->Jupitus Smart at 17:20, 10 January 2022

2022-01-10T17:20:49Z

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{{for|the caste taboo|Kala pani (taboo)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Kaalapani
| image = Kaalapani poster.jpg
| caption = Poster
| director = [[Priyadarshan]]
| producer = [[Mohanlal]] R. Mohan {{small|(co-producer)}}
| screenplay = [[T. Damodaran]] Priyadarshan
| story = Priyadarshan
| starring = [[Mohanlal]] [[Prabhu (actor)|Prabhu]] [[Tabu (actress)|Tabu]] [[Amrish Puri]]
| music = [[Ilaiyaraaja]]
| cinematography = [[Santosh Sivan]]
| editing = N. Gopalakrishnan
| studio = [[Pranavam Arts International|Pranavam Arts]] [[Shogun Films]] {{small|(in association with)}}
| distributor = Pranamam Pictures Shogun Films [[Amitabh Bachchan Corporation]] {{small|(Hindi)}}
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1996|4|6}}
| runtime = 180 minutes
| country = India
| language = Malayalam
| budget = {{INR}}6.00 [[crore]]<ref name="Radhakrishnan1995">{{cite magazine | url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kaala-paani-a-malayalam-film-banks-on-lavish-budget-freedom-movement-and-multilingual-cast/1/287939.html | url-status=live | archive-date=7 April 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407173537/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19950615-kaala-paani-a-malayalam-film-banks-on-lavish-budget-freedom-movement-and-multilingual-cast-806763-1995-06-15 |title=An epic gamble | magazine=Indiascope | date=15 June 1995 | publisher=[[India Today Group]] | access-date=30 May 2015 | first=M. G.|last=Radhakrishnan}}</ref>
}}

'''''Kaalapani''''' ({{Translation|Black Water}}) is a 1996 Indian [[Malayalam]]-language [[Epic film|epic]] [[historical drama]] film co-written and directed by [[Priyadarshan]]. Set in 1915, the film focuses on the lives of Indian [[Indian independence movement|independence activists]] incarcerated in the [[Cellular Jail]] (or ''Kālā Pānī'') in [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]] during the [[British Raj]]. The [[ensemble cast]] includes [[Mohanlal]], [[Prabhu Ganesan]], [[Tabu (actress)|Tabu]], [[Amrish Puri]], [[Nedumudi Venu]], [[Sreenivasan]], [[Tinnu Anand]], [[Annu Kapoor]], Alex Draper, [[Sankaradi]], and [[Vineeth]]. The film was produced by Mohanlal for [[Pranavam Arts]] in association with R. Mohan's [[Shogun Films]].

The film is about the lives of prisoners in [[British Raj|British India]] who are brought to Kālā Pānī. 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 {{INR}}2.50 crore, making it the costliest Malayalam film made until then.<ref name="Radhakrishnan1995" />

''Kaalapani'' was released on 6 April 1996 in 450 theaters worldwide, which was the largest release for any Indian film until then. The film is now regarded as one of the classics in [[Malayalam cinema]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Roktim Rajpal|title=Mohanlal's 'Kaalapani' to Mammootty's 'Pazhassi Raja': Southern films that reminisce about the battle for free India|url=http://www.ibnlive.com/news/movies/mohanlals-kaalapani-to-mammoottys-pazhassi-raja-southern-films-that-reminisce-the-battle-for-free-india-1039423.html|access-date=14 August 2015|agency=[[IBN Live]]|date=14 August 2015|location=[[New Delhi]]}}</ref> Originally made in Malayalam, the film was dubbed and released in [[Hindi]] as ''Saza-E-Kala Pani'', [[Tamil language|Tamil]] as ''Siraichalai'', and in [[Telugu language|Telugu]] as ''Kaala Pani''. [[Amitabh Bachchan]] bought the Hindi dubbing rights, besides narrating the prologue for the Hindi version.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fm3Lvoz7pU</ref> The film won three [[National Film Awards]], including the awards for [[National Film Award for Best Art Direction|Best Art Direction]] ([[Sabu Cyril]]), [[National Film Award for Best Special Effects|Best Special Effects]] (S. T. Venky), and [[National Film Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] ([[Santosh Sivan]]). The movie also won six [[Kerala State Film Awards]].

