Kaaki Sattai (transl. Khaki Shirt) is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film directed by R. S. Durai Senthilkumar and produced by Dhanush under Wunderbar Films. The film stars Sivakarthikeyan and Sri Divya, with Prabhu and Vijay Raaz in supporting roles. It revolves around a police constable who wants to prove himself as a true, powerful cop by finding ways to solve issues of corruption in the law-and-order system in the department of police.
| Kaaki Sattai | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | R. S. Durai Senthilkumar |
| Screenplay by | Pattukkottai Prabakar R. S. Durai Senthilkumar |
| Story by | R. S. Durai Senthilkumar |
| Produced by | Dhanush |
| Starring | Sivakarthikeyan Sri Divya |
| Cinematography | M. Sukumar |
| Edited by | Vivek Harshan |
| Music by | Anirudh Ravichander |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Escape Artists Motion Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 156 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Principal photography commenced in March 2014 and wrapped that September. The music was composed by Anirudh Ravichander, cinematography was handled by M. Sukumar, and editing by Vivek Harshan. The film was released on 27 February 2015 and became a box office success.
Plot
editMathimaran is a police constable who only reports to work and goes home daily without contributing anything useful to society as his boss, Inspector Sathyamurthy, does not want to get on the wrong side of the upper levels of the police, who are corrupt and politically influenced and is also unwilling to rock the present system due to past experience. Mathimaran and his fellow policemen never get any cases as a result, much to his irritation.
Mathimaran falls in love with Divya, who works as a nurse in a hospital, but hides his occupation from her as her family hates police officers. With her help, he finds out about an illegal organ donation racket orchestrated by a politician named Durai Arasan and Dr. Devasagayam, who is the chairman of the hospital where Divya works. They capture sick and injured migrant workers from North India, make them brain dead by administering them carbon monoxide instead of oxygen, and then harvest their organs, which they sell abroad for huge amounts of money. The organ donation scam gives Mathimaran his first real case, and he takes it on with enthusiasm after Sathyamurthy and Durai's estranged father Singaperumal, who had threatened to expose his son's misdeeds, are killed in a bomb blast orchestrated by Durai.
Mathimaran first confronts Devasagayam, who commits suicide, but not before admitting his role in the scam and giving detailed information about it. He then decides to confront Durai and get him arrested, but the problem is that there is not enough evidence against Durai except Devasagayam's word, and Devasagayam is dead. He tries to get more information about Durai's role in the scam incognito. Unfortunately, Durai soon finds out that Mathimaran is after him, and a cat-and-mouse game begins between the two. In the process, Mathimaran is suspended from duty, as the police commissioner is close to Durai. Undaunted, he manages to expose the scam and Durai's involvement in it to the media, but Durai wriggles out of arrest.
Mathimaran decides to finish off Durai to end the scam once and for all. He creates a ruckus during a felicitation function for Durai. In the chaos that ensues, he shoots Durai in the leg and gives him the same treatment which had been meted out to the North Indian workers: administering him carbon monoxide and then harvesting his organs after he is declared brain dead. Durai's death is covered up as a terrorist attack. Mathimaran is eventually promoted to Inspector in reward for his efforts in thwarting the organ donation scam. He also gets accepted by Divya's family, despite being a police officer, and marries Divya.
