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''Kanithan'' () is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language
action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
written and directed by T. N. Santhosh and produced by
S. Thanu Kalaipuli S. Thanu is an Indian film producer, director and distributor, known for his films in Tamil cinema. He has produced several films through his two companies, V Creations and Kalaipuli Films International. Many of his films have been co ...
. The film stars
Atharvaa Atharvaa Murali is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. The son of actor Murali and grandson of director S. Siddalingaiah, Atharvaa began his acting career with ''Baana Kaathadi'' (2010). He then garnered critical acclaim for his perform ...
and
Catherine Tresa Catherine Tresa Alexander (born 10 September 1989) is an Indian actress and model. She has established her career predominantly in Telugu and Tamil films. She made her debut in 2010 in the Kannada film ''Shankar IPS''. Catherine has been nominat ...
.
Sivamani Sivamani (1 December 1959), commonly known by his stage name Drums Sivamani, is an Indian percussionist. He plays many instruments including drums, octoban, darbuka, udukai, ghatam and kanjira. He performed drumming during the IPL Championship ...
composed the film's music. Having begun production in 2013, the film was released in February 2016. The film was remade in Kannada as ''
Athiratha ''Athiratha'' ( kn, ಅತಿರಥ) is a 2017 Indian Kannada action thriller film directed by Mahesh Babu. It stars Chethan Kumar and Latha Hegde, with Kabir Duhan Singh and Sadhu Kokila in supporting roles. The score and soundtrack are by Su ...
'' (2017) and in Telugu as ''
Arjun Suravaram ''Arjun Suravaram'' is a 2019 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film written and directed by T. Santhosh. The film stars Nikhil Siddharth and Lavanya Tripathi. It is produced by Rajkumar Akella, and presented by B. Madhu on the Movie Dynamix ...
'' (2019). It was dubbed in
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
as the same Title by Goldmines Telefilms on 3 January 2020. It was a ''Hit'' at box office.


Plot

Gowtham Ramalingam is an intelligent TV
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
who works in a small channel. For generations, his family has had close links with the media. His father Ramalingam is a news presenter working in
Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...
. His grandfather was a newsreader in
All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...
. Despite being an academically brilliant
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
graduate, Gowtham prefers working as a TV journalist and yearns to join the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. One day, while reporting for his channel, he stumbles across Anu and falls for her. Anu turns out to be his colleague in the same TV channel he is working at and reciprocates his attempts. Gowtham receives an offer letter from BBC, and despite initially struggling, performs well in the interview and gets selected. He is congratulated by his friends at the TV channel office, including Anu. While all goes well, Gowtham suddenly gets arrested on charges of cheating banks (to the tune of several lakhs) of rupees by producing fake documents and degree certificates. Gowtham's degree certificates, along with those of the other affected students, get invalidated. While he is being taken to prison, a fellow graduate seated beside him commits suicide by falling off the police van and getting run over by a truck. Gowtham realizes that he (along with the other graduates) have been made a pawn in a huge scam. His neighbour who works in the police department and his friend Balaji, a lawyer, Senthil, his friend and colleague and Anu manage to get him out of prison. Gowtham's job at BBC gets rejected due to his certificate being labelled as forged. Gowtham then decides to infiltrate and expose the fake certificate scam with the help of his neighbour, Balaji, Senthil and Anu. Gowtham recalls the scene at the police station about the fake documents, that were used to obtain loans from the banks; they carried the same photograph as the one present in his degree certificate. He deduces that he had used the certificate in a consultancy firm in
Anna Nagar Anna Nagar (formerly known as Naduvakkarai), is a neighbourhood in the metropolitan city of Chennai, India. Named after former chief minister of Tamil Nadu C. N. Annadurai, it is located in the north-western part of Chennai and forms a part of ...
. When he, his neighbour, Senthil, and Balaji reach the place to find it locked, they break the lock and get inside. They search for the fake degree certificate in his name and find out that all the fake degree certificates, in the blueprints of
Anna University Anna University is a public state university located in Tamil Nadu, India. The main campus is in Chennai. It was originally established on 4 September 1978 and was named after C. N. Annadurai, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. History & ...
,
University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigiou ...
,
Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institu ...
, and several other major universities, are hidden in the ceiling. Gowtham and his team confiscate the fake certificates and convey a message to other TV channels, including his own channel, to list out the names of the fake degree certificate holders on-air. The consultancy firms are closed down, and it worries Thura Sarkar, the kingpin in the fake certificate scam, and his sons. While airing the news, he intentionally puts Balaji's name in the certificates(in-order to nab Thura, knowing that his name is not the list), Gowtham's plan works and manages to save Balaji just in time, fights and kill all of the goons,including Thura's son. He even hid the camera in the crime spot, knowing Thura would come there to find other evidence. However, Thura finds the hidden camera and almosts executed Gowtham, but with the help of Gowtham's neighbour they successfully escape. Gowtham infiltrates and records the scammers in his mobile phone while posing as an applicant for a fake certificate, on the other side, Thura starts looking for people who were responsible for spreading the news and manages to track the right guy. This news is spread further, and Thura's plans are thwarted. He reaches Gowtham's office and holds Senthil and the others hostage; Gowtham calls him on his phone and saves Senthil by revealing his whereabouts. Anu gets kidnapped by Thura's son and his gang when Gowtham overpowers and kills Thura's second son. Thura then decides to seek revenge by brutally murdering Balaji and Gowtham's neighbour. Gowtham becomes infuriated at this and decides to end this once and for all. He sends one of his colleagues in the guise of a fake certificate applicant to Thura's place while recording the events via microcamera-enabled spectacles. Gowtham and Senthil then broadcast the entire video on-air. Thura reaches the channel office, fights Gowtham, and destroys the transmission terminal. However, the transmission gets re-enabled, and the video goes on-air. Gowtham lands a kick at Thura, causing him to hit his head on screws in the destroyed terminal and fall unconscious. The scam is finally exposed. Gowtham is lauded for his efforts and reunites with Anu and others. Meanwhile, Thura is in a
vegetative state A persistent vegetative state (PVS) or post-coma unresponsiveness (PCU) is a disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal rather than true awareness. After four weeks in a vegetative stat ...
and is placed under tight police security in due apprehension for his crimes once he is cured. The lead doctor advises his assistant to monitor Thura's state. The assistant doctor turns out to be a fake; he unknowingly injects the wrong medicine in Thura's
glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using ...
stream, and his pulse begins to deteriorate. The lead doctor scolds the assistant by asking whether he became a doctor by submitting a fake certificate, while Thura dies which shows an irony of how a fake certificate holder that he helped becomes his ultimate downfall.