==Plot==
In 1965, G. S. Sethu ([[Vineeth]]) of the [[Indian Army]] goes to [[Ross Island, South Andaman district|Ross Island]], Kaalapani to find the whereabouts of his aunt Parvathi's ([[Tabu (actress)|Tabu]]) husband Govardhan Menon ([[Mohanlal]]), who has been sent to jail in 1916 during the period of [[British Raj|British rule]]. In an old room containing record of prisoners held at the jail, Sethu comes across Govardhan's records and learns his story.

Govardhan, a doctor and Indian nationalist, is wrongly accused of bombing a train carrying 55 people, including British officials. On his wedding day with Parvathi, he is deported to a cellular jail at [[Port Blair]], [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]. There, hundreds of Indian prisoners are incarcerated in the cellular jail, including leading participants of the independence movement.

David Berry (Alex Draper) is a sadistic jailor who is of [[Irish people|Irish]] descent, while Len Hutton ([[John Kolvenbach]]) is a kindhearted English doctor. [[Vinayak Damodar Savarkar|Veer Savarkar]] ([[Annu Kapoor]]) is incarcerated and tries his best to keep the spirit of the prisoners going despite unbelievable torture.

Parvathi keeps waiting for Govardhan to come back. Due to Len's efforts, the government decides to investigate the matter of the torture meted out to the prisoners. 14 people are ordered to be released. One of them is Mukundan ([[Prabhu Ganesan]]), Govardhan's friend. David and the jail warden Mirza Khan ([[Amrish Puri]]) hatch a plan to incite a prison riot and shoot down 13 prisoners while they are escaping. Mukundan refuses to escape and is taken on the pretext of meeting the Chief Commissioner, and is shot and killed. Seeing Mukundan's dead body, Govardhan throws down David from one of the towers and kills Mirza Khan by strangling him. Govardhan is hanged to death.

All this is shown in interminnent flashbacks. Sethu, after knowing Govardhan has already been hanged to death 45 years ago, decides to not tell the truth to his wife as her wait of 50 years would have been in vain. The film ends with Sethu lying to her that he met Govardhan and talked to him about her, indicating she will never come to know about Govardhan's death and will keep waiting for him for the rest of her life.

==Cast==
{{colbegin}}
* [[Mohanlal]] as Dr. Govardhan Menon / Unni
* [[Prabhu (actor)|Prabhu]] as Mukundan Iyengar
* [[Tabu (actress)|Tabu]] as Parvathi / Parvathikutty, Dr.Govardhan's lover and later wife
* [[Amrish Puri]] as Jailer Mirza Khan
* [[Vineeth]] as G. Sethu, Dr.Govardhan's nephew who is in the Indian Army
* Alex Draper as Jailer David Barry
* [[John Kolvenbach]] as Dr. Len Hutton
* [[Annu Kapoor]] as [[Vinayak Damodar Savarkar]]
* [[Sankaradi]] as Kunju Muhammad Musaliar, an influential Muslim prisoner who always tries to unite all Hindu and Muslim prisoners
* [[Nedumudi Venu]] as Sreekandan Nair, Govardhan's maternal uncle, who was a local chieftain and a loyalist to the British Rule
* [[Delhi Ganesh]] as Pandiyan, a prisoner
* [[Sreenivasan]] as Moosa a.k.a. Kanaran, a prisoner and a spy of Mirza Khan
* [[Cochin Haneefa]] as Ahmed Kutty, a kind hearted guard in the jail
* [[Maniyanpilla Raju]] as Nair, an official in the Andaman & Nicobar administration of independent India
* [[Tinnu Anand]] as Ram lakhan, a prisoner
* Govind Menon (actor) as Parmanand, a prisoner
* S.R. Veeraraghavan (Tamil actor) as Achyuthan, a prisoner
* [[Sreenath]] as Satyasheelan, a Prisoner
* Ajayan Adoor as a Prisoner
* Suma Jayaram as Sreekandan Nair's daughter, who was jealous of Parvathi falling in love with Govardhan
* [[Tom Alter]] as British Chief Commissioner of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Province
* [[Kozhikode Narayanan Nair]] as Naanu Nair, Parvathi's father and Sreekandan Nair's assistant
* [[Poojappura Ravi]] as Nampoothiri, who wanted to marry Parvathi
* [[Antony Perumbavoor]] as Mukundan's friend and accomplice
{{colend}}

