<p>The police, led by Inspector Bejoy, intercept a van transporting 900 kilograms of valued at over ₹800 crores. The narcotics and those involved are held up at the commissioner’s office. The bust threatens the operations of Adaikalam, a notorious based in , whose identity remains unknown to the authorities. In retribution, his brother Anbu plots to retrieve the seized drugs and eliminate the officers responsible. During a retirement party for the Inspector General, the city’s senior police officers are drugged with spiked alcohol, rendering them unconscious. Bejoy, who abstains due to medication, remains unaffected. To prevent public panic, he attempts to move the officers covertly to a hospital. He enlists the help of Dilli, a recently released prisoner detained for suspicious behaviour, by leveraging his desire to reunite with his daughter, Amudha, who is waiting at an orphanage. They are aided by Kamatchi, a caterer at the party, and use his truck to transport the incapacitated officers. Meanwhile, Anbu places a bounty on the police, prompting gang members to pursue the group. At the commissioner’s office, Constable Napoleon and a group of college students detained for drunk driving are instructed by Bejoy to secure the premises and prevent Anbu’s men from accessing the building or freeing the detainees. Dilli defends the group against multiple gang attacks. Bejoy later learns that Adaikalam himself is among the captured smugglers. Although a deal is momentarily negotiated between Napoleon and Anbu for a prisoner exchange, Bejoy cancels it upon this discovery. Anbu infiltrates the commissioner’s office but is subdued by the students. As Dilli, Kamatchi, and Bejoy near the office with the unconscious officers, they are ambushed by Anbu’s heavily armed gang, led by his lieutenant, Tips. Paalpandi, a corrupt officer pretending to have recovered, stabs Dilli, and Bejoy is overpowered. Ajaz Ahmed, Bejoy’s informant, is killed by Tips. Dilli recovers and defeats the attackers, rescuing Bejoy and Kamatchi. Back at the commissioner’s office, Anbu orders the execution of one of the students, prompting Napoleon to subdue him with a fire extinguisher. Adaikalam, witnessing this, vows revenge. Dilli enters the building through a hidden passage and helps the students elude. Subsequently, he and Napoleon set out to destroy the narcotics. They find a confiscated and use it to eliminate Anbu’s forces. The unconscious officers are revived by a doctor, and Stephen Raj, the , is arrested for his involvement. Bejoy thanks Dilli and promises him a better life. Dilli is reunited with Amudha, brought by his probation officer, Nalini. In the final scene, as Dilli, Amudha, and Kamatchi walk away toward a new life, Adaikalam, from his prison cell, implies that he knows Dilli personally. After the success of (2017), director had rejected several offers from various production houses as he did not want to “succumb to the pressure of staying relevant in the industry by signing back-to-back projects”. Nonetheless, since he was already assigned to direct a project for the producers of , S. R. Prakash Babu and under the company , he began research to develop a script, but the project failed to materialise as he needed more time for research works. Lokesh began developing another script, but this was also dropped. He came upon a news article about an ex-prisoner that instantly caught its attention and decided to work on the script. He examined his previous film, as the story is set in a span of 48 hours, and developed the script, which takes place on a single night, with the characters, story and setting revolving in the short time-span, but in a different genre – action. Eventually, he worked on the final draft that consisted of 45 pages and sent it to Prabhu’s office, which Lokesh felt that “given the size of the script, he was perplexed when I handed it over to him”. The film did not have a female lead or songs in the film, which is considered to be something new for as Lokesh himself insisted that it “wasn’t such a barrier to not have a heroine or a song in a commercial film”. , an established film production company in 1980s, also co-produced and distributed this project with Tiruppur Vivek as the producer, thereby marking its return to film production after two decades. “In the beginning, when I was writing for , the script had that wacky element you’d associate with him. But when sir came onboard, I wanted to change the character arc to include some of the things we were familiar with, even though he was fine with the original characterisation. So I took another 20 days, rewrote his character without removing anything that excited him during the narration. He liked the new arc and how he behaves. We didn’t change any major scenes or plot lines for it, though.” Lokesh stated that the script was initially written with in mind, but as the process of writing went forth, the stature of the lead character went bigger, and demanded a popular actor to play the lead role, thereby increasing the scale of the film. Prabhu later narrated the one-liner of the story to , during the shooting of his film , which he had interested. After Lokesh’s narration of the script, he immediately agreed to work on the film. In an interview with Srivatsan S of , he stated that since the film “doesn’t have