Kaithi

 

Kaithi is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. The film stars Karthi with Narain, Arjun Das, Harish Uthaman, George Maryan and Dheena in pivotal roles. It is produced by S. R. Prakashbabu and S. R. Prabhu under the banner Dream Warrior Pictures and co-produced by Tiruppur Vivek under the banner Vivekananda Pictures. The film score and soundtrack was composed by Sam C. S. The cinematography was handled by Sathyan Sooryan, and edited by Philomin Raj. It was noted to be inspired by the 1976 American film Assault on Precinct 13. In the film, a recently released prisoner races against time to drive poisoned cops to a hospital in exchange for meeting his daughter, while evading criminals chasing after the lorry.

Kaithi was released on 25 October 2019, coinciding on Diwali, along with the Telugu dubbed version titled Khaidi. It opened to generally favorable reviews praising the action sequences, performances, writing and exclusion of songs. Following the positive reception, the film became a blockbuster and went on to win a number of accolades. A Hindi-language remake starring Ajay Devgn has been officially announced. Kaithi was selected for official screening at International Indian Film Festival in Toronto, held in August 2020.

 

Plot

At a children's hostel for orphaned girls, a 10-year-old girl named Amudha is told by the caretakers that someone important is going to meet her at 10:00 AM, the next morning. She waits anxiously, wondering who it may be.

A smuggling van carrying a ton of drugs and a group of smugglers are captured by Inspector Bejoy and his team. The contraband was smuggled by a gang headed by Adaikalam, who none of the police officers has seen nor know how he looks. Adaikalam's brother Anbu plans to capture the five police officials, kill them, and seize back the contraband from them. According to Anbu's plan, all the police officials in the city get unconscious after consuming poisoned drinks at a higher official's retirement party. Bejoy, who avoided the drinks as he was under medication, tries to save the lives of all the unconscious officials without letting the media or anyone else finding out. He convinces Dilli, an ex-prisoner who happened to be there with him as he was detained for looking suspicious (and being the only one who can drive the lorry) to help him save the officers' lives by threatening him that he would not let him meet his daughter Amudha for the first time the next morning, with the help of a lorry borrowed from Kamatchi, a caterer present at the party. As Kamatchi has good knowledge of routes and roads, Dilli tells him to come with them as well. Dilli, Bejoy, and Kamatchi together load the unconscious bodies of the officials onto the lorry and try their best to get them to the hospital as soon as possible without any casualties.

As Anbu enlists a huge sum of money as the reward for catching the policemen, gangsters from Anbu's gangs try to hunt down Bejoy and his team. They are guided by Paalpandi, a corrupt cop (recruited by Stephen Raj, Zonal Head of Narcotics Division working for Anbu) who acts unconsciously while giving information about the location of the lorry to the gangs.

Meanwhile, at the commissioner's office, the drugs are hidden along with Adaikalam's men who are under custody. As Anbu and his gang would take the drugs and free Adaikalam's men, Bejoy orders constable Napoleon and a group of college students detained due to drunken driving, to close all the possible exits and to try and keep the gangsters outside the commissioner's office at the cost of their own lives while they wait for higher officials.

Dilli, Bejoy, and Kamatchi come across the various gangs but Dilli takes care of them brutally. Back at the building, Napoleon is instructed by Bejoy to negotiate a deal with the captured men of Adaikalam. Napoleon makes one of the men call Anbu and agrees to release the prisoners in exchange for his and the students' safety. Surprisingly, Anbu agrees. However, Bejoy realizes that Adaikalam himself is captured unknowingly by his men and instructs Napoleon to cancel the deal. Adaikalam tries to guide Anbu into the commissioner's office, but the students purposely blast loud music to keep him from hearing Adaikalam. Anbu manages to climb up to the roof and break into the building, but he is subdued by the students and tied up.

Dilli and Kamatchi manage to transfer the unconscious officers to a school bus from the hospital so that they can continue to the commissioner's office. Paalpandi then convinces them that he is alright, so they take him with them. However, they come across another gang who beats up Bejoy and Paalpandi stabs Dilli twice in the back. Dilli still manages to kill Paalpandi and the gangsters, while rescuing Bejoy and proceeding to the building. Anbu's gang outside the building and manages to catch a student, and under the order of Anbu, they kill him. Napoleon bludgeons and kills Anbu with a fire extinguisher out of rage, to which Adaikalam swears he will kill all of them and their families. Dilli, Bejoy, and Kamatchi make it to the building. Dilli alone enters the building through a secret underground passage and sends the students out through the secret passage, while he and Napoleon go to burn up all the drugs. The Duo reach the drug stored room, but to their surprise, they also find a confiscated Minigun. Instead of just burning the drugs, Napoleon decides to eliminate all the drug dealing rowdies. They reach the ground floor as the goons break-in. Dilli uses the gun to kill all of Anbu's gang outside the building. All the police are resuscitated and Bejoy finds the moles in his department. Stephen Raj is incriminated and all injured are moved to the Government Hospital overnight. Bejoy thanks Dilli and promises him that he will soon arrange a good life for him and his daughter. The Doctor from Dilli's prison brings Dilli's daughter Amudha to the spot, and they meet with tears of joy. Dilli, Amudha, and Kamatchi leave for Dilli's village.

One of the captured men tells Adaikalam that Dilli, who had no connection with the gangs, was the prime reason for all of their losses, to which Adaikalam responds by saying that Dilli does have a connection, leaving open the possibility for a sequel.

 

Cast

·         Karthi as Dilli

·         Narain as Inspector Bejoy, a member of the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force

·         Arjun Das as Anbu

·         Harish Uthaman as Adaikalam

·         George Maryan as Constable Napoleon

·         Dheena as Kamatchi

·         Ramana as Tips (a member of Anbu's gang)

·         Hareesh Peradi as Stephen Raj

·         Malavika Avinash as Nalini, a Probation officer at Puzhal Jail

·         Deepthi as Thamizh, a college student

·         Baby Monica as Amudha, Dilli's daughter

·         Kanna Ravi as Ajhas Ahmed

·         Amzath Khan as Ram

·         Krishnamoorthy as K. Venkat

·         Chetan as Dr. Amudhan

·         Arun Alexander as Paalpandi

·         Vatsan Chakravarthy as a college student

·         Lallu as a college student

·         Udayaraj as a college student

·         Kishore Rajkumar as a college student

·         R. N. R. Manohar as an IG Of Police

·         Suryakanth as Kamatchi's Paternal Uncle

·         Winner Ramachandran