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Kaalapani

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Kaalapani
DVD cover
Directed byPriyadarshan
Screenplay byT. Damodaran
Priyadarshan
Story byPriyadarshan
Produced byMohanlal
R. Mohan (co-producer)
StarringMohanlal
Prabhu Ganesan
Tabu
Amrish Puri
John Kolvenbach
Nedumudi Venu
Sreenivasan
Alex Wolff (Alex Draper)
CinematographySantosh Sivan
Edited byN. Gopalakrishnan
Music byIlaiyaraaja
Production
companies
Pranavam Arts
Shogun Films Ltd. (in association with)
Distributed byShogun Films Ltd
Amitabh Bachchan Corporation(Hindi dubbed version)
Release date
  • 12 April 1996 (1996-04-12)
Running time
178 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam
Budget₹2.5 crore (US$300,000)[1]

Kaalapani (English: Black Water) is a 1996 Indian epic film set in 1915 focusing the lives of Indian freedom fighters kept in prison during the British Raj. The film is co-wriiten and directed by Priyadarshan, starring Mohanlal, Prabhu Ganesan, Tabu, Amrish Puri, Nedumudi Venu, Sreenivasan, Tinnu Anand, Annu Kapoor, Alex Wolff (Alex Draper) and Vineeth. Kaalapani is regarded as one of the evergreen classics of Malayalam cinema.[2] Although it is originally a Malayalam film, it was dubbed into Hindi (Saza-E-Kala Pani), Tamil (Siraichalai) and Telugu (Kaala Pani). Amitabh Bachchan had bought the Hindi dubbing rights,[3] besides narrating the prologue for the Hindi dubbed 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.[1]

The film won three National Film Awards including the awards for Best Art Direction (Sabu Cyril), Best Special Effects (S. T. Venky) and Best Cinematography (Santosh Sivan). Along with that it won six Kerala State Film Awards. It was released in 450 theaters worldwide, which was the largest release for any Indian film until then.[4]

Synopsis

In 1965, G.S. Sethu (Vineeth) of the Indian Army goes to Ross Island, Kaalapani to find the whereabouts of his aunt Parvathi's (Tabu) husband, Govardhan Menon (Mohanlal) who has been sent to jail in the year 1915 during the British Raj. 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 as well as an Indian nationalist, is wrongly accused of bombing a train carrying 55 people including British officials. On his marriage day with Parvathi, he is deported to a cellular jail at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Kaalapani shows the sufferings of hundreds of Indian prisoners in the cellular jail, including leading participants of the freedom movement. The extremely inhumane conditions faced by the prisoners in the jail are accurately depicted.

David Berry Alex Wolff is a sadistic jailor who is of Irish descent, while Len Hutton (John Kolvenbach) is a kindhearted English doctor.

Veer Savarkar (Annu Kapoor) is incarcerated and tries his best to keep the spirit of the prisoners going despite unbelievable torture. Parvathi is Govardhan's lover who keeps waiting for him to come back. Due to the efforts of Len, 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). David Berry and the jail warden, Mirza Khan (Amrish Puri), hatch a plan and shoot down 13 prisoners while they are escaping. Mukundan refuses to escape. He is forcibly taken on the pretext of meeting the Chief Commissioner and is shot and killed. Seeing the dead body of his friend, Govardhan is angered to the greatest extent and throws down David Berry from one of the towers and then kills Mirza Khan by strangling him. Govardhan is hanged to death.

Cast

Languages

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

Crew

The actors include Mohanlal, Prabhu, Tabu, John Kolvenbach, Vineeth, Amrish Puri, Sreenivasan, Annu Kapoor, Alex Draper and Nedumudi Venu. The film is directed by Priyadarsan, with music by Ilayaraaja and cinematography by Santosh Sivan. The songs have been rendered by Malayalam playback singersK.S. Chitra and M. G. Sreekumar. It marked the Malayalam debut of Prabhu Ganesan, Amrish Puri and Tabu.

Development

Director Priyadarshan co-wrote the screenplay with screenwriter T. Damodaran.