==Production==
===Development===

Director Priyadarshan co-wrote the screenplay with screenwriter, [[T. Damodaran]]. The basis for the story were existing accounts of life in cellular jail, particularly excerpts from biographies of political leaders of the Indian Independence Movement. Most of these excerpts covered the ruthless routine of prisoners in jail, under the command of Jailer David Barry, Major James Pattinson Walker and Petty officer Mirza Khan.<ref>{{cite web|title=CELLULAR JAIL :WITNESS TO GORY SUFFERINGS OF FREEDOM FIGHTERS|url=http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr98/fe0898/f1808987.html|publisher=Press Information Bureau|author= O.N Jaiswal}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cellular Jail Port Blair — Andaman and Nicobar Islands|url=http://2013ritemail2014.blogspot.in/2013/04/cellular-jail-port-blair-andaman-and.html|publisher=Ritemail|author=Gönderen Yılmazzz}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Survivors of our hell|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2001/jun/23/weekend.adrianlevy|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|author=Cathy Scott-Clark, Adrian Levy|date=23 June 2001}}</ref>

===Pre-production===
While the [[World War I|Pre-World War I]] [[port]]s were recreated on the Andaman Islands, several huge sets were built on a 1.5 acres space in Murugalaya Studio, [[Chennai]] to replicate the [[Cellular Jail]]. In Madras, the sets of Cellular Jail cost about Rs 12 lakh to build on 1.5 acres at the Murugalaya Studio. Apparently, director Priyadarshan was adamant and determined to be faithful to the details of the era. He says: "The Andamans had not seen a horse in 20 years. We had to carry four horses there at a cost of about Rs 3 lakh. When the filming was over, we presented them to the Andamans administration."<ref name="Radhakrishnan1995"/> Prior to the making of the film, [[Prabhu (actor)|Prabhu]] had broken his knee and during his recovery phase, put on considerable weight. In order to accommodate his physique into the script, Priyadarshan altered the character to make him eat constantly in the film.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.rediff.com/chat/0310chat.htm| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20000303233043/http://www.rediff.com/chat/0310chat.htm| archive-date = 2000-03-03| title = Rediff On The NeT: Transcript of the Prabhu Chat}} </ref>

===Filming===

The budget of the film, {{INRConvert|2.5|c|year=1996}}, was much larger than the average {{INR}}1 crore for a Malayalam film at the time.<ref name="Radhakrishnan1995"/> The shooting was completed in 72 days at [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]], several parts of [[Kerala]] and [[Chennai]]. Post production took more than four months to complete. Composer Ilaiyaraaja completed his symphonic score in 16 days; audiographer Deepan Chatterji completed the sound design and mix in 90 days. This is the first Malayalam film to record in [[Dolby]] soundtrack.<ref name="Vanitha interview">{{cite magazine|title=ഈ സിനിമയെ ഞങ്ങൾ സ്നേഹിക്കുന്നു|magazine=[[Vanitha]]|publisher=[[Malayala Manorama]]|date=1–14 September 2011|language=ml|first=Ranjith|last=Nair}}</ref>

The film is shot in the [[Malayalam]] language. However, numerous portions contain dialogues in [[Hindi]], English, [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]], and [[German language|German]].

==Soundtrack==
{{Infobox album
| name = Kaalapani
| type = Soundtrack
| artist = [[Ilaiyaraaja]]
| cover =
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|df=yes|1996|3|5}}
| recorded = 1996
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = [[Film soundtrack|Feature film soundtrack]]
| length = {{Duration|m=27|s=08}}
| label = Sagara
| producer = [[Ilaiyaraaja]]
| prev_title = [[Thedi Vandha Raasa]]
| prev_year = 1995
| next_title = [[Nammoora Mandara Hoove]]
| next_year = 1996
}}

The music was composed and conducted by [[Ilaiyaraaja]]. [[K. S. Chithra]] was the only female singer in all the versions, while male singers kept changing from version to version.

;Track list

{{tracklist
| headline = Malayalam (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
| extra_column = Artist(s)
| total_length =
| all_lyrics = [[Gireesh Puthenchery]], except where noted

| title1 = Aattirambile Kombile
| extra1 = [[M. G. Sreekumar]], [[K. S. Chithra]]
| length1 = 5:01

| title2 = Chempoove Poove
| extra2 = M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra
| length2 = 4:59

| title3 = Kottum Kuzhal Vizhi
| extra3 = M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra, Chorus
| length3 = 5:43

| title4 = Marikkoodinullil
| extra4 = K. S. Chithra, [[Ilaiyaraaja]]
| length4 = 5:07

| title5 = Vande Mataram
| extra5 = [[Mano (singer)|Mano]], [[Choir]]
| length5 = 6:06
| lyrics5 = [[Javed Akhtar]]
}}

