| Lal Salaam | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Aishwarya Rajinikanth |
| Screenplay by | Vishnu Rangasamy Aishwarya Rajinikanth |
| Story by | Vishnu Rangasamy |
| Produced by | Allirajah Subaskaran |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Vishnu Rangasamy |
| Edited by | B. Pravin Baaskar |
| Music by | A. R. Rahman |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Red Giant Movies |
Release date |
|
Running time | 150 minutes[1] 163 minutes (extended version) |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Budget | est.₹80–90 crores[2] |
| Box office | ₹17.46 crores[3] |
Lal Salaam (transl. Red Salute) is a 2024 IndianTamil-languagesportsaction drama film directed byAishwarya Rajinikanth and produced byAllirajah Subaskaran underLyca Productions. The film starsVishnu Vishal andVikranth, with an ensemble supporting cast includingVignesh,Livingston,Senthil,Jeevitha,K. S. Ravikumar andThambi Ramaiah, whileRajinikanth appears in an extended cameo role.
The film was officially announced in November 2022. Filming took place between March and August 2023, in several locations includingChennai,Mumbai andPondicherry. The film has music composed byA. R. Rahman, cinematography headed by Vishnu Rangasamy and editing by B. Pravin Baaskar.
Lal Salaam was released theatrically on 9 February 2024 in theatres. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics and was abox-office bomb, earning₹19 crore against the budget of₹80–90 crore.[4] Aishwarya has since attributed the film's failure to loss of crucial footage during filming.[5] An extended version, incorporating some rediscovered footage, was released onSun NXT on 6 June 2025, to a more positive reception.
Thirunavukarasu "Thiru" gets arrested by the police and recounts his story from jail.
Thiru is a happy-go-lucky jobless man who lives in Murabad, a village whereHindus andMuslims co-exist harmoniously. He later falls for Dhanalakshmi. A politician's son, Maharajan (Raji), argues with Thiru's mother, so Thiru beats up Raji and his men furiously. A competitivecricket match takes place in the village, featuring two teams, 3 Stars (full of Muslim people) and MCC (full of Hindu people). Maharajan plans to use the cricket match to incite the villagers. The 3 Star team plans to bring Samsuddin from Bombay to their team.
In Bombay, Shamsuddin's father, D. G. Mohideen, also known as Mohideen Bhai, fights with some men after Samsuddin is attacked following a syndicate meeting. Thiru reveals that his father, Manickam, and Mohideen Bhai are good friends, and Samsu is a talented cricket player. Mohideen's friendship with Manickam remained after Manickam's death. Alauddin Bhai calls Samsu to come to Murabad, so Samsu arrives. Thiru reveals that they have had enmity since a young age, as Moideen Bhai forced Thiru into a school he disliked. Samsu is selected to play for the Ranji Trophy but loses to Thiru's team. They hold another cricket match in which Thiru's team loses. Mani, Thiru's friend, starts a fight, leading to a violent scuffle between players and the crowd. In a fit of rage, Thiru injures Shamsuddin's right hand during a match, sparking a serious conflict between Muslims and Hindus in Murabad. Moideen Bhai learns that Samsu's hand must be amputated to save him, and he cries in anguish. Thiru's mother, Rani pleads with her brother, Moideen Bhai, but he ignores her. During a peace meeting, Moideen Bhai decides to leave justice to the system and allows Thiru to go to court. Samikannu, the village priest, pleads with Bhai, but he refuses. Thiru is arrested by the police, which is what happens at the beginning.
Samsu attempts to hang himself, but Bhai slaps him for his cowardice. Samsu tells he could do anything and tells his father to do something, to which Bhai says he will do something. Thiru gets bail, and he decides to reform his ways. Outside the court, Thiru gets attacked by men, but he fights them and defends himself. The villagers discover that Moideen Bhai was behind the attack. Moideen reflects. In a flashback, it is revealed that Moideen Bhai stood by his sister's, Rani side even at Manickam's funeral. They plan to file an FIR against Bhai, but the police will take a written complaint. Thiru lets Rani know that he will not fight and will change his ways. After Dhanalakshmi reveals her love for Thiru, Raji attacks Thiru, but Thiru retaliates by breaking Raji's hand.
At the village festival, Raji insults the low-caste villagers and confiscates the village's chariot. Samikannu passes away after his grandchildren leave due to the festival cancellation. With some guidance from his friends and mentor, he plays cricket for the surrounding villages and wins, while also earning some money for the chariot funding. In need of another ₹1.5 lakh, he and his friends go to Bombay relying on donations. The villagers start building the chariot. Moideen Bhai tries to pacify his son; however, Samsu says he will do something to Thiru. It is revealed that Moideen Bhai orchestrated the attack to make Samsu believe he is doing something. Thiru travels to Bombay and gets caught up in a religious riot between the townsfolk. Thiru watches Samsu get attacked by some men, and Thiru saves him, but they both get injured in the process. The brother of Samsuddin’s attacker, uses the opportunity to attack Samsu, but Moideen Bhai saves Thiru and Samsu.
Mohideen then decides to give the additional funding for their own chariot. However, a jealous Raj destroys it in retaliation. In the end it is revealed that it was Raj who made sure Shamsuddin injured his hand in the clash in Murarbad. Hearing this, his pregnant wife, Ammani, threatens him to surrender to the police for his criminal acts or lose their unborn child. Finally, the Muslim community in Murarbad helps the Hindu community with their Thiruvizha, and the harmony is achieved once again.
