Kaali is a 1980 Indian action film written by Mahendran and directed by I. V. Sasi. Produced by Hem-Nag, the film stars Rajinikanth, Seema, Fatafat Jayalaxmi and Shubha. The film was simultaneously made in Tamil and Telugu languages, with Chiranjeevi replacing Vijayakumar in Telugu. The cinematography was handled by Ashok Kumar and soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. Kaali ran for less than 50 days in Chennai and was considered a box office failure in both Tamil and Telugu. The film is infamous for a fire accident which caused the deaths of some stuntmen and horses.
Plot
Cast +Cast (Tamil)Cast (Telugu)Role (Tamil)Role (Telugu) Rajinikanth Kaali Vijayakumar Chiranjeevi G. K. Seema Anitha & Geetha Fatafat Jayalaxmi Alangaram Major Sundarrajan Kantha Rao Sampath Manorama Thayamma Suruli Rajan Sokku Shubha Sampath's wifeVennira Aadai Nirmala Kaali's sister V. Gopalakrishnan Giri Babu Somu Kaikala Satyanarayana Rajaram Rajarao Prasad Babu Rajaram's sons Rajarao's sons Sundar Raj Pushpalatha Rajaram's wife Rajarao's wife Anuradha Sriram child artist Master Haja Sheriff child artist
Production It was reported that Mithun Chakraborty would be featured in the film but proved untrue. During production a fire broke out, killing some stuntmen and horses.
Soundtrack The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The film had Vairamuthu's first written song, "Kali Bhadrakali".
Tamil tracklist Song Singers Lyrics Length "Adi Aadu" Malaysia Vasudevan Kannadasan 4:39 "Azhagazhaga" P. Susheela 4:46 "Kali Bhadrakali" S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki Vairamuthu 4:00 "Thithikkum" S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Kalyan, S. P. Sailaja Kannadasan4:33 "Vaazhumattum" S. P. Balasubrahmanyam 4:46
Release and reception Kaali was released on 3 July 1980 in Tamil, and 19 September the same year in Telugu clashing with another Chiranjeevi-starrer Thathayya Premaleelalu (1980). Saavi wrote that I. V. Sasi has started taking roots in Tamil. The critic added that the makers have mixed the colour in the cinemascope and added by looking at the title if you guess this film as revenge plot then you have better intelligence than Sasi. Ananda Vikatan rated the film 43 out of 100, criticising its excessive reliance on violence and expressed concern it would inspire real life violence which was already rampant in India. Naagai Dharuman of Anna praised Mahendran's dialogues, Ashok Kumar's cinematography, stunt choreography, Ilayaraja's music, acting of star cast and direction.
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