{{tracklist
| headline = Tamil (dubbed version)
| extra_column = Artist(s)
| total_length =
| all_lyrics = [[Arivumathi]]
| title1 = Alolam Kili Thopilae
| extra1 = [[S. P. Balasubrahmanyam]], K. S. Chithra
| length1 = 5:01
| title2 = Suttum Sudar Vizhi
| extra2 = M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra, Chorus
| length2 = 5:43
| title3 = Sempoove Poove
| extra3 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra
| length3 = 4:59
| title4 = Maaman Kurai
| extra4 = K. S. Chithra, [[Gangai Amaran]]
| length4 = 5:07
| title5 = Ithu Thai Pirandha
| extra5 = Mano, Choir
| length5 = 6:06
| all_writing =
| title6 =
| length6 =
| title7 =
| length7 =
| title8 =
| length8 =
| title9 =
| length9 =
| title10 =
| length10 =
}}

{{tracklist
| headline = Hindi (dubbed version)
| extra_column = Artist(s)
| total_length =
| all_lyrics = P. K. Mishra, except where noted

| title1 = Zindagi Mein Tum Mile
| extra1 = [[Hariharan (singer)|Hariharan]], K. S. Chithra
| length1 = 5:01

| title2 = Bachpan Ke Saathi Mere
| extra2 = Hariharan, K. S. Chithra, Choir
| length2 = 5:43

| title3 = Sandhya Ki Laali
| extra3 = M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra
| length3 = 4:59

| title4 = Baaghon Ki Bahaarein
| extra4 = K. S. Chithra, M. G. Sreekumar
| length4 = 5:07

| title5 = Vande Mataram
| extra5 = Mano, Choir
| length5 = 6:06
| lyrics5 = Javed Akhtar
}}

{{tracklist
| headline = Telugu (dubbed version)
| extra_column = Artist(s)
| total_length =
| all_lyrics =

| title1 = Chaamanthi Poove
| extra1 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra
| length1 = 4:59

| title2 = Kannekommana
| extra2 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra
| length2 = 5:01

| title3 = Mojullona
| extra3 = K. S. Chithra
| length3 = 5:07

| title4 = Vande Mataram
| extra4 = Mano, Choir
| length4 = 6:06
| lyrics4 = Javed Akhtar

| title5 = Yakshakanne
| extra5 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra, Choir
| length5 = 5:43
}}

==Accolades==
;[[43rd National Film Awards|National Film Awards 1995]]
* [[National Film Award for Best Art Direction|Best Art Direction]] – [[Sabu Cyril]]
* [[National Film Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] – [[Santosh Sivan]]
* [[National Film Award for Best Audiography|Best Audiography]] – Deepan Chatterji
* [[National Film Award for Best Special Effects|Best Special Effects]] – S. T. Venky

;[[Kerala State Film Awards]]
* [[Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Film|Second Best Film]] – [[Mohanlal]] (producer), R.Mohan (co-producer)
* [[Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] – [[Mohanlal]]
* [[Kerala State Film Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] - Santosh Sivan
* [[Kerala State Film Award for Best Art Director|Best Art Director]] – [[Sabu Cyril]]
* [[Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director|Best Music Director]] – [[Ilaiyaraaja]]
* [[Kerala State Film Award for Best Processing Lab|Best Processing Lab]] – Gemini Colour Lab
* [[Kerala State Film Award for Best Costume Designer|Best Costume Designer]] – Sajin Raghavan

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0255289}}

{{National Film Award Best Special Effects|state=collapsed}}
{{Priyadarshan|state=collapsed }}
{{Mohanlal}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kala Pani (1996 Film)}}
[[Category:1996 films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:1990s Malayalam-language films]]
[[Category:Films set in the Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by T. Damodaran]]
[[Category:Films set in 1915]]
[[Category:Indian prison films]]
[[Category:Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography National Film Award]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja]]
[[Category:Pranavam Arts International films]]
[[Category:Films set in Kerala]]
[[Category:Films whose production designer won the Best Production Design National Film Award]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Audiography National Film Award]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Special Effects National Film Award]]
[[Category:Films set in the British Raj]]
[[Category:Memorials to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar]]

Kaalapani - Revision history

->Jupitus Smart at 17:20, 10 January 2022