Samurai (2002 film)

Last updated

Samurai
Samurai 2002 poster.jpg
Promotional poster
Directed by Balaji Sakthivel
Written byBalaji Sakthivel
Produced by S. Sriram
Starring
Cinematography Sethu Sriram
Edited by V. T. Vijayan
Music by Harris Jayaraj
Production
company
Release date
  • 12 July 2002 (2002-07-12)(India)
Running time
180 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Samurai is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language vigilante action thriller film written and directed by Balaji Sakthivel in his directoral debut and produced by S. Sriram. The film stars Vikram in the title role, with supporting roles played by Anita Hassanandani, Jaya Seal, and Nassar. Cinematography was handled by Sethu Sriram and the music was scored by Harris Jayaraj.

Contents

Filming of Samurai started in March 2001 but due to the production delays, the film was released only in July 2002. [1]

Plot

Thiyagarajan, a medical student, heads to meet his childhood friend Varadharajan . On the way, he meets a kind-hearted but mischievous schoolgirl Deiva, who lives with her grandmother and is the daughter of a police officer named Sandana Pandian. Sandana has a run-in with Thiyagu, but later realizes his kind-heartedness. Thiyagu meets up with his friends to kidnap a politician for his illegal activities at which time, he finds out that Sandana's family are neighbors with him and good friends with his friend. After the dirty politician gets kidnapped, Sandana is appointed to investigate the case.

Meanwhile, Thiyagu also kidnaps another five people, while Sandana is unable to catch the culprit. During this time, Nisha's friends try to molest Deiva. Unable to bear the trauma she experienced on her own, she returns to her parents. However, Sandana is already stressed out from the investigation and doesn't want to hear about Deiva's problems. Thiyagu helps to relieve Deiva's anxiety by telling her she now knows how to avoid that type of situation in the future. After that, Deiva, not knowing Thiyagu's true identity, falls in love with him.

Past: Thiyagu's studious classmate, Kavitha writes about the things, which she wants to tell Thiyagu in her diary, but never does. Although Thiyagu gets irritated with her, he still loves her. While attending medical school, Kavitha discovers that a pharmaceutical company has distributed expired medicines that caused a boy's death. When she tries to expose the company, no one supports her because they don't know the boy. This upset her so much she commits suicide. Before dying though, Kavitha asked Thiyagu to deliver justice for the boy's death on her behalf. After much thought, and after reading Kavitha's diary, Thiyagu and his friends decide to exact vengeance on those, who use a loophole in the law to complete their prison sentence in guest houses and hospitals.

Present: Sandana discovers that the next target is a minister, who is behind the pharma crimes for which Kavitha committed suicide. Sandana tries to protect the minister, but he still gets kidnapped, where Sandana later realizes that Thiyagu is responsible for the kidnappings. Knowing Pandian is after him, Thiyagu tries to escape. When Deiva conveys her love to Thiyagu, he reveals his identity to her. Pandian captures Thiyagu and puts him on trial in an open court with magistrates and other people. They ask him to release the kidnapped people, but Thiyagu argues that he will only release them after they are punished with a capital punishment.

The magistrates deny the request stating there is no law that has such a punishment. The abductees end up being released and everyone that heard Thiyagu's argument, form a protest and kills all the abductees. After this, Sandana takes Thiyagu and his friends away in a van, and appreciates his work by saying that there is a need for such a law that gives the culprits a punishment of death. As Thiyagu leaves, Deiva arrives, which reminds Thyagu of how he felt about Kavitha. Deiva tells him that Kavitha is always with him just as Deiva will be. Later, Thiyagu and his friends leave with Deiva.