songs or a heroine, people assumed it would be under two hours. See, that’s how they are conditioned. The entire movie takes place in a single night but it needed to be told in that stipulated duration”. Lokesh wanted to expand the film after Karthi’s inclusion, and as a result, writer Pon Parthiban was hired to pen down the additional screenplay and dialogues for the film, as per Karthi’s insistence, as he appreciated his work in (2018). The film was launched on 12 December 2018, with the announcement of the technical crew – as the composer, as the cinematographer, as the editor, who previously worked in Lokesh’s , and the action choreographer duo – being included in the film. In March 2019, the first look of the film was released, with the film’s title also being revealed as ( ). “Lokesh sir called me for the audition and asked me to perform a scene from the film, which didn’t make the final cut. Once I finished, he said I’d be playing Anbu and that I would have to lead a gang of 100 members. I got [intimidated] on hearing this. I had zero confidence when I stepped into the project, but the team was encouraging and the faith Lokesh had on me made me give my b-” Karthi plays the role of Dilli, an ex-convict, whose character was “physically and emotionally demanding”. He stated that “It might be something I’ve not done before, something I can convert into a challenge for myself, or a film I’d like to watch as an audience […] And, during that climax scene, we were all in that zone where we were pitch-perfect, where we were giving our very b- We actually felt like a family. As an actor, that’s such a wonderful space to be in. It’s almost addictive.” Lokesh stated that the film did not have backstories for the characters, but there is a connection established between them and the audience. He further stated this an interview with , saying “I pay attention to even the trivial characters who contribute to a film. Starting from , to and —everyone’s character was important. They were roped in because of their unique voice and dialogue delivery.” Narain played the role of Inspector Bejoy, and was cast after Karthi’s persistence to have him in that particular role. He stated that his role in the film is “interesting” and similar to the role he played in (2008). ‘s character, the constable Napoleon, was considered by Lokesh to be “one of the most honest roles” he had written to that point. was chosen to play the main antagonist Anbu since Lokesh felt he had the powerful voice needed for the character. Principal photography began on 13 December 2018, the day after the film was launched. The first schedule of the film began in Chennai during mid-December and was completed in less than 15 days. The team began the second schedule in on 4 January 2019. Major portions of the film were also shot in the surroundings of . The storyline takes place primarily in one night, except for the final scene. Narain faced difficulties while filming some stunt scenes. He claimed that due to one hand being in a , running down a steep slope during a scene was “dangerous, and took every ounce of concentration, as I couldn’t balance myself properly while running downhill. As it was my first time doing stunts with a sling, it took a lot of skill and judgement to tackle the kicks, fisticuffs and falls in the chase and fight sequences”. During another scene, Narain was told to “run out of a , past a swimming pool, and keep running, halting only at a designated spot at a distance”. He recalled, “But as I ran past the pool, I tripped on a slippery patch of water on the concrete. With one hand in a sling, I couldn’t balance myself to stop the fall and fell down flat, my shoulder and chest taking the brunt of the fall […] I felt I’d had a narrow escape, since it was hard concrete around the pool”, but was left with shoulder pain for four months. Karthi practised to drive a lorry in one of the sequences. Since he had not driven a lorry before, he felt it was “quite challenging”. Lokesh explained about few sequences, particularly the climax scenes, as he stated that “Cinema is all about making the audience believe it is real. So, I didn’t mind those couple of larger-than-life fights, towards the climax portions. Every fight had a backstory to it, and wasn’t away from the premise. I only wanted my characters to behave and sound authentic.” Principal photography on 9 May 2019. While many sources claimed that the film was shot within 62 days, Lokesh and Karthi themselves stated that they took about 36–45 days for shooting the film. Commentators have noted the film’s similarities to (1976) and (1997). However, Lokesh in Srivatsan’s interview to , stated that (1988) and (2004), served as additional references for , and had also credited them in the film. The character Dilli and his looks were also modelled from the titular character played by in . Pon Parthiban also admitted in an interview, further stating that audience need to compare the scenes where both characters talk about their wives, and you can sense the spiritual connection they share, whereas Parthiban replied that “The dialogue in is even more beautiful”. The setting of where the entire story takes place in a night, was also referenced from the filmography of directors and . Lokesh believed that “movies shot in the dark are underrated and offer