Indian (1996 film)
Indian (About this soundpronunciation (help·info)) is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language vigilante action film written and directed by Shankar and produced by A. M. Rathnam. The film stars Kamal Haasan in dual roles opposite Manisha Koirala, Urmila Matondkar and Sukanya. Nedumudi Venu appears in a pivotal role. The film’s score and soundtrack are composed by A. R. Rahman, while cinematography was handled by Jeeva.
The film focuses on an ex-freedom fighter turned vigilante bent on rooting out corruption, and his son, who is at the other end of the spectrum by facilitating corrupt practices leading to some unfortunate events. He is well trained in Varma kalai, an ancient lethal martial art used for close-quarters combat (Choreographed by Aasan R. Rajendran).[1][2][3]
The film opened to critical acclaim on the way to becoming a commercial blockbuster in the Tamil film industry. Indian was selected by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1996, but was not nominated.[4][5] The film also went on to win three National Film Awards including that of Best Actor for Kamal Haasan’s portrayal, while his performance also saw him win at the Filmfare Awards and the Tamil Nadu film fare award. It was the highest-grossing Tamil film upon its release, beating the collections of Baashha until surpassed by Chandramukhi nine years later.[6]
A series of murders take place in Avadi, Chennai, in the same pattern; stabbing by a knife. Each time the victim is paralysed before being killed. Police, led by CBI officer Krishnaswamy (Nedumudi Venu), suspect several people, and they narrow down the killer by his age, which should be more than 70 years based on the writing style of a letter left behind by the killer while murdering his most recent victim, an officer in the government treasury. The officer is killed by an old man who is later known to be Senapathy (Kamal Haasan), a veteran Indian freedom fighter who was a member of the Indian National Army led by Subhas Chandra Bose, for threatening a poor old woman to bribe him to hand over compensation amount of ₹10,000 given by the government as her husband got killed in a riot.