Cast

Production

Vikram signed the film in March 2001 and it became the first venture he committed to, after the blockbuster success of Bala's Sethu which released in 1999. [2] North Indian model Anita Hassanandani was selected to make her debut in the film, but another film, Varushamellam Vasantham starring Anita Hassanandani was released before Samurai. [3]

Simran was approached to play a pivotal role in the film, but Jaya Seel, who appeared alongside Prabhu Deva in Pennin Manathai Thottu , was roped in instead to play a medical student. [4] Malayalam actor Kollam Thulasi was signed up to play a villain in the film making his debut in Tamil films. [5]

Shooting commenced in April 2001 when Vikram was simultaneuosly shooting for the action masala films such as Vinnukkum Mannukkum (2001), Dhill (2001), Kasi (2001), Gemini (2002), King (2002) and Kadhal Sadugudu (2003), and was continued till June 2002 due to some production delays. The initial schedules were held in Chennai, then the unit moved on to shoot at locations in Kuttralam, Ooty, Araku, Vishakhapatnam, Lucknow and Bihar. Some scenes with the lead pair were shot in the forest areas of Kerala which was also the location for a song shot on Vikram. Again, a lavish set was erected at the AVM Studios where Vikram, Anita, and new-face Shreya took part. [6] The film was also heavily shot in Orissa, while songs were canned in Syria. [7]

Vikram went to yoga classes to prepare for the opening scene for Samurai, where he poses in the Mayura asanam posture. [8] In a 2002 interview, the actor stated that when he first met Balaji, "he was a very enthusiastic, charged person" and was able to convince Vikram to star in the film. He also compared Balaji with director Shankar. [9]

Release

Samurai opened in July 2002 to mixed reviews from critics. The Hindu's critic noted that "Samurai will satisfy action lovers but for those looking for innovation in story and screenplay, the soldier leaves you yearning". With respect to performances, the critic added that "with an admirably well-maintained physique and powerful eyes Vikram is all geared up for action". Moreover, "Anita is more of an essential prop, but Jayaseel in a cameo has scope to perform, which she does well". [10]

Rediff.com wrote that "the net result is disappointing due to the worn-out theme that is very reminiscent of recent films". However, the reviewer also went on to say "Vikram, though, is convincing in his portrayal and the 'training' scenes where he gains expertise and invulnerability is thrilling and the stunt scenes draw applause". [11]

The director himself later labelled the film a "damp squib" mentioning he made serious errors with the film's screenplay. [12] The film successfully ran 100 days in theatres, ending a string of consecutive successful Vikram films in Dhill , Kasi and Gemini . [13] However, despite this, it was reported that Balaji Sakthivel was still keen to make Vikram star in his next film, though the director next went on to make the successful low-budget film Kaadhal (2004). [14] Samurai was later dubbed under the same name in Telugu to capitalise on Vikram's star potential. [15] [16] The film was also later dubbed into Hindi as Samurai: Ek Yodha in 2012 by Wide Angle Media Pvt. Ltd.

Soundtrack

The music and background score were composed by Harris Jayaraj.

Samurai
Soundtrack album by
Harris Jayaraj
ReleasedJuly 2, 2002
Recorded2002
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Length26:59
Label Five Star Audio
Ayngaran Music
An Ak Audio
Producer Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj chronology
Vasu
(2002)		Samurai
(2002)		 Lesa Lesa
(2003)

All tracks are written by Vairamuthu

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Aagaya Suriyanai" Harish Raghavendra, Harini 5:25
2."En Manadhil" Vasundhara Das 5:02
3."Adidadi Appatha" Suneeta Rao, Vadivukkarasi 4:38
4."Moongil Kaadugale" Hariharan, Tippu 6:20
5."Oru Nadhi Oru Pournami" Nithyashree Mahadevan, Tushara5:34
Total length:26:59

Related Research Articles

<i>Kaadhal</i> 2004 Indian film

Kaadhal (transl. Love) is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film based on a true story, directed by Balaji Sakthivel, starring Bharath and Sandhya. It was produced by S. Shankar and featured music composed by Joshua Sridhar. The film opened on 17 December 2004 to critical acclaim and was a high commercial success. It was Bharath's first successful film as a main lead actor. The film was dubbed into Telugu as Premisthe in 2005. It was remade in Kannada as Cheluvina Chittara in 2007, in Bengali as Chirodini Tumi Je Amar in 2008, in Bangladesh as Nogor Mastan in 2015, in Marathi as Ved Laavi Jeeva in 2010, in Nepali as Manjari in 2013 and in Punjabi as Ramta Jogi in 2015.

