Kaithi

## Lokesh Cinematic Universe

> *"Sambandham irukku. Avar peru Dilli"*
> (English: ''He is involved with it! His name is Dilli!'')
>
>

-Adaikalam to his fellow cellmate

Kaithi (கைதி) is a 2019 Indian Tamil action thriller movie. It was released on 25 October 2019, while on 31 October 2019 in Australia and New Zealand. It is the first installment of *Lokesh Cinematic Universe*.

The film's was directed and written by Lokesh Kanagaraj. It stars Karthi as Dilli, Narain as Inspector Bejoy, Arjun Das as Anbu, George Maryan as Napoleon, Harish Uthaman as Adaikalam and Hareesh Peradi as Stephen Raj in the major roles.

This film is followed by *Vikram* released in 3 June, 2022. A direct sequel is revealed to be under development.

## Synopsis

Inspector Bejoy and his team seize a van smuggling 900 kilograms of cocaine and hide it secretely in the Commisioner's Office. The gang whose load get seized becomes enraged and with the help of a mole, manage to drug all the officers present in a party hosted by the Inspector General. Thus Bejoy seeks helps from Dilli, a convict released on parole, who sets out to help him in safely transferring the now unconscious officers to a hospital without the knowledge of the media or the public. While on their way, they fight and evade different gangs targeting the officers in expectation of a reward from the drug mafia.

Meanwhile, at the Commissioner's office, unbeknownst to the only officer working there at the time (Constable Napoleon), the drug mafia's leader, Adaikalam, is being held in one of the cells along with a few other gang members. With the help of 4 college students detained there for drunken driving, Constable Napoleon attempts to keep the rest of the gang from entering the Commissioner's Office and freeing Adaikalam.

## Plot

Amudha, a 10-year old orphan girl, gets informed by an employee of the orphanage, that someone important is going to arrive to meet her by the 10am of next day. Around the same time, Inspector Bejoy and his squad comprising of Thiru, Sudhakar, Joseph and Kumaran make a huge drug bust, seizing a container carrying 900 kilograms of cocaine. They detain it secretly in a basement of the Office Of The Commissioner Of Trichy, hidden from the public.

The drug cartel behind the drug smuggling is lead by the gang leader Adaikalam and his younger brother Anbu. Anbu, gets provoked by the news of this seizure and takes the help of the corrupt Stephen Raj, the Zonal Director Of Narcotics Division. Stephen helps Anbu recognize the officials behind the seizure and so Anbu formulates a plan to kill the squad and recover their detained load.

During a party hosted by I.G (Inspector General) at his guesthouse, Stephen Raj, with the help of his mole in the party, drugs the drinks. As a result, the officers start to bleed and become unconscious. Inspector Bejoy, who chose not to drink anything is the only sober person at the party. Due to his injured hand, he seeks out the help of Dilli, a prisoner released on parole. Dilli was present at the scene as one of the officers that attended the party arrested him while he was enroute to see his daughter at the orphanage, on account of his big beard which seemed to be suspicious. Bejoy threatens Dilli to coerce him into helping him transport the unconscious officers, and assures he would make arrangements to see Dilli's daughter once they successfully transport the officers to a hospital.

Bejoy and Dilli load the bodies into the lorry that was used to cater for the event, and take the lorry's owner Kamatchi along with them. Kamatchi navigates while Dilli drives. On their way, they get attacked by different gangs, all of whom are interested in the reward they would receive from Adaikalam's gang for killing those that seized the cocaine. Dilli uses his physical strength and some smart tricks to beat up and escape from these gangs to try and get to the hospital as fast as possible.