so much scope in terms of lighting”. He took the hostage scene in as an example, where the “darkness made it very atmospheric” and concluded that “In a way, this film was a reverse of that situation, where the bad guys are locked inside a police station that is under siege”. For the making of the pre-climax action sequence choreographed by the duo Anbariv, where Karthi had to perform risky stunts on a moving lorry. He cited the stunt sequences of (2010) as the benchmark for it. The original score is composed by Despite not having any songs in the film, four tracks with vocals have been included in the background score, with a song titled “Neel Iravil” was featured in the film’s . In an interview to , Sam recalled that Lokesh had hinted musical references from American films, and wanted to incorporate in the film score. He cited (2008) as an example for one of the themes he had composed. The score which consisted of a “metal clanging sound” played in the teaser is one of the themes, that was hinted to Dilli’s past life during the prison, which will be used as the main theme in the sequel. The original soundtrack which features 17 tracks were released, nearly a month after the film’s release, on 22 November 2019. The vocals were written and performed by Sam and Sharanya Gopinath, with the latter rapping a few versions in English. The score received positive response from critics, with calling Sam as “another silent hero of the film” and Kaushik Rajaraman, writing for , stated that Sam’s background score for the film “on a par with his theme music in “. was initially scheduled to release during mid-July 2019, but delays meant that the film’s release being pushed to 27 September 2019. The release was further postponed to October 2019, before eventually finalising the release during (27 October 2019). The release eventually coincided with the -starrer (2019). A week before the scheduled release, the makers announced the release date as 25 October 2019, ahead of the Diwali festival. The film was cleared by the (CBFC) in mid-October. It was also dubbed and released in Telugu as . Prior to the scheduled release, the Tamil Nadu government denied permission to conduct early morning shows for the film and in concern of the increased ticket rates being levied by the exhibitors. was released in more than 250 screens across Tamil Nadu, despite competition from . It was also showcased in 1400 screens worldwide, with the film releasing over 330 screens in and ; 75 screens in , 100 screens across , 125 screens across other parts of India, and 400 screens in the overseas centres. Due to the positive reception for the film, the number of shows has been increased from 350 screens in Tamil Nadu during its second week, and also reported an increase in the number of shows across Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and other overseas markets. “I see lot of genuine concerns over the 30-day window for films in while running successfully in BO. Theatrical audience will reduce eventually if we continue this trend!? Yes! But, piracy & less terms from third week can be compensated for producers only through this!” Following its successful run, the digital streaming service premiered the film on 25 November 2019, a month after its release date. It eventually received criticism from the exhibitors and distributors as the early digital premiere might lead to reducing number of footfalls in theatres. While producer S. R. Prabhu, attributed that the threat of piracy might be the reason for the 30-day window between theatrical and streaming run, many theatre owners opposed this. Major multiplex chains such as , and , stopped its screening, soon after the digital premiere of the film. Irrespective of these factors, the film completed 50-day theatrical run on 13 December 2019. The satellite rights were brought by . was selected for screening at the International Indian Film Festival in (IIFFT), which was held on 9–15 August 2020. In November 2021, the producers of the film confirmed the theatrical release in Japan, after one of the Japanese distributors piqued interest in showcasing the film in the country. With an initial agreement being signed, the producers announced that the film will be titled as for its release in Japan, and will be screened from 19 November 2021. The film was intended to be released in on 10 March 2022, with a dub, but eventually released in over 121 theatres at 297 cities in Russia on 19 May 2022. Following its acquisition by , Khaidi(Telugu) premiered exclusively on their platform on 15 February 2020. In the opening day of its release, the film collected (US$410,000) on first day, despite competing with . The film collected (US$47,000) from the Chennai city box-office on its first day. The film collected around (US$330,000) on second day and about (US$560,000) on third day, adding its estimated collection to (US$1.3 million) on the first 3-day weekend, with (US$130,000) from Chennai alone. At the end of the first week, the film collected about (US$3.0 million) at the box-office. published that the film had collected (US$8.3 million) worldwide in the first 10 days, with (US$4.1 million) from Tamil Nadu, (US$650,000) in , close to (US$1.2 million) in and and over (US$830,000) in . The film further collected (US$1.5 million) from overseas markets. Due to