<i>Sethu</i> (film) 1999 Indian film

Sethu is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film, written and directed by Bala in his debut. The film stars Vikram and Abitha. The score and soundtrack were composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with cinematography by R. Rathnavelu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vikram (actor)</span> Indian actor (born 1966)

Kennedy John Victor, known professionally as Vikram, is an Indian actor and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He is among the most decorated actors in Tamil cinema, with laurels including eight Filmfare Awards South, a National Film Award, four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and the Kalaimamani Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu. Based on the earnings of Indian celebrities, Vikram was included in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list for 2016 and 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Hassanandani</span> Indian actress

Natasha Hassanandani, professionally known as Anita Hassanandani, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Hindi television serials.

<i>Dhool</i> 2003 Indian film

Dhool (transl. Fantastic) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language masala film written and directed by Dharani. The film stars Vikram in the lead role alongside Jyothika and Reema Sen. Vivek, Sayaji Shinde, Telangana Shakuntala and Pasupathy play other roles. Produced by A. M. Rathnam at a cost of ₹7 crore, the film was released on 10 January 2003. It received positive reviews and was a commercial success. Dhool was remade in Telugu as Veede (2003) with Sen reprising her role.

<i>Dhill</i> 2001 film by Dharani

Dhill (transl. Guts/Courage) is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Dharani. The film stars Vikram in the lead role, alongside Laila, Ashish Vidyarthi, Nassar and Vivek in supporting roles. The music was composed by Vidyasagar, while cinematography and editing were handled by S. Gopinath and B. Lenin and V. T. Vijayan.

<i>Kaadhale Nimmadhi</i> 1998 film by Indhran

Kaadhale Nimmadhi is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Indhran. The film stars Suriya, Murali, Jeevitha Sharma and Sangeetha. Radhika, Manivannan and Nassar also play significant roles in the film, while Deva composed the soundtrack. The film was released on 14 January 1998.

<i>Kadhal Sadugudu</i> 2003 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film

Kadhal Sadugudu is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by V. Z. Durai and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film stars Vikram, Priyanka Trivedi, Prakash Raj, and Vivek. The music was composed by Deva with cinematography by M. S. Prabhu and editing by Suresh Urs. The film released on 13 April 2003. The film's title is based on a song from Alaipayuthey (2000).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balaji Sakthivel</span> Indian film director (born 1964)

Balaji Sakthivel is an Indian actor and director of Tamil films. He is best known for directing the 2004 film Kaadhal.

<i>Panchatanthiram</i> 2002 film by K. S. Ravikumar

Panchatanthiram is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language black comedy film co-written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. The story is written by Kamal Haasan with the dialogues by Crazy Mohan. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Jayaram, Ramesh Aravind, Sriman, Yugi Sethu, Simran and Ramya Krishnan, with Urvashi, Aishwarya, Sanghavi, Vidhya Venkatesh, Devayani and Nagesh in supporting roles. It loosely adapts from the 1998 film Very Bad Things with new elements added to it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hari (director)</span> Indian film director and screenwriter

Harikrishnan is an Indian film director and screenwriter best known for his action and masala films in Tamil cinema. He made his directorial debut with Thamizh (2002). He later directed films such as Saamy (2003), Kovil (2004), Ayya (2005), Thaamirabharani (2007), Vel (2007) and the Singam film series (2010-2017). He mostly directed Coimbatore, Dindigul, Tenkasi and Thoothukudi-Tirunelveli district based movies.

Boopathy Pandian is a Tamil film director.

Revathy, known by her stage name Kadhal Sandhya, is an Indian former actress who appeared mainly in Tamil film industry and in a few Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films.

<i>Deiva Thirumagal</i> 2011 film by A. L. Vijay

Deiva Thirumagal is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language melodrama film written and directed by A. L. Vijay and produced by M. Chinthamani and Ronnie Screwvala. The film features Vikram in lead role as an intellectually-disabled man while Sara Arjun, Anushka Shetty, Amala Paul, Nassar, Krishna Kumar, Santhanam, M.S Bhaskar and Sachin Khedekar playing pivotal roles.