Story basis

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.[5][6][7]

Pre-Production

While the Pre-World War I ports 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."[1] Prior to the making of the film, 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.[8]

Production

Despite having the grandeur of Hollywood and French classics, director Priyadarshan efficiently managed to complete the film at an unbelievably small budget of ₹2.5 crore (equivalent to ₹14 crore or US$1.6 million in 2023) crores. The shooting was completed in 72 days at Andaman and Nicobar Islands, several parts of Kerala and Madras. 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.[9]

Soundtrack

Untitled

The music was composed and conducted by Ilaiyaraaja.[10]

Track list

Malayalam (original version)

All lyrics are written by Gireesh Puthenchery, except where noted.

No.TitleArtist(s)Length
1."Aattirambile Kombile"M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra5:01
2."Chempoove Poove"M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra4:59
3."Kottum Kuzhal Vizhi"M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra, Chorus5:43
4."Marikkoodinullil"K. S. Chithra, Ilaiyaraaja5:07
5."Vande Mataram" (Lyrics by Javed Akhtar)Chorus6:06

Tamil (dubbed version)

All lyrics are written by Arivumathi

No.TitleArtist(s)Length
1."Alolam Kili Thopilae"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra5:01
2."Suttum Sudar Vizhi"M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra, Chorus5:43
3."Sempoove Poove"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra4:59
4."Maaman Kurai"K. S. Chithra, Gangai Amaran5:07
5."Ithu Thai Pirandha"Mano, Chorus6:06

Hindi (dubbed version)

All lyrics are written by P. K. Mishra, except where noted

No.TitleArtist(s)Length
1."Zindagi Mein Tum Mile"Hariharan, K. S. Chithra5:01
2."Bachpan Ke Saathi Mere"Hariharan, K. S. Chithra, Chorus5:43
3."Sandhya Ki Laali"M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra4:59
4."Baaghon Ki Bahaarein"K. S. Chithra, M. G. Sreekumar5:07
5."Vande Mataram" (Lyrics by Javed Akhtar)Chorus6:06

Telugu (dubbed version)

No.TitleArtist(s)Length
1."Chaamanthi Poove"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra4:59
2."Kannekommana"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra5:01
3."Mojullona"K. S. Chithra5:07
4."Vande Mataram" (Lyrics by Javed Akhtar)Chorus6:06
5."Yakshakanne"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra, Chorus5:43

Awards

Kerala State Film Awards

Box office

The film was failure at box office.[11][12][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c M. G. Radhakrishnan (15 June 1995). "An epic gamble". Indiascope. India Today. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  2. ^ Roktim Rajpal (14 August 2015). "Mohanlal's 'Kaalapani' to Mammootty's 'Pazhassi Raja': Southern films that reminisce about the battle for free India". New Delhi. IBN Live. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  3. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fm3Lvoz7pU
  4. ^ http://www.filmaxreader.in/post/42.xhtml
  5. ^ O.N Jaiswal. "CELLULAR JAIL :WITNESS TO GORY SUFFERINGS OF FREEDOM FIGHTERS". Press Information Bureau.
  6. ^ Gönderen Yılmazzz. "Cellular Jail Port Blair — Andaman and Nicobar Islands". Ritemail.
  7. ^ Cathy Scott-Clark, Adrian Levy (23 June 2001). "Survivors of our hell". The Guardian.
  8. ^ http://www.rediff.com/chat/0310chat.htm
  9. ^ Ranjith Nair (1–14 September 2011). "ഈ സിനിമയെ ഞങ്ങൾ സ്നേഹിക്കുന്നു" (in Malayalam). Vanitha. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ^ "Kaalapaani Songs - Raaga"
  11. ^ "Malayalam directors and their flop films". Times of India. 18 May 2016.
  12. ^ "Shocking ! Great Mollywood films that flopped at the box - office". Times of India. 8 June 2016.
  13. ^ "ഈ സിനിമകള്‍ ബോക്‌സോഫീസില്‍ പരാജയം ആയിരുന്നു എന്ന് പറഞ്ഞാല്‍ വിശ്വസിയ്ക്കുമോ?". Filmibeat. 9 June 2016.
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