Indian () is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language vigilante action film written and directed by Shankar and produced by A. M. Rathnam. The film stars Kamal Haasan in a dual role opposite Nedumudi Venu, Sukanya, Manisha Koirala and Urmila Matondkar. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by A. R. Rahman, while cinematography was handled by Jeeva. The film focuses on an ex-freedom fighter turned vigilante bent on rooting out corruption, and his son, who is at the other end of the spectrum by facilitating corrupt practices leading to some unfortunate events. He is well trained in Varma Kalai, an ancient lethal martial art used for close-quarters combat. Indian was released on 9 May 1996 worldwide and opened to high critical acclaim on the way to becoming a major commercial success in the box office. It became the highest grossing Tamil film of all time and also the first film from Tamil and South India to gross 50 crore at worldwide box office. The film 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 also went on to win three National Film Awards including that of Best Actor for Kamal Haasan's portrayal, while his performance also saw him win at the Filmfare Awards and the Tamil Nadu film fare award. It was the highest-grossing Tamil film upon its release, beating the collections of Baashha until surpassed by Padayappa three years later. Plot A series of murders take place in Avadi, Chennai, in the same pattern; stabbing by a knife. Each time the victim is paralysed before being killed. The Chennai Police Department, led by CBI officer Krishnaswamy suspects several people, and they narrow down the killer by his age, which should be more than 70 years based on the writing style of a letter left behind by the killer while murdering his most recent victim, an officer in the government treasury. The officer is killed by an old man who is later known to be Senapathy, a veteran Indian freedom fighter who was a member of the Indian National Army led by Subhas Chandra Bose, for threatening a poor old woman to bribe him to hand over compensation amount of given by the government as her husband was killed in a riot. Chandrabose alias Chandru is a small-time broker stationed outside the RTO at Chennai,