<i>Thaandavam</i> 2012 Indian film

Thaandavam (transl. Dance) is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language neo-noir action thriller film written and directed by A. L. Vijay. The film stars an ensemble cast with Vikram, Jagapati Babu, Anushka Shetty, Amy Jackson, Lakshmi Rai, Nassar, Santhanam, Raj Arjun and Saranya in pivotal roles It is produced by UTV Motion Pictures and features music composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar. Thaandavam was released worldwide on 28 September 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vikram filmography</span>

Vikram is an Indian actor, playback singer and former dubbing artiste known for his work in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil, he has also worked in Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi language films. He has featured in over 55 motion pictures, three television programs, and several music videos and commercials.

<i>Itha Oru Snehagatha</i> 1997 film by Captain Raju

Itha Oru Snehagatha is a 1997 Indian Malayalam-language romance film, written and directed by Captain Raju. The film stars Vikram, and Laila in the leading roles. It was dubbed and released in Tamil as Thrill in May 2002, shortly after the success of Dhill, in which Vikram and Laila had featured.

<i>Neruppu Da</i> 2017 Indian film

Neruppu Da is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by debutant B. Ashok Kumar. The film was produced by Vikram Prabhu under his First Artist production company and stars him in the lead role alongside Nikki Galrani alongside an ensemble supporting cast including Sangeetha, Madhusudhan Rao, Vincent Asokan, Varun, and Rajkumar. The music was composed by Sean Roldan with cinematography by R. D. Rajasekhar and editing by debutant Thiyagu. The film's production started in July 2016, and the film was released on 8 September 2017. The film was dubbed in Hindi as Fire Man Surya.

Sara Arjun is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Tamil and Hindi films and commercials. The daughter of actor Raj Arjun, she had appeared in a series of commercials and a short Hindi film before the age of six. In 2010, she was signed on to portray a lead role in A. L. Vijay's Tamil drama film Deiva Thirumagal, portraying the role of a six-year-old whose father was a mentally challenged adult. The film opened to critical and commercial acclaim, with Arjun's performance receiving praise from film critics.

Sirithal Rasipen is a 2009 Tamil language comedy film directed, written and produced by V. Chandrasekaran. The film stars Sathya and Sunu Lakshmi, alongside an ensemble cast of M. S. Bhaskar, Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, Manobala, Kalpana, Mayilsamy, Lollu Sabha Balaji, Sathyan, Ansiba Hassan, Thyagu, and Shanmugarajan, amongst others, in supporting roles. The film was released on 3 July 2009 and is a remake of the Malayalam film Sathyabhamakkoru Premalekhanam (1996).

References

  1. ↑ "Filmography of samurai". Tamil.cinesouth.com. 12 July 2002. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "Movies: Gossip from the southern film industry". Rediff. 31 May 2000. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  3. ↑ "34th Tamil film of the year 2002". Cinematoday3.itgo.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  4. ↑ "Tamil Cinema — Feature on Jeya Sheel". India4u. Archived from the original on 18 November 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ↑ "Samurai". Archived from the original on 11 September 2002. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "The "Samurai" story". The Hindu . 4 June 2002. Archived from the original on 4 November 2003. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  8. ↑ "Strongman in search of a challenge". The Hindu . 22 July 2001. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  9. ↑ "'I want to strike a balance'". The Hindu . 31 May 2002. Archived from the original on 27 June 2003. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  10. ↑ "Samurai". The Hindu . 19 July 2002. Archived from the original on 9 October 2003. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "Movies: Sigh!". rediff.com. 5 August 2002. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  12. ↑ "Cinema Plus / Cinema : My first break". The Hindu . 7 December 2007. Archived from the original on 8 December 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  13. ↑ "Pongal releases 2003". Redif. 11 January 2003. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  14. ↑ "A Tamil entertainment ezine presenting interesting contents and useful services". Nilacharal. Archived from the original on 22 May 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  15. ↑ Kumar, G. Manjula (6 July 2004). "Telugu link". The Hindu . Archived from the original on 1 February 2015.
  16. ↑ "Vikram is red hot in Andhra". Sify . Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.