Arasatchi
Arasatchi (English: Government Rule / Government Authority) is a 2004 Tamil vigilante thriller film directed by N. Maharajan which starred Arjun and Lara Dutta in the lead roles, alongside an ensemble cast.[1] The film's music was composed by Harris Jayaraj.[2] The film was released in September 2004 to mixed reviews.[3] It was dubbed into Telugu as Judgement and in Hindi as Ghatak The Destroyer.
| Arasatchi | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | N. Maharajan |
| Produced by | Murali Manohar Haresh Vikram Vijayakumar |
| Written by | N. Maharajan |
| Starring | Arjun Lara Dutta |
| Music by | Harris Jayaraj |
| Cinematography | S. Saravanan |
| Edited by | B. S. Vasu Saleem |
Production company | Cee (I)TV Entertainment(p)ltd |
| Distributed by | Mars Entertainment Group Motion Pictures Partners |
Release date |
|
Running time | 154 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Plot
Brammanadham (Anandaraj), a lawyer who argues for rapists and murderers, is killed by a cricket ball hit by Siddharth (Arjun). Siddharth is a GM of a five-star hotel owned by S. Ve. Shekher. Shekher's daughter is Lara (Lara Dutta), who is introduced with a song. She comes from abroad to join her father's hotel, but only as a trainee under the macho Siddharth. Within no time, Lara is in love with Siddharth.
It is now time for duets. Lara's friend Prakash (Karan) is a campaigner of public cause. His efforts lead to a brothel raid and a minister getting arrested. The minister's goons bump off Prakash, and Siddharth is an eyewitness. Siddharth refuses to testify, and Lara walks out on him. Janakiraman (Charan Raj) pleads for the killer and lets him off. Siddharth bumps off Janakiraman. Major Vishwanath (Nassar), a military officer, is a witness to the murder. He even postpones his heart operation until the killer is nabbed. Siddharth now tells his story of why he is on a hunt of the lawyers who plead for the bad guys. Vishwanath gives up his mission.
Next, Devan takes a brief for a rapist, and he too is killed. Next is the turn of advocate Ashok Mehta (Raghuvaran), who comes from Delhi. The surprise element is that Ashok is Siddharth's brother-in-law; Ashok's wife is Siddharth's long-lost sister. Now, the brother-sister sentiment comes into play.
Finally, the story ends with Ashok being shot dead by Siddharth in the court premises. The police opens fire, and bystanders form a human wall and get shot at. Siddharth tells the TV crew about how his mission has spread to the masses.
Cast
- Arjun as Siddharth
- Lara Dutta as Lara
- Vivek
- S. Ve. Shekher as Lara's father
- Karan as Prakash
- Ajay Rathnam as Inspector Karthikeyan
- Vaiyapuri as Soosai
- P. Vasu
- Abitha
- Uma
- Mahanadi Shankar
- Bose Venkat
- Dhamu
- Riya Sen as Bar Dancer in item song (Iruvadhu Vayasu)
- Perarasu as reporter (uncredited)
- Villains
- Anandaraj as Advocate Brammanadham
- Charan Raj as Advocate Janakiraman
- Nassar as Major Vishwanath
- Devan
- Raghuvaran as Ashok Mehta (Siddharth's brother-in-law)
- M. N. Nambiar
- Ponnambalam
- Delhi Ganesh
- Mansoor Ali Khan
- Rajan P. Dev
- Manivannan
Production
After the success of Vallarasu Maharajan was supposed to direct Vijaykanth in another project but later got dropped and Maharajan went on to remake Vallarasu in Hindi as Indian with Sunny Deol.[4] Meanwhile, Maharajan announced his next project Arasatchi with Arjun playing the lead role. Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta made her acting debut in Tamil with this film.[5] The film boasts of 14 villains played by Raghuvaran, Karan, Anandaraj, Nassar, M. N. Nambiar, Ponnambalam, Delhi Ganesh, Mansoor Ali Khan, Devan, Rajan P. Dev, and Manivannan among others. Uma, Abitha, Vindhya and P. Vasu play crucial roles in the film.
The filming was held at Le Royal Meridian Hotel, Chennai and the songs were picturised at locations in London, New Zealand and Canada.[6]
The movie was completed in 2003 but got delayed due to financial problems and finally released in 2004,[7] in between production delays Maharajan finished Anjaneya with Ajith.
Release
The satellite rights of the film were secured by Raj TV. The film was given an "A" certificate by the Indian Censor Board. Before release, poster featuring tagline "When Justice Fails" created controversy which caused a lawyer to file a case citing that the film would portray lawyers in bad light. After one week, case was finally won.[8][9]
Soundtrack
| Arasatchi | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 2004 | |||
| Recorded | 2004 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 28:44 | |||
| Label | Hit Musics New Music Cee TV Audio | |||
| Producer | Harris Jayaraj | |||
| Harris Jayaraj chronology | ||||
| ||||
The soundtrack and background score was composed by Harris Jayaraj
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Arakonathil Aarambam" | Thamarai | Sunitha Sarathy | 5:32 |
| 2. | "Chant of Arasaktchi" | Viveka | Karthik, Chandran | 2:32 |
| 3. | "Ippadiyea Vittu vittu" | Na. Muthukumar | Shankar Mahadevan, Swarnalatha | 5:37 |
| 4. | "Irubadhu Vayadhu" | Viveka | Harini, Febi Mani | 4:20 |
| 5. | "Kozhaa Puttu Penney" | Snehan | Sriram, Srilekha Parthasarathy | 4:39 |
| 6. | "O Muhalai Muhalai" | Thamarai | Harish Raghavendra, Harini | 6:04 |
| Total length: | 28:44 | |||
References
- https://letterboxd.com/film/arasatchi/
- https://www.cinestaan.com/movies/arasatchi-16979/cast-crew
- https://www.sify.com/movies/arasatchi-review-tamil-pclv8mcdficgc.html
- "TAMIL CINEMA 2000". cinematoday2itgo. 19 March 2000. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016.
- "A long wait". The Hindu. 17 July 2003. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20030920115501/http://www.chennaionline.com/location/arasatchi.asp
- http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/9897.html
- http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/10575.html
- http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/10522.html