Cast
edit- Sivakarthikeyan as Mathimaran Rathnavel, a constable later Inspector
- Prabhu as Sathyamurthy, R5 station inspector
- Sri Divya as Divya, a nurse working at the Devasagayam hospital and Mathimaran's love interest
- Vijay Raaz as Durai Arasan, a corrupt politician and organ trader
- Kalpana as Meenakshi, Mathimaran's mother
- Yog Japee as Dr. Devasagayam, the owner of Devasagayam hospital. Helping Durai in human trade
- Manobala as Jyothi Lingam, MLA and Durai's henchman
- Mayilsamy as Sankara Narayanan alias Cyber Sanki / Sankiji Swamy
- Imman Annachi as Samarasam, R5 station head-constable
- E. Ramdoss as Subramanian, R5 station sub-inspector
- Nagineedu as Singaperumal, founder of man power agency and Durai Arasan's father
- Sujatha Sivakumar as Divya's mother
- Rail Ravi as Divya's father
- Yuvina Parthavi as Swetha, Divya's niece
- Vidyullekha Raman as Divya's friend
- Jeeva Ravi as Commissioner
- Suchithra Shivaraman as Mathimaran's sister
- Jangiri Madhumitha as a call girl
- Yogi Babu as Hobo
- Besant Ravi as Ravi
- Sampath Ram as Sampath, worker in man power agency but worked for Durai
- Singapore Deepan as Cyber Sanki teammate
- Raveendran
- Suryakanth
- Ravi Venkatraman
- Manohar
- Diwakar
- Douglas Moorthy
- Dhivya Raaven
Production
editAfter the success of Ethir Neechal (2013), it was announced that the same team including producer Dhanush, director R. S. Durai Senthilkumar and actor Sivakarthikeyan would collaborate for another venture.[2][3] The film was initially titled Taana, but was changed to Kaaki Sattai, after a 1985 film. The producers of the 1985 film were approached to obtain the rights for the title.[4] Senthilkumar revealed that he had written the script keeping Dhanush in mind while working as an assistant director for Aadukalam (2011). He narrated the script to Dhanush but failed to materialise; after Sivakarthikeyan was cast, he tweaked the script to suit Sivakarthikeyan's comic timing.[5] Sri Divya, who last paired with Sivakarthikeyan in Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam (2013), was again selected as the lead actress. She interacted with nurses to prepare for her role of a nurse.[6] Vinu Damodar, a Koothu-P-Pattarai actor, was selected to play a small but significant role, making his film debut.[7] Manobala was selected to play a supporting role, in his first collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan.[8]
Principal photography began on 6 March 2014 at Pammal.[9] By May 2014, the film completed 12 days shooting in an apartment in and around Chennai.[10] By June 2014, significant portions had been completed, and some sequences were shot at Binny Mills.[11] By July 2014, 60% of the film was completed.[12] When asked about whether the movie would undergo a name change, he clarified that the production unit was thinking of various possibilities and that if a suitable title did not come up, Taana would be the title used.[12] In September 2014, filming took place in Norway.[13] Filming wrapped later the same month.[14]
Music
editAnirudh Ravichander composed the soundtrack.[15] The song "I'm So Cool" is Sivakarthikeyan's third attempt at singing, after the title track of Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam (2013) and "Royapuram Peter" from Maan Karate (2014).[16] The audio rights are held by Wunderbar Studios, while Divo is the digital partner.[17] Before the album was launched on 12 December 2014 at the Radio Mirchi FM station,[18][19] the official tracklist was unveiled a few days earlier.[20][21] Post the album's release, on 23 January 2015, an instrumental track titled "The Mathimaran Instinct" was released through Anirudh's YouTube channel.[22] Reviewing the album, Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog stated "Anirudh's music is now getting into a signature style – that’s not entirely comforting".[23]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kaaki Sattai" (Title Track) | Na. Muthukumar | Vishal Dadlani | 3:43 |
| 2. | "Kadhal Kan Kattudhe" | Yugabharathi | Anirudh Ravichander, Shakthisree Gopalan | 4:16 |
| 3. | "The Trooper" (Theme) | — | Instrumental | 0:55 |
| 4. | "I'm So Cool" | Arunraja Kamaraj | Anirudh Ravichander, Sivakarthikeyan | 3:49 |
| 5. | "Kaaki Sattai" (Theme) | — | — | 0:47 |
| 6. | "Kattikida" | Anthony Daasan | Anthony Daasan, M. M. Manasi, Durga, Anitha Karthikeyan | 4:27 |
| 7. | "Shake That" | Arunraja Kamaraj, Brodha V | Anirudh Ravichander, Brodha V | 3:03 |
| 8. | "The Mathimaran Instinct" (Theme) | — | — | 1:24 |
| Total length: | 23:25 | |||
Release
editKaaki Sattai was release on 27 February 2015 in over 750 screens in India.[24] It was distributed by Escape Artists Motion Pictures.[25]
Reception
editBox office
editThis section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2024) |
In its first four days, the film grossed ₹15.58 crore (US$1.8 million) in Tamil Nadu, the "biggest opening" for a Sivakarthikeyan film to that point.[26]
Critical reception
editSify wrote, "On the whole, Kakki Sattai is a crowd-pleaser that knows exactly who its audience is".[27] Anupama Subramanian of Deccan Chronicle rated it 2.5/5 and wrote that director "Durai Senthilkumar and actor Sivakarthikeyan have done an estimable job in making the film at least worth experiencing".[28] Baradwaj Rangan wrote for The Hindu, "As overlong, utterly generic, badly written, indifferently made action-comedy star vehicles propelled by Anirudh's growling guitar riffs go, Kaaki Sattai is as disposable as they come".[29] M Suganth of The Times of India wrote, "It is a serious subject but given that Sivakarthikeyan is the hero here, the treatment is lighter in Kaaki Sattai. And that is the problem with the film. The film keeps alternating between the serious and the light tones".[30] Gautaman Bhaskaran of Hindustan Times rated the film 1 out of 5 and wrote, "Kakki Sattai seems like a work where money has been spent in a mindless pursuit" and felt Sivakarthikeyan was miscast.[31]