Cast

*
Atharvaa Atharvaa Murali is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. The son of actor Murali and grandson of director S. Siddalingaiah, Atharvaa began his acting career with ''Baana Kaathadi'' (2010). He then garnered critical acclaim for his perform ...
as Gowtham Ramalingam, a TV journalist *
Catherine Tresa Catherine Tresa Alexander (born 10 September 1989) is an Indian actress and model. She has established her career predominantly in Telugu and Tamil films. She made her debut in 2010 in the Kannada film ''Shankar IPS''. Catherine has been nominat ...
as Anu, Gowtham's colleague and love interest *
Tarun Arora Tarun Arora is an Indian model, actor and producer who works in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil language films. Career Tarun Arora began modelling while studying hotel management in Bangalore. He won the Gladrags Manhunt in 1998. He was later seen i ...
as Thura Sarkar, the fake certificate scam kingpin *
Aadukalam Naren Narayanan (better known as Aadukalam Naren) is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil and few Telugu films, mainly in supporting roles. He made his début in 1997 film ''Raman Abdullah'' but he got noticed for his role in the 2011 film, ''Aa ...
as Ramalingam, Gowtham's father *
Manobala Manobala (born 8 December 1953) is an Indian film director, producer, actor and comedian who predominantly plays supporting roles in Tamil-language films. He started his career in Tamil cinema in the early 1970s and with Kamal Haasan's referen ...
as Madhan, Anu's father and head of the TV channel where Gowtham works * Karunakaran as Lawyer Balaji, Gowtham's friend *
Sunder Ramu Sunder Ramu is an Indian film and stage actor, who has also worked as a photographer. He made his first film appearance in the 2011 drama film ''Mayakkam Enna''. After winning critical acclaim for his performance he has also gone on to feature ...
as Senthil, Gowtham's colleague *
K. Bhagyaraj Krishnasaamy Bhagyaraj (born 7 January 1953) is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter, music director, producer and politician active mainly in Tamil films. He has also written and directed Hindi and Telugu films and TV serials. As an actor ...
as Gowtham's neighbour * Ashwin Raja as Thirupathi *
Anil Murali Anil Murali (12 April 1964 – 30 July 2020) was an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 200 films. He started out in the film industry as a villain before later taking on character roles. He died on 30 July 2020, as a re ...
as Inspector Jerald * Y. G. Mahendra *
R. S. Shivaji R. S. Shivaji (born 26 October 1956) is an Indian actor, who is known for his work in Tamil films. He has often collaborated in films involving Kamal Haasan and Raaj Kamal Films International, working as an assistant director, sound designer an ...
as Lawyer *
Sai Dheena Sai Dheena is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films since 2004. He played the antagonist in '' Attu'' (2017), '' Thimiru Pudichavan'' (2018) and ''Vaandu'' (2019). Career Sai Dheena worked as a signboard artist, before mo ...
as Bhai * Nanjil Vijayan as Salim * Aadhira * Mathew Varghese as BBC journalist


