CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Kadal (2013 film)

2013 Tamil film directed by Mani Ratnam

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 15, 2026
Entity authorityQ1187127
Source-derived summary

Kadal (; transl. Sea) is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language drama film co-written, co-produced and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film stars an ensemble cast featuring Arjun Sarja, Aravind Swamy, Gautham Ram Karthik, Lakshmi Manchu and Thulasi Nair. The film marks the debut of Gautham Karthik and Thulasi Nair. The music was composed by A. R. Rahman. The film revolves around the life of fishermen who instill the fact that faith can sometimes lead to the triumph of humanity.

The film was dubbed into Telugu as Kadali. The film was released worldwide on 1 February 2013 to mixed reviews and became a box-office failure.

Plot

Bergmans, a brilliant but unruly student, is thrown out of his seminary for sinning the flesh after being caught red-handed by fellow student Sam Fernando. Blaming the good-hearted Sam for his ouster, Bergmans vows revenge and challenges to prove that evil does reign supreme in this world. Sam finishes his education and training and arrives at a village as the new father of the local church.

Editorial summary

“Kadal (2013 film)” enters the record as 2013 Tamil film directed by Mani Ratnam. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Kadal, film and Tamil can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2013—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2013-01-01. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Kadal, film and Tamil.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Kadal (2013 film)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Kadal, film and Tamil provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1187127. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2013.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Kadal (2013 film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Kadal (2013 film) primary sources, Kadal (2013 film) archive and Kadal research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Kadal (2013 film)”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Kadal (2013 film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.