Thalapathi

1991 2h 37m TA

🙌

8.0

BANGER

★8.0TMDB · 63

ActionCrimeDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Surya, a courageous man who was raised in the slums, fights for the rights of the poor and befriends Deva, who hires him as his commander and changes his life completely.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Rajinikanth
Surya
Mammootty
Devaraj 'Deva'
Arvind Swamy
Arjun
Srividya
Kalyani
Jaishankar
Krishnamoorthy
Amrish Puri
Kalivardhan
Shobana
'Subbu' Subbulakshmi
Geetha
Selvi

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mani Ratnam
Writers: Mani Ratnam, Mani Ratnam
Languages: Tamil
Countries: India

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 157 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

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35 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mani Ratnam, shot by Santosh Sivan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Ilaiyaraaja. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Suresh Urs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Rajinikanth and Mammootty and Arvind Swamy carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0101649 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 63 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mani Ratnam directs. Santosh Sivan behind the camera. Ilaiyaraaja scores. Suresh Urs cuts. Produced in India. Dialogue in Tamil.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 157 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
235 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Mani Ratnam, shot by Santosh Sivan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Ilaiyaraaja. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Suresh Urs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Rajinikanth and Mammootty and Arvind Swamy carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0101649 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 63 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 8 themes, including "friendship", "based on novel or book", "gangster", "motherly love".