Indian (1996 film)

Indian
Theatrical release poster
Directed byS. Shankar
Screenplay byS. Shankar
Dialogues by
Story byS. Shankar
Produced byA. M. Rathnam
Starring
CinematographyJeeva
Edited byB. Lenin
V. T. Vijayan
Music byA. R. Rahman
Production
company
Sri Surya Movies
Release date
  • 9 May 1996 (1996-05-09)
Running time
185 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil
Budget15 crore
Box office64.25 crore

Indian is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language vigilante action film directed by S. Shankar, who wrote the script with dialogues by Sujatha, and produced by A. M. Rathnam. The film stars Kamal Haasan in dual roles, alongside Manisha Koirala, Urmila Matondkar, Sukanya, Manorama, Goundamani, Senthil, Nedumudi Venu, Kasthuri, Nizhalgal Ravi and Ajay Rathnam. It is the first instalment in the Indian film series. The music was composed by A. R. Rahman, while cinematography and editing were handled by Jeeva and B. Lenin-V. T. Vijayan. In the film, Senapathy, a retired freedom fighter rebels against corruption in India, which puts him in conflict with his son Chandru, who lives by corruption.

Indian was released on 9 May 1996 worldwide and became the highest-grossing Tamil film upon release. It was selected by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1996, but was not nominated. The film won three National Film Awards, including Best Actor (Kamal Haasan), two South Filmfare Awards and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. It was partially reshot in Hindi as Hindustani with Manorama being replaced by Aruna Irani and released on 23 August 1996. A sequel titled Indian 2 was released in 2024 and a third film Indian 3 is in production.