References
edit- ^ "Kaaki Sattai". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 30 December 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ Gupta, Rinku (16 May 2013). "Sivakarthikeyan finally gets to work with Lingusamy". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
- ^ "Southern heroes who have donned the producer's hat". Business Standard. Indo-Asian News Service. 25 May 2014. Archived from the original on 1 September 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- ^ "Kamal Haasan gives it to Sivakarthikeyan". The Times of India. 30 October 2014. Archived from the original on 30 December 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ Menon, Vishal (21 February 2015). "Cop with comic timing". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ "Sri Divya plays a nurse in Taanaa". The Times of India. 9 October 2014. Archived from the original on 30 December 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ "Taana team gets a new face". The Times of India. 12 June 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ "Manobala's politics with Sivakarthikeyan". Chennaivision. 12 August 2014. Archived from the original on 18 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ "Sivakarthikeyan`s `Taana` starts rolling". Sify. 6 March 2014. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
- ^ Ganesan, Rajeshwari (6 May 2014). "Taana Likely to Release in September". Silverscreen India. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ "Sivakarthikeyan's 'Taana' is getting ready!". Sify. 24 July 2014. Archived from the original on 25 July 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
- ^ a b "We will stick with Taana". Behindwoods. 22 July 2014. Archived from the original on 5 December 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ "Sivakarthikeyan hugs girls in Norway". The Times of India. 6 September 2014. Archived from the original on 30 December 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ Ramesh, Deepika (3 September 2014). "All is well with Sivakarthikeyan". Silverscreen India. Archived from the original on 23 April 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ "Kaaki Sattai (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Apple Music. 12 December 2014. Archived from the original on 31 December 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
- ^ "Sivakarthikeyan's stylish look in 'I'm so cool'". The Times of India. 9 December 2014. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
- ^ "Tamil film 'Kaaki Sattai' audio tops iTunes India charts; musician Anirudh Ravichander works magic with his seventh album". News18. 20 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2 December 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
- ^ "'Kakki Sattai' audio on Rajini b'day, release for X'mas?". Sify. 5 December 2014. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
- ^ Kaaki Sattai Audio Launch (in Tamil). Mirchi Tamil. 15 December 2014. Archived from the original on 31 December 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "'Kakki Sattai' tracklist announced!". Sify. 9 December 2014. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
- ^ "The tracklist of Kaaki Sattai". The Times of India. 8 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2 December 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
- ^ Anirudh Ravichander [@anirudhofficial] (23 January 2015). "#KaakiSattaiBGM – The Mathimaran Instinct Theme will be uploaded on YouTube this evening:) @Siva_Kartikeyan @durairsk" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 31 December 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Karthik (16 December 2014). "Kakki Sattai (Music review), Tamil – Anirudh". Milliblog. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
- ^ "Kaaki Sattai releases today in 750 theaters worldwide". KollyInsider. 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ "Escape Artists buys 'VIP' & 'Taana' theatrical rights!". Sify. 10 June 2014. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
- ^ "Sivakarthikeyan's Tamil film 'Kaaki Sattai' strikes gold at box office". The Indian Express. Indo-Asian News Service. 3 March 2015. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ "Kakki Sattai-Time pass entertainer". Sify. Archived from the original on 1 March 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ Subramanian, Anupama (28 February 2015). "Movie review 'Kaaki Sattai': One is certain to be dazzled and amused". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (27 February 2015). "Kaaki Sattai: Heavyweight film for lightweight hero". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ^ Suganth, M (27 February 2015). "Kaaki Sattai Movie Review". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 March 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ Bhaskaran, Gautaman (28 February 2015). "Kakki Sattai review: A silly romp around exotica and evil". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 30 December 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