Meanwhile, at the Commissioner's office, 4 college students have been detained for drunken driving. There are also gang members who are locked up in a holding cell, which, unbeknownst to the Constable present at the office at that time, included the leader Adaikalam as well. Constable Napoleon communicates with Bejoy and with the help of the college students, attempts to prevent the gang from breaking in and freeing their gang. Bejoy makes a deal with Anbu to which he agrees. However, as they start to unlock the cell, Bejoy feels suspicious of Anbu's decision and realises that Adaikalam is present in the jail too. They immediately lock up the jail and as a result, the gang tries to infiltrate to the building. After various attempts, Anbu successfully enters the building but gets caught by the students.

In the truck, one of the "drugged" people named Paalpandi comes to, and befriends Dilli, Bejoy and Kamatchi. However, he turns out to be the mole, who drugged the officers in the first place, and was contacting the gangs live with information on where the truck was. The group transfer the officers from the lorry to a bus, and Paalpandi continues communicating with Anbu's gang as they journey to the hospital.

On the way, they encounter Tips, Anbu's right-hand-man. Ajaz Ahmed, Bejoy's mole in Adaikalam's gang, is exposed and killed by Tips. A fight between Dilli and the gang ensues. Ultimately, Dilli kills his gang, including Paalpandi. At the Commissioner's Office, one of the goons outside the building catches a student and kills him under the approval of Anbu. Enraged by his death, the constable bludgeons Anbu using fire extinguisher, making him unconscious. Enraged, Adaikalam exclaims that he will kill them all.

Bejoy, Dilli and Kamatchi finally arrive at the Commissioner's Office after getting a doctor to tend to all the unconscious police officers. Dilli enters the building via a secret passage that leads to the basement and directs the students to move out of the building. Dilli and Constable Napoleon decide to burn the hidden drugs, but change their minds in the last minute. Dilli finds an M134 Minigun. As the gang outside breaks through the main door, Dilli fires at them using the minigun and finally eliminates the gang present there.

The police officers get their required treatment, and the authorities and ambulances arrive at the Commissioner's Office to retrieve the corpses of those who died in the battle. Stephen Raj is then arrested.

Nalini, Dilli's probation officer, brings his daughter Amudha to him, and they have a heartfelt conversation, with Dilli promising her that we would never leave her. Dilli thanks Bejoy who tells him that all the facilities he require would be arranged by his men, and that Dilli and Amudha will have all the support they need to lead a good life.

One of the jailed men tells Adaikalam that Dilli, who wasn't related to the gang, is the main cause for their defeat to which Adaikalam replies that he does have a connection and reveals his name.

The movie ends with Dilli walking on the side of the highway carrying Amudha, accompanied by Kamatchi, heading to their village.

## Cast

* Karthi as Dilli
* Narain as Inspector Bejoy
* Arjun Das as Anbudoss "Anbu"
* George Maryan as Napoleon
* Harish Uthaman as Adaikalam
* Dheena as Kamatchi
* Ramana as Tips
* Amjath as Ram
* Kanna Ravi as Ajas Ahmed/"Sampath"
* Hareesh Peradi as Stephen Raj
* Arun Alexander as Paalpaandi
* Vatsan Chakravarthi as Ajay
* Udayaraj as a college student
* Kishore Rajkumar as Ashok
* Lallu as Chittu
* Deepthi as Thamizh
* Baby Monica as Amudha
* Krishnamoorthi as K. Venkat
* Malavika Avinash as Nalini
* Chetan as Dr. Amudhan
* R. N. R. Manohar as an IG

## Appearances

### Organizations

* Adaikalam & Gang
* Indian Police
* Narcotics Control Bureau

## Trivia

* The plot of the movie took some inspirations from *Assault on Precinct 13*, *Die Hard* & *Con Air*
* *Kaithi* has been remade in Hindi as *Bholaa* and is set to be remade in Kannada as well.
* *Kaithi* is currently the only Lokesh Cinematic Universe movie that does not include songs.
* *Kaithi* is currently the only Lokesh Cinematic Universe movie with the music of Sam C. S. and not Anirudh Ravichander.
* *Kaithi* was tentatively called *Karthi 18* since it was Karthi's 18th film as a lead actor.