In October 2022,Rajinikanth, who had signed a two-deal film with production houseLyca Productions after the success of2.0 (2018), was reported to have signed his daughterAishwarya Rajinikanth to direct the latter film in the deal, with the former film beingVettaiyan.[9] Soon after, Aishwarya reportedly made a new plan withAtharvaa starring in the lead role, while Rajinikanth would play an extended cameo role.[10] On 5 November, the production house made a public announcement, confirming the project. The official title,Lal Salaam, was revealed and amuhurat puja was held the same day inChennai. Instead of Atharvaa,Vishnu Vishal andVikranth were announced to play the lead roles.[11]Jeevitha made her comeback into acting after thirty-three years through this film.[12]
Principal photography commenced on 7 March 2023 inChennai, while a muhuratpuja was held in December 2022.[13] The first schedule in Chennai was wrapped up in April.[14] The second schedule inMumbai began in May.[15] Rajinikanth joined the schedule that month.[16] Former cricketerKapil Dev also joined the schedule that month.[8] In June, moved the team toPondicherry.[17][18] Rajinikanth had wrapped up his portions by 12 July.[19] The team completed shooting the second schedule in July.[20] Vishnu also wrapped up his portions by 5 August.[6] The principal photography wrapped up by 7 August.[21] A hard disk containing 21 days worth footage went missing during post-production works and, unable to reshoot all the missing scenes, the team reshot only a few and included them into the final cut.[5]
Thefilm score and soundtrack are composed byA. R. Rahman, in his maiden feature film collaboration with Aishwarya Rajinikanth.[22]
In November 2023, it was announced that the audio rights for the film were purchased bySony Music India.[23] The first single titled "Ther Thiruvizha" was released on 18 December 2023. The second single titled "Ae Pulla" sung bySid Sriram was released on 15 January 2024 coinciding withPongal. However, Sid Sriram was replaced byNakul Abhyankar in the film version of the song.[citation needed]
The song "Thimiri Yezhuda" which was sung using the voices of late singersBamba Bakya andShahul Hameed was made possible via artificial intelligence technology, thus making it the first Indian song to recreate a deceased singer's voice.[24]
The audio launch was held atSri Leo Muthu Indoor Stadium on 26 January 2024.[25]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ther Thiruvizha" | Vivek | Shankar Mahadevan,A. R. Raihanah, Deepthi Suresh, Yogi Sekar | 7:44 |
| 2. | "Ae Pulla" | Kabilan | Sid Sriram (Soundtrack Version),Nakul Abhyankar (Film Version) | 4.41 |
| 3. | "Anbalane" | Yugabharathi | Deva | 6:44 |
| 4. | "Thimiri Yezhuda" | Snehan | Bamba Bakya,Shahul Hameed,Deepthi Suresh, Akshaya Shivkumar | 2:47 |
| 5. | "Jalali" | Mashook Rahman,A. R. Rahman | A. R. Rahman, Sarath Santosh | 3:55 |
The theaterical teaser of the film was released on 12 November 2023, on the occasion ofDiwali.[26][27] On Rajinikanth's birthday on 12 December 2023, a promo highlighting his character of Moideen Bhai was released.[28]
Initially, the film was scheduled for theatrical release on 12 January 2024, coinciding withPongal. However, in a turn of events, the production house announced that the film will instead release at 9 February 2024 to account for the delay in post-production work and the release ofMission: Chapter 1 (2024).[29][30]
In December 2024, Aishwarya said an extended cut would be available on streaming as some of the previously lost footage was found.[31][32] The extended version began streaming onSun NXT from 6 June, coinciding with theEid al-Adha,[33] and was regarded by viewers as an improvement over the theatrical version.[34]
Lal Salaam received mixed to negative reviews from critics.[35] On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 40% of 5 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10.[36]
Roopa Radhakrishnan ofThe Times of India gave 3/5 stars and stated "The film's politics needs to be applauded. But there could have been more nuance in the way the conflict resolved. It could have been more than just a piece of convenient writing".[37] Latha Srinivasan ofHindustan Times stated "Aishwarya Rajinikanth’sLal Salaam is a social drama with a message. And the audience will love Rajinikanth as Moideen bhai and hopefully, they’ll take back home and to heart what he says on screen. Humanity above all".[38] Janani K ofIndia Today gave 2.5/5 stars and stated "While the first half of the film is uneven due to forced staging, the messaging comes together in the second half, leaving viewers with a satisfying aftertaste".[39]
Ram Venkat Srikar ofFilm Companion stated "The social message is important, no doubt about it, but it's also important that the strong message exists in an equally strong film. That's whereLal Salaam misses the mark".[40] Kirubhakar Purushothaman ofThe New Indian Express gave 2.5/5 stars and stated "Lal Salaam is a winner if films are supposed to be noble message churning machines. But if cinema is considered to be much more than the takeaways and moral of the story, we only have a middling film with a topical and much-needed message for the country".[41] Sudhir Srinivasan ofCinema Express gave 2/5 stars and stated that "a film, in which Rajinikanth seems quite willing to shed his star image in pursuit of story-related pleasures, in pursuit of progressive politics, deserves to be more emotional, and more powerful".[42]
Bhuvanesh Chandar ofThe Hindu stated "Lal Salaam is the kind of film you wish you liked for how noble its intentions are. But that’s all you are left to feel for a film that doesn’t try enough to give you more, anything refreshing or anything novel".[43]