Production

The project materialised in October 2013, with producer S Thanu revealing that
Atharvaa Atharvaa Murali is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. The son of actor Murali and grandson of director S. Siddalingaiah, Atharvaa began his acting career with ''Baana Kaathadi'' (2010). He then garnered critical acclaim for his perform ...
and
Catherine Tresa Catherine Tresa Alexander (born 10 September 1989) is an Indian actress and model. She has established her career predominantly in Telugu and Tamil films. She made her debut in 2010 in the Kannada film ''Shankar IPS''. Catherine has been nominat ...
were signed on by his production house to feature in a film directed by T.N. Santhosh, an erstwhile assistant of
A.R. Murugadoss Murugadoss Arunasalam (born 25 September 1974), commonly known as A. R. Murugadoss, is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. He is best known for directing action films mainly on ...
. The film will have music by
Sivamani Sivamani (1 December 1959), commonly known by his stage name Drums Sivamani, is an Indian percussionist. He plays many instruments including drums, octoban, darbuka, udukai, ghatam and kanjira. He performed drumming during the IPL Championship ...
of ''
Arima Nambi ''Arima Nambi'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by debutant Anand Shankar. The film stars Vikram Prabhu, Priya Anand, and J. D. Chakravarthy. Drummer Sivamani made his debut as a music director in the film, wh ...
'' fame and camera work by ace cinematographer, Arvind Krishna. The shoot began progressing in December 2013, with a first look poster being revealed the following month. In April 2014, it was reported that
Jackie Shroff Jaikishan Kakubhai Shroff (born 1 February 1957), popularly known as Jackie Shroff, is an Indian actor and former model. He has been in the Bollywood industry for over four decades, and , has appeared in over 220 films in 13 languages namely Hi ...
plays the villain in the film, though he was later replaced by
Tarun Arora Tarun Arora is an Indian model, actor and producer who works in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil language films. Career Tarun Arora began modelling while studying hotel management in Bangalore. He won the Gladrags Manhunt in 1998. He was later seen i ...
.


Soundtrack

Music has been composed by
Sivamani Sivamani (1 December 1959), commonly known by his stage name Drums Sivamani, is an Indian percussionist. He plays many instruments including drums, octoban, darbuka, udukai, ghatam and kanjira. He performed drumming during the IPL Championship ...
. And there are total five songs in this film.


Reception

''Behindwoods'' wrote, "What could have been an intelligent crackerjack suspense entertainer ends up being a medially engaging product due to few lacklustre moments and some sluggish screenplay in the second half. Despite its flaws, this savvy thriller is worth watching once mainly for some exhilarating action sequences, Atharvaa’s top class performance and a few adrenaline-pumping moments." ''Hindustan Times'' wrote "Like so many Tamil films, Kanithan begins with a fantastic idea and story, but Santosh lets these spin out of control -- till the script sinks beyond salvation." ''Rediff'' wrote, "Despite the compelling plot, Kanithan is an uninspired action thriller that has little to offer." ''Times of India'' wrote "Kanithan feels less than the sum of its parts. The chief reason is the scenes that act as a filler between the action, which are either banal or overlong or both. The film takes a while to get going and almost the first 30 minutes are wasted through clichéd scenes in the name of setting up the hero's character and his romance." ''Sify'' wrote "Overall, Kanithan tries hard to satisfy multiple agendas that telling an interesting story becomes secondary to everything else". ''Silverscreen'' wrote, "Kanithan is ambitious in scope and inept in execution." Baradwaj Rangan of The Hindu wrote, ".. we see an increasingly tense cat-and-mouse game between well-matched (and brainy) adversaries. Kanithan is a two-sided procedural...there are some tense moments. The editor (Bhuvan Srinivasan) really goes for the jugular."


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, 5500416 2016 films 2010s Tamil-language films 2016 action thriller films 2016 crime action films 2016 crime thriller films Films about the mass media in India Action films based on actual events Journalism adapted into films Films about journalists Films about organised crime in India Films about security and surveillance Thriller films based on actual events Indian action thriller films Indian crime action films Indian crime thriller films Films about corruption in India Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police Films shot in Madurai Films shot in Chennai Films shot in Tiruchirappalli Films set in Tiruchirappalli Films set in Chennai Films about fraud Tamil films remade in other languages 2016 directorial debut films