the factors of increased screenings, in second week, boosting the film’s collections, the film earned (US$13 million) worldwide as of 12 days. On 12 November 2019, the makers officially announced that the film had collected (US$15.59 million) worldwide, thereby becoming Karthi’s first film to cross the . The film earned (US$6.7 million) from Tamil Nadu, (US$1.8 million) from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, (US$730,000) from Kerala, (US$880,000) from Karnataka and (US$220,000) from rest of the country. The film’s final collection stands at (US$12 million), with a net collection of (US$8.8 million). received critical acclaim from critics. On the website , of 7 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. Owing to its critical response, it was featured in many year-end lists as one of the best by several publications such as , , , , and . Calling it as a “tense and impressively shot action thriller”, M. Suganth gave 4.5 stars (out of 5) in the review for , and stated “Lokesh Kanagaraj gives us a pure genre film minus the frills, like songs and romance, that we are used to in Tamil cinema”. Though he concerned about “the film which feels overlong for its genre, as a couple of action blocks getting over-indulgent” but concluded “when it is action that we have signed up for, we cannot complain much about that”. Janani K of gave four out of five stars stating, ” is a film that showcases filmmaking at its best” and praised Karthi’s performance as “terrific and natural that one could literally picture a prisoner going through a tough time”. Sreedhar Pillai of gave four-and-a-half out of five stars rating to the film saying ” is a well made film that takes the road less travelled and provides enough thrills”. He further added that “Karthi’s raw and intense performance, the film’s taut screenplay and excellent technicality, along with awesome action scenes, makes an edge-of-the seat thriller”. -based critic Gauthaman Bhaskaran gave three out of five stars stating “Karthi’s stunning performance makes it an engaging watch”. Manoj Kumar R. of gave 3.5 stars (out of 5) stating, “Karthi has essayed his role in an almost self-effacing manner while allowing the space for other people’s acts of courage in the narration to get their due screen time. Kaithi is the director’s canvas. It is necessary to appreciate Karthi to let Lokesh do his thing without trying to bend the narration to suit his star image. The director softly but firmly announces himself as a major new force in the commercial space of the Tamil film industry, which still largely feeds on the narrow definition of mainstream entertainment.” S. Srivatsan, writing for , stated the film as “one of the best action thriller ever made since “. Further reviewing that ” does have its ‘mass’ moments, but there is a certain level of screenwriting that has gone into conceiving those. The plot contains all the elements of a conventional suspense-thriller, but where differs is by how Lokesh Kanagaraj treats the genre and its audience with respect.” Karthik Kumar of stated it as “an action film with a soul and a purpose” while also stated that “though it is not a crowd-pleasing commercial film, it still caters to the masses”. gave three-and-a-half out of five stars stating “Kaithi is a solid action thriller and it will be a feast for action lovers”. Ashameera Aiyyappan of stated the film as “a well-made commercial thriller”. Calling it as “brilliant” and “engaging thriller”, Anupama Subramanian of gave four out of five, saying “Kaithi with its solid story combined with outstanding performances and flawless making is set to stand the test of time”. -based editor-in-chief, Priyanka Thirumurthy, gave four out of five stating “There is no star in Kaithi, as director Lokesh shows that a hero is anyone who goes beyond thinking about just himself.” wrote for , ” is certainly a sturdy vehicle for Karthi, who – as so memorably demonstrated – is one of our few actors who can do both (through his face) and (through his stocky frame). There’s a fantastic “mass” scene, set around a swimming pool, where Dilli stuffs himself with biriyani – it’s a stunning few minutes of a purely performance. It’s strange how this Karthi looks and sounds so genteel and urban in real life, but his best work on screen is when he’s got a bit of animal inside him.” received appreciation from several members of the film fraternity, including heaped praise on the film’s trailer saying it as “intense and theatre worthy”. called the film as “kick-ass film with lot of Wow moments through out”, while , who watched the film, praised Lokesh for the exclusion of songs and technical brilliance, as a “welcome change” for the industry. Cinematographer , who watched the film through Hotstar, called it as “an edge of the seat experience”. He further praised Lokesh’s direction and ‘s (an apprentice of Sreeram) work in the film. Lokesh, in an interview with an online portal, stated that , who signed him for directing (2021), during the post-production of , had watched the final rushes of the film before its release. He further stated that Vijay appreciated his work in the film and congratulated him before the release. The film’s success made Lokesh a most sought director in Tamil cinema who later worked on several projects of top actors. Arjun