Malayalam, the film was dubbed and released in Hindi as Saza-E-Kala Pani, Tamil as Siraichalai, and in Telugu as Kaala Pani. Amitabh Bachchan bought the Hindi dubbing rights, besides narrating the prologue for the Hindi version.

The film is about the lives of prisoners in British India who are brought to Kālā Pānī, the Cellular Jail in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The name Kalapani is derived from the mode of imprisonment in British India. Ilaiyaraaja composed the music, the cinematography was by Santosh Sivan, and the editing by N. Gopalakrishnan. The film introduced Dolby Stereo into Malayalam cinema. It was made on a budget of ₹2.5 crore, making it the costliest Malayalam film made until then.