''Kaalapaani'' () is a 1996 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

-language

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

film written by

T. Damodaran T. Damodaran (15 September 1935 – 28 March 2012) was a screenwriter who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. Life Damodaran wrote the screenplays of films such as ''Angadi (film), Angaadi'' (1980)'', Ahimsa (1981 film), Ahimsa'' (1981)' ...

and directed by

Priyadarshan Priyadarshan Soman Nair (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. He has worked primarily in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Hindi cinema, Hindi cinema since 1982, directing over 90 films in multiple Indian languages, ...

. Set in 1915, the film focuses on the lives of Indian

independence activists Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of a ...

incarcerated in the

Cellular Jail The Cellular Jail, also known as Kālā Pānī (), was a British colonial prison in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The prison was used by the colonial government of India for the purpose of exiling criminals and political prisoners. Many ...

(or ''Kālā Pānī'') in

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. The

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

includes

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

Prabhu ''Prabhu'' means ''master'' or ''prince'' in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God. Surname Prabhu is a surname among Gaud saraswat Brahmins, saraswat Brahmins and other Brahmins across the Ko ...

, Tabu,

Amrish Puri Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Cinema of India, Indian cinema and Theatre of India, theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himsel ...

Nedumudi Venu Kesavan Venugopal (22 May 1948 – 11 October 2021), better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian actor and screenwriter from Kerala, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films, primarily in M ...

Sreenivasan Sreenivasan (born 6 April 1956) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, dubbing artist and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan has starred in over 225 films. Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays of films such a ...

Tinnu Anand Tinu Anand (born Virender Raj Anand) is an Indian actor, director, writer and producer in Hindi cinema and a few Telugu and Tamil films. Personal life He is the son of veteran writer Inder Raj Anand, brother of producer Bittu Anand and unc ...

Annu Kapoor Annu Kapoor (born Anil Kapoor; 20 February 1956) is an Indian actor, singer, director, radio disc jockey, and television presenter who has appeared in over a hundred films, as well as television series. His career has spanned over 45 years as ...

, Alex Draper,

Sankaradi Paravoor memana Kanakku Chembakaraman Parameswaran Chandrashekara Menon, better known by his screen name Sankaradi (14 July 1924 – 8 October 2001), was an Indian actor. He was a veteran Malayalam comedian and character artist, who had over 70 ...

, and

Vineeth Vineeth Radhakrishnan (born 23 August 1969) is an Indian actor, Bharatanatyam dancer, voice artist and choreographer who primarily works in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films. He has also appeared in a few Hindi and Kannada films. He h ...

. The film was produced by Mohanlal for

Pranavam Arts Pranavam Arts International (formerly Pranavam Arts or Pranavams International) was an Indian film production and distribution company based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, founded in 1990 by Indian actor Mohanlal. Since then the company has pro ...

in association with R. Mohan's Shogun Films. The film is about the lives of prisoners in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

who are brought to Kālā Pānī. The name ''Kalapani'' is derived from the mode of imprisonment in British India.

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil cinema, Tamil in addition ...

composed the music, the cinematography was by

Santosh Sivan Santosh Sivan ISC (born 8 February 1964) is an Indian cinematographer, film director, producer and actor known for his works in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi cinema. Santosh graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India and has, to ...

, and the editing by N. Gopalakrishnan. The film introduced

Dolby Stereo Dolby Stereo is a sound format made by Dolby Laboratories. It is a unified brand for two completely different basic systems: the Dolby SVA (stereo variable-area) 1976 system used with optical sound tracks on 35mm film, and Dolby Stereo 70mm nois ...

into Malayalam cinema. It was made on a budget of 2.50 crore, making it the costliest Malayalam film made until then. ''Kaalapaani'' 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 Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both th ...

. Originally made in Malayalam, the film was dubbed and released in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

as ''Saaza-E-Kaalapani'',

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 ...

as ''Siraichalai'', and in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

as ''Kaala Pani''.

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

bought the Hindi dubbing rights, besides narrating the prologue for the Hindi version. The film won four

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

, including the awards for

Best Art Direction The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...

(

Sabu Cyril Sabu Cyril (born 27 January 1962) is an Indian film production designer who is considered to be one of the most celebrated art directors in the country. Having worked in 72 feature films and 500 ad films, he has won 4 National Film Award for B ...

), Best Special Effects (S. T. Venky), and

Best Cinematography The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best ...

(

). The film also won seven

Kerala State Film Awards The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Cha ...

Plot

In 1965, G. S. Sethu of the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

goes to

Ross Island Ross Island is an island in Antarctica lying on the east side of McMurdo Sound and extending from Cape Bird in the north to Cape Armitage in the south, and a similar distance from Cape Royds in the west to Cape Crozier in the east. The isl ...