Das, who played the main antagonist, Anbu, received praise for his characterisation and performance and his loud for the character gained him a huge following. Lokesh roped him for . Further, Arjun Das’ , which completed production in 2014 but remained unreleased for more than six years following exhibitors’ refusal to distribute the film, citing lack of prominent faces, was presented by director in 2020, following Arjun Das’ popularity after in , and released directly through the same year. ‘s success had trade analysts researching about how commercial films without featuring songs but become hits are a rarity in Tamil cinema. Film producer-cum-analyst examined that “For certain type of films, songs are not required while for others, right inclusion of songs satisfy audience who are looking for entertainment as the key element […] Directors like , , , , , , have used songs effectively to communicate their stories and not as commercial elements […] If such approach is followed by other filmmakers, the necessity of songs in films would be unquestioned”. The film revived the popularity of the song “Jumbalakka”, composed by from the film (1999); in a scene from where the students play an assortment of songs using a music player in loud volume to distract the prisoners from commandeering instructions to their comrades outside the police station. The song became a trend after the release of the film. The film’s screenplay was released as book published by Pesaamozhi Publications in January 2023. serves as the first instalment in the planned (LCU). In June 2022, Lokesh stated that the film was interlinked with the -starrer (2022). Avinash Ramachandran, writing for stated the possibilities of the connection, within the two films, referring to stash of drugs which had scorpion symbol (shown in ‘s trailer), and in a scene where, Inspector Bejoy (Narain) while speaking to informer Ajhas Ahmed (Kanna Ravi), questions about “The Ghost”, ‘s undisclosed cameo before the film’s release and several speculations. Before ‘s release, Lokesh asked fans to watch before to understand the context of the film, thereby confirming its connection with the two films. Narain reprises his role in brief as Inspector Bejoy in . Additionally, Arjun Das, , , Dheena and Baby Monica, reprises their roles in cameo appearances as Anbu, Adaikalam, Stephen Raj, Kamatchi and Amudha, respectively, in the film’s , while Karthi reprised his role in a . reprises his role as Napoleon in (2023) where he is appointed to protect Parthiban ( ). As implied at the end of the film, Lokesh had planned for a sequel, which he confirmed after its release. In an interview with Subha J Rao to , Lokesh conveyed his interest on developing the film into a franchise, stating that he had an idea for both prequel as well as sequel, which depends on the recurring schedules of the cast members. In May 2021, the film’s producer S. R. Prabhu had confirmed the sequel is in the works. It has been reported that the team had filmed most of the scenes during the shooting of the first part and only 30 days of shooting has been left. is intended to be a prequel for Dilli, focusing on his character. In June 2022, Lokesh, in an interview with , revealed the backstory of Dilli, saying that he was a player, and won several trophies in tournaments conducted when he was in prison. He also hinted in the climax, as Dilli walks with a bag full of trophies. Later, in an interaction with fans through , he further explained about Anbu’s return in , as he was knocked out and not dead, though he had stitch marks in his jaw, due to the injuries. Following the success of , Lokesh planned to expand the scale of the sequel, with S. R. Prabhu admitting that it would be bigger than the first film. Production of the film was expected to begin in the second quarter of 2022, but was delayed as Lokesh intended to resume the project after completing and ‘s . was remade in Hindi as (2023). In March 2020, it was reported that the film will be remade in , with playing the lead role. A petition was filed against the producer S. R. Prabhu, by Rajiv Ranjan, a native from in , for lifting his story without his permission. In his statement, he wrote an autobiography after spending years at the ( ) in 2000. He narrated his story to Prabhu in 2007, which he had agreed to use as a film script and paid Rajeev ₹10,000 in advance. When Lokesh made the film, he was shocked to see that it was the same story, which the producer narrated to him and felt cheated, resulting him to file a petition at Kollam High Court, to stop the works on the sequel and its remake. The court gave verdict in favour of him in July 2021, while also demanded the producer to pay (US$470,000) as a compensation, for allegedly mimicking his story. This was pointed on a leading news channel, which also led derogatory comments against Lokesh in response to the issue. Following the accusations, Prabhu slammed the channel for the way the issue was reported and claimed that they do not have details pertaining to the case and hence cannot comment on the issue. However, they noted that they are ready to face any legal issues with respect to the controversy, since their records are clean. In mid-February 2022, the Kerala Court dismissed the copyright allegations and stated that the story belongs to Lokesh.</p>