Arasatchi

Arasatchi (transl. Government Rule / Government Authority) is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language vigilante film directed by N. Maharajan, starring Arjun and Lara Dutta, alongside an ensemble cast. This is the Tamil debut of Dutta. The film was released on 17 September 2004.

Arasatchi
DVD cover
Directed byN. Maharajan
Written byN. Maharajan
Produced byMurali Manohar
Haresh Vikram Vijayakumar
StarringArjun
Lara Dutta
CinematographyS. Saravanan
Edited byB. S. Vasu
Saleem
Music byHarris Jayaraj
Production
company
Cee (I)TV Entertainment(p)ltd
Distributed byMars Entertainment Group
Motion Pictures Partners
Release date
  • 17 September 2004 (2004-09-17)
Running time
154 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

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, Karunakaran (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

Production

After the success of Vallarasu, Maharajan was supposed to direct Vijayakanth in another project but later got dropped and Maharajan went on to remake Vallarasu in Hindi as Indian with Sunny Deol.[1] 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.[2] The filming was held at Le Royal Meridian Hotel, Chennai, and the songs were picturised at locations in London, New Zealand and Canada.[3]

During the making of the film, music composer Harris Jayaraj fell out with the director.[4] The film was completed in 2003 but got delayed due to financial problems and finally released in 2004;[5] in between production delays, Maharajan finished Anjaneya with Ajith.

Controversy

Before release, a poster featuring the tagline "When Justice Fails" created controversy, which caused a lawyer to file a case citing that the film would portray lawyers in bad light. However the case was sorted after the high court dismissed the petition.[6][7]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Harris Jayaraj.[8]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Arakonathil Aarambam"ThamaraiSunitha Sarathy5:32
2."Chant of Arasaktchi"VivekaKarthik, Chandran2:32
3."Ippadiyea Vittu vittu"Na. MuthukumarShankar Mahadevan, Swarnalatha5:37
4."Irubadhu Vayadhu"VivekaHarini, Febi Mani4:20
5."Kozhaa Puttu Penney"SnehanSriram, Srilekha Parthasarathy4:39
6."O Muhalai Muhalai"ThamaraiHarish Raghavendra, Harini6:04
Total length:28:44

Reception

Malini Mannath wrote for Chennai Online, "A knot had potential and would have been ideal for the 'action king' if only the screenplay had been etched more carefully, the narration tightened, with more 'action' given to Arjun than to factors like tanker-blasts, etc."[9] Sify wrote, "Arjun does his usual song and fights convincingly while Lara Dutta is too loud and is there only for glamour and songs. The film looks out-dated as it has been years in the making".[10] Visual Dasan of Kalki called the film "above average".[11]

References
  1. "TAMIL CINEMA 2000". cinematoday2itgo. 19 March 2000. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  2. "A long wait". The Hindu. 17 July 2003. Archived from the original on 23 October 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  3. Mannath, Malini (6 June 2003). "Arasatchi". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 20 September 2003. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  4. "Kollywood Currents". Yahoo Movies. 12 June 2002. Archived from the original on 16 August 2002. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  5. "Alas, the movie will be released". IndiaGlitz. 19 July 2004. Archived from the original on 25 October 2004. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  6. "All clear for Arasatchi". IndiaGlitz. 16 September 2004. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  7. "Remove tagline, HC tells film producer". IndiaGlitz. 10 September 2004. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  8. "Arasatchi (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Apple Music. 22 August 2003. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  9. Mannath, Malini (23 September 2004). "Arasatchi". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 16 October 2006. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  10. "Arasatchi". Sify. 20 September 2004. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  11. தாசன், விஷுவல் (3 October 2004). "அரசாட்சி". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 12. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
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