Kabali is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language gangster–drama film written and directed by Pa. Ranjith and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu.[5] The film revolves around the gang war between Kabaleeswaran (played by Rajinikanth) and Tony Lee (portrayed by Winston Chao). Radhika Apte, Dhansika, Dinesh Ravi, Kalaiyarasan, and John Vijay also star in pivotal roles.
Principal photography for the film began on 21 August 2015 in Chennai. While filming mostly occurred in Malaysia, some scenes were shot in Bangkok and Hong Kong.[6]
The film was released in Tamil along with dubbed versions in Telugu and Hindi on 22 July 2016, while the film was released in Malay a week later.[7][8][9] Kabali was released on 3200 screens in India, of which 2200 were in South India.[10] Upon release, the film had the largest opening weekend for any Indian film worldwide.[11]