, Kaalapaani to find the whereabouts of his aunt Parvathi's husband Govardhan Menon, who has been sent to jail in 1916 during the period of

British rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

. 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 Port Blair (), officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headqu ...

. There, hundreds of Indian prisoners are incarcerated in the cellular jail, including leading participants of the independence movement. David Berry is a sadistic jailor who is of Irish descent, while Len Hutton is a kindhearted English doctor. Savarkar is incarcerated and tries his best to keep the spirit of the prisoners going despite unbelievable torture. A meticulous plan to escape from jail is formed by 40 prisoners under the leadership of 3 people. However, Moosa aka Kanaran reports the matter to the British authorities. The court orders the 3 leaders to be hanged until death and the others to be punished in a minor fashion. However, as per the order of Mirza Khan, the other people are also shot to death. 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, Govardhan's friend. David and the jail warden Mirza Khan 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 intermittent flashbacks. Sethu, after knowing Govardhan has already been hanged to death 45 years ago, decides to not tell the truth to his aunt 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

as Dr. Govardhan Menon / Unni *

as Mukundan Iyengar, a revolutionary who wanted avenge British officer Barrington for killing locals. * Tabu as Parvathi / Parvathikutty, Dr.Govardhan's lover and later wife *

as Jailer Mirza Khan, an Afghan jailer who is a companion of David Barrie. *

as G. Sethu, Dr.Govardhan's nephew who is in the Indian Army * Alex Draper as Jailer David Barrie, a sadist and cruel jailer in Kalapani. *

John Kolvenbach John Kolvenbach is an American playwright. His plays have been performed on the West End (''Love Song,'' ''on an average day'') and all over the world, including productions in Rome, Sydney, Wellington, Seoul, Melbourne, Tel Aviv, Zurich, San Juan ...

as Dr. Len Hutton, a kind-hearted doctor. *

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966 ), was an Indian politician, activist and writer. Savarkar developed the Hindu nationalist political ideology of Hindutva while confined at Ratnagiri in 1922. The prefix "Veer" (mea ...

Leader of the prisoners who demanded better treatment and rights for the prisoners *

as Kunju Muhammad Musaliar, an influential Muslim prisoner who advocated for Hindu-Muslim unity *

as Sreekandan Nair, Govardhan's maternal uncle, who was a local chieftain and a loyalist to the British Rule *

Delhi Ganesh Ganesan Mahadevan (1 August 1944 – 9 November 2024), known by his stage name Delhi Ganesh, was an Indian actor who mostly acted in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He was well known for the versatility of roles he played during h ...

as Pandiyan, a prisoner who have done many nationalistic activities who attempted to escape from prison, later he were sentenced to death. *

as Moosa aka Kannaran, a prisoner and a spy of Mirza Khan who instigated communal riots in the prison *

Cochin Haneefa Cochin Haneefa (22 April 1951 – 2 February 2010) was an Indian actor, film director, and screenwriter. He started his career in the 1970s mainly portraying villainous roles, before going on to become one of the most popular comedians of Malay ...

as Ahmed Kutty, a kind hearted and patriot guard in the jail *

Maniyanpilla Raju Sudheer Kumar (born 20 April 1955), better known by his stage name Maniyanpilla Raju (Malayalam: മണിയൻപിള്ള രാജു), is an Indian actor and producer who works in Malayalam film industry.Tinnu Anand Tinu Anand (born Virender Raj Anand) is an Indian actor, director, writer and producer in Hindi cinema and a few Telugu and Tamil films. Personal life He is the son of veteran writer Inder Raj Anand, brother of producer Bittu Anand and unc ...

as Ram Lakhan, a Hindu prisoner who was tortured by force feeding non vegetarian food and human

faeces Feces (also known as faeces American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, or fæces; : faex) are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the ...

* Govind Menon as Parmanand, a prisoner * S.R. Veeraraghavan as Achyuthan, a prisoner *

Sreenath Sreenath Thoppil Inchora (26 August 1956 – 23 April 2010) was an Indian film and television actor. He has acted in many Malayalam films, including '' Shalini Ente Koottukari'', '' Ithu Njangalude Katha'', '' Sarvakalashala'', '' Oru CBI Diar ...

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 Thomas Beach Alter (22 June 1950 – 29 September 2017) was an Indian actor. He was best known for his works in Hindi cinema, and Indian theatre. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. Early life Born in Mussoorie ...

as British Chief Commissioner of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Province *

Kozhikode Narayanan Nair Kozhikode Narayanan Nair is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He has acted in more than 300 films. He was a stage actor before entering Malayalam film industry. His first film was '' Aabhijathyam'' (1970), and he is also remembered ...

as Naanu Nair, Parvathi's father and Sreekandan Nair's assistant *

Poojappura Ravi Raveendran Nair (28 October 1936 – 18 June 2023), known by his stage name Poojappura Ravi, was an Indian actor who primarily performed comedy roles in Malayalam films. Career Poojappura Ravi was a stage actor and was a part of the drama ...

