''Rebel'' is a 2024 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

-language

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

action drama film directed by debutante Nikesh RS and produced by K. E. Gnanavel Raja, under

Studio Green Studio Green is an Indian film production and distribution company based in Chennai. The company was founded in 2006 by K. E. Gnanavel Raja, relative of actor Sivakumar and many of their films feature his sons Suriya and Karthi. They have pr ...

. It stars G. V. Prakash Kumar in the lead role, alongside Mamitha Baiju (in her

debut), Venkitesh VP, Shalu Rahim,

Karunas Karunas (born as Karunanidhi Sethu; February 21, 1970) is an Indian actor, comedian, composer, playback singer and politician in the Tamil film industry. Appearing mostly in supporting roles, he has also played main lead roles in films includ ...

Kalloori Vinoth Kalloori Vinoth is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films. Career After making his debut in '' Kalloori'' (2007) and appearing in small roles in several films, he made his breakthrough as an actor with a supporting role in B ...

and Adithya Baskar. It is based on true events about a rebel student in

Munnar Munnar () is a town located in the Idukki district of the southwestern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats mountain range. This ancient plantat ...

in the 1980s. The film follows Kathiresan, a college student from Munnar, who moves to

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

to get a better education. However, he gets into a conflict after a college fight was erupted even more when local politicians and police become involved. Studio Green and Thirukumar Entertainment officially announced the project in December 2021 under its official title; however, the latter company soon after opted out from the venture.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

commenced the same month. It was predominantly shot in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, and wrapped by early-May 2023.The background score and additional background score was composed by OfRo and Siddhu Kumar. The film has music composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, cinematography handled by Arun Radhakrishnan and editing by Vetre Krishnan. ''Rebel'' was released on 22 March 2024 in theatres. The film received negative reviews from critics and audiences and became a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...

Plot

Kathiresan, a young man born in

, moves to

for college education. After joining Government College Chittur, he meets Sara Mary John, and falls in love with her. However, a fight between Tamizhans and the locals erupts soon after. A so-called small college fight gets out out of hand when politicians and the police get involved.

Cast

Production

Development

On 2 December 2021, K. E. Gnanavel Raja's

officially announced that they would collaborate with C. V. Kumar's Thirukumaran Entertainment for their 25th production venture. Directed by debutante Nikesh RS, the film was titled as ''Rebel''. While G. V. Prakash Kumar would play the lead actor and also score the music, a muhurat puja was held the same day at a film studio in

. The cinematography and editing would be handled by Arun Radhakrishnan and Vetre Krishnan, respectively. The following day, Nikesh stated that the film is based on true events that he had heard about a rebel student in

, happening during the 1980s, and had written the script with Prakash in mind.

Filming

began on 3 December 2021 with the first schedule in

. It was predominantly shot there, and wrapped on 3 October 2023.

Music

The songs were composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, OfRo, Siddhu Kumar, and Manikandan Murali, while the background score and additional background score composed by OfRo and Siddhu Kumar. The audio rights were acquired by

Saregama Saregama India Ltd is an Indian music record label and content company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is the oldest music label in India, established in 1901 as the Indian branch of the British Gramophone Company. It later became ...

. The first single "Rise of Rebel" was released on 17 February 2024.

Release

''Rebel'' was released on 22 March 2024 in theatres worldwide through Sakthi Film Factory.

Home media

The post-theatrical streaming rights of the film were acquired by

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

Reception

Critical response

Roopa Radhakrishnan of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' gave 2.5/5 and stated that "The characterization of the professor is truly sublime, probably the best in this film". Gopinath Rajendran of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' said,"Without that sense of connection, Rebel feels like an excuse to come up with a slew of disturbing scenes so they can tug at your heartstrings, making this film a rebel without a cause". Manigandan KR of ''

Times Now Times Now is an English-language news channel in India owned and operated by The Times Group. The channel launched on 23 January 2006 in partnership with Reuters. It is a pay television throughout India. Until 2016, it was India's most popula ...

'' gave 3.5/5 stars and stated that "Overall though, Rebel is worth watching for the hard-hitting story it looks to tell of a downtrodden group's determined fight to claim its respect". Narayani M of ''

Cinema Express ''Cinema Express'' was an Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language entertainment fortnightly magazine published from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was a part of The New Indian Express, The New Indian Express Group, which also publishes ''Samakalika Mal ...

'' gave 2.5/5 stars and stated that "Sometimes you wonder if this rebel is a supporter of a cause or just another hero". Sowmya Rajendran of ''

The News Minute ''The News Minute'' is an Indian digital news platform based in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was founded by Vignesh Vellore who is also the current CEO in 2014. Apart from Karnataka, it also has bureaus in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, ...

'' said,"You can give such a film a long rope, but what to do if it is determined to take that rope and tie itself up into hopeless knots? There is no rebellion in imitation, and hopefully, Nikesh will do better in his next". Harshini S V of ''

Film Companion Anupama Vinod Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist and film critic who served as the festival director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival from 2015 to 2023. She is also the founder and editor of the now-defunct digital platform Film Compani ...

'' said, "These shots pull you out of the film's world and wonder:in a film as serious and important as this, shouldn't hero worship be the least of its concerns?"

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 29383098 2020s Indian films 2020s political action films 2020s political drama films 2020s Tamil-language films 2024 directorial debut films 2024 films Action drama films based on actual events Films set in the 1980s Indian action drama films Indian films based on actual events Indian political action films Indian political drama films Indian propaganda films Tamil-language Indian films