as Nampoothiri, who wanted to marry Parvathi *

Antony Perumbavoor Malekudy Joseph Antony, better known as Antony Perumbavoor, is an Indian film producer, Film distributor, distributor, movie theatre, cinema exhibitor and actor, who works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. He began his career as a c ...

as Mukundan's friend and accomplice * Poornam Vishwanathan as Mukundan's father *

Kanya Bharathi Sri Kanya, Kanya Bharathi and mononymously known as Kanya, is an Indian actress known for her work in Malayalam and Tamil television soap operas. She made her debut with Ente Sooryaputhrikku and later went on to act in several Malayalam films. ...

as Mukundan's sister

Production

Development

Director Priyadarshan co-wrote the screenplay with screenwriter,

. 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.

Pre-production

While the Pre-World War I

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

s were recreated on the Andaman Islands, several huge sets were built on a 1.5 acres space in Murugalaya Studio,

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 ...

to replicate the

. 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 said, "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." Prior to the making of the film,

had injured his knee and during his recovery phase, put on considerable weight. To accommodate his physique into the script, Priyadarshan altered the character by depicting him as a constant eater.

Filming

The budget of the film, , was much larger than the average 1 crore for a Malayalam film at the time. The shooting was completed in 72 days at

, several parts of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

and

. 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 recorded in

. The film is shot in the

language. However, numerous portions contain dialogues in

, English,

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Soundtrack

The music was composed and conducted by

K. S. Chithra Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963) is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning around five decades, she has recorded over 25,000 Songs in various Indian languages languages such as Tamil, Kann ...

was the only female singer in all the versions, while male singers kept changing from version to version. ;Track list

Reception

On 31 May 1996, P. S. Joseph from ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

'' wrote, "This ambitious venture by a director known for his comedies in Malayalam, and some competent films in Bollywood like - '' Muskurahat'' (1992) ''and

Gardish ''Gardish'' () is a 1993 Indian Hindi-language action crime film written and directed by Priyadarshan, starring Jackie Shroff, Shammi Kapoor, Aishwarya, Dimple Kapadia and Amrish Puri. It is a remake of the 1989 Malayalam film '' Kireedam''. T ...

'' (1993)'','' does not carry the impact it ought to. Despite its flashes of brilliance and exceptional photography, and a Rs 3.10 crore budget - the largest ever for a Malayalam film - ''Kaalapaani'' does not linger in the memory after you leave the cinema hall." However, he praised Sabu Cyril's art direction calling it "exceptional" and Amrish Puri's performance writing, "The redeeming feature is Amrish Puri - the inimitable actor with a menacing voice and remarkable screen presence. He walks tall in the prison, epitomising the brutality and viciousness of the British Raj." ''

Kalki Kalki (), also called Kalkin, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu. According to Vaishnavism, Vaishnava cosmology, Kalki is destined to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga, the last of the four ages i ...

'' magazine reviewing Tamil dubbed version ''Siraichalai'' praised the performance of Mohanlal but felt Prabhu was wasted while also criticising modern wardrobe choices for a periodic subject and concluded a film that should have reached international standards like ''Schinder's List'', in the course of the story, nationalism is beaten, Prabhu-Mohanlal friendship, division and tragedy hence revenge thus becoming ordinary fare. D. S. Ramanujam 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 ...

'' reviewing Tamil version wrote "To make a film on pre-Independence days, particularly about the dark deeds of the British and their lackeys manning the notorious Andaman prison is a formidable task. It calls for meticulous planning to capture the mood of that period right from the costume, arms and ammunition, locations and other details. Director Priyadarshan can be really proud of the outcome in Kalaipuli International's ''Chiraichalai'' which is a rare movie exceptionally good in all departments of film production".

Accolades

; National Film Awards 1995 *

–

* Best Audiography – Deepan Chatterji * Best Special Effects – S. T. Venky ;

* Second Best Film –

(producer), R.Mohan (co-producer) * Best Actor –

- Santosh Sivan * Best Art Director –

* Best Music Director –

* Best Processing Lab – Gemini Colour Lab * Best Costume Designer – Sajin Raghavan

References

External links

* {{Mohanlal 1990s historical drama films 1990s Indian films 1990s Malayalam-language films 1990s prison films 1996 films Films directed by Priyadarshan Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films set in 1916 Films set in 1965 Films shot in Ottapalam Films shot in Palakkad Films shot in Thrissur Films set in Kerala Films set in prison Films set in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Films set in the British Raj Films set in the Indian independence movement Films that won the Best Audiography National Film Award Films that won the Best Special Effects National Film Award Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography National Film Award Films whose production designer won the Best Production Design National Film Award Films with screenplays by T. Damodaran Indian epic films Indian historical drama films Indian prison films Memorials to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Pranavam Arts International films