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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2015}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Arul
| image          = Arul poster.jpg
| caption        = Promotional poster
| director       = [[Hari (director)|Hari]]
| writer         = 
| starring       = [[John Kennedy (actor)|Vikram]] <br> [[Jyothika]] <br> [[Pasupathy]] <br> [[Kollam Thulasi]] <br> [[Vadivelu]]
| producer       = [[Tatineni Rama Rao|T. Rama Rao]] <small>'''(Presenter)'''</small><br>[[Tatineni Rama Rao|T. Ajay Kumar]]
| cinematography = 
| editing        = [[V. T. Vijayan]]
| music          = [[Harris Jayaraj]]
| studio         = [[Tatineni Rama Rao| Lakshmi Productions]]
| distributor    =
| released       = 1 May 2004 ([[India]])
| runtime        = 163 minutes
| country        = India
| language       = Tamil
| budget         = 
}}

'''''Arul''''' ({{Translation|Grace}}) is a 2004 Indian [[action drama]] [[gangster film]] written and directed by [[Hari (director)|Hari]] starring [[Vikram (actor)|Vikram]], [[Jyothika]], [[Pasupathy]], [[Kollam Thulasi]], and [[Vadivelu]], among others. The music is composed by [[Harris Jayaraj]]. The story tells how a man is rejected by his family but then finds his way back. The film was dubbed in [[Telugu language|Telugu]] as ''Akhandudu'' and in [[Hindi language|Hindi]] as ''Main Balwaan''.

==Synopsis==
Arul, who works in a mill, is the third son of four brothers in a family of goldsmiths. Once, Arul's brother steals a chain due to financial circumstances. Arul took the blame for it, was labelled as a thief, and was seen as a black sheep by his father Bala Aasari. Thus, he vows never to make a gold ornament ever again. Kanmani, who moves into  his neighbourhood  eventually falls for him .However Arul does not reciprocate . One day, when Bala scolds Arul at a family gathering , Kanmani stands up for him causing Bala to insult her. Soon, Arul marries Kanmani. The setting up of the party office of the ruling party forces Arul to lock horns with MLA Gajapathy and his brother Minister Sethupathy, the party leader.

==Cast==
{{colbegin}}
* [[Vikram (actor)|Vikram]] as Arulkumaran "Arul"
* [[Jyothika]] as Kanmani Arulkumaran
* [[Pasupathy]] as MLA Gajapathy
* [[Kollam Thulasi]] as Minister Sethupathy
* [[Vadivelu]] as Thangam
* [[Sathyan (Tamil actor)|Sathyan]] as Senthilkumaran
* [[Aarthi (actress)|Aarthi]] as Neelaveni, Kanmani's Young Sister
* [[Manobala]] as Customer 
* [[Ponnambalam (actor)|Ponnambalam]] as Paalayamkottai Kasilingam
* [[Vinu Chakravarthy]] as Baladhandayuthapani / Bala Aasari, Arul's father
* [[Sujatha (actress)|Sujatha]] as Sornam, Arul's mother
* [[Saranya Ponvannan]] as Bhagyam Arul's sister
* [[Thalaivasal Vijay]] as Thirukumaran Arul's Brother
* [[K. S. Ravikumar]] as Union Leader Thirupathy, Arul's brother-in-law
* [[Kuyili (actress)|Kuyili]] as Kanmani and Neelaveni's mother
* [[Vanitha Krishnachandran]] 
* [[Charan Raj]] as Police Inspector
* [[Rekha (South Indian actress)|Rekha]] as Gajapathy's wife
* [[Sarath Babu]] as Chief Doctor Viswanathan
* [[Vaiyapuri]] as Arul's Friend
* Sivanarayana Moorthy as Textile Shop Owner
* [[Besant Ravi]]
* Minnal Deepa
*Tambi Ramaiah as MLA Sethupathi's 
        assistant
* Priyanka as Beggar lady
* [[Chaya Singh]] as Ponni (Cameo)
{{colend}}

==Production==
After the success of ''[[Saamy]]'', [[Hari]] decided to renew the collaboration with [[Vikram (actor)|Vikram]] for second time with ''Arul''.
Jyothika was selected as heroine pairing with Vikram for second time after ''[[Dhool]]''.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20040616211703/http://www.chennaionline.com/reeltalk/12reeltalk3rd.asp</ref> [[Vivek (actor)|Vivek]] was originally a part of the cast but fell out with the director and was subsequently replaced by [[Vadivelu]] in the film.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20040603215709/http://www.chennaionline.com/reeltalk/03reeltalk20th.asp</ref>

A 45 days' shooting schedule took place at Coimbatore, where Vikram, Jyotika and Vadivelu took part. A song sequence was also picturised on Vikram and Chaya Singh who's been roped in to do the single dance number. Fifty dancers took part in the dance number choreographed by Dinesh. The dance picturisation took six days to be completed.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20040516194929/http://www.chennaionline.com/location/arul.asp</ref>

==Music==
{{Infobox album
| name       = Arul
| type       = [[soundtrack]]
| artist     = [[Harris Jayaraj]]
| cover      =
| alt        =
| caption    = 
| released   = 15 April 2004
| recorded   = 2004
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Film soundtrack|Feature film soundtrack]]
| length     = 26:51
| label      = Hit Musics<br/>Vega Music<br>[[Think Music]]<br>Bayshore<br>[[Divo (record label)|Divo]]
| producer   = [[Harris Jayaraj]]
| prev_title = [[Arasatchi]]
| prev_year  = 2004
| next_title = [[Thotti Jaya]]
| next_year  = 2005
}}

The soundtrack album and background score were composed by [[Harris Jayaraj]] collaborating with Hari and Vikram for the third time.

{{track listing
| headline   = Track-ist
| extra_column   = Singer(s)
| total_length   = 26:51
| title1      = Arul Theme
| note1      = [[Instrumental]]
| length1     = 1:33
| title2      = Ukkadathu Papadame
| extra2      = [[Tippu (singer)|Tippu]], [[L. R. Easwari]], [[Theni Kunjarammal]]
| lyrics2     = [[Na. Muthukumar]]
| length2     = 5:29
| title3      = Oddiyaanam
| extra3      = [[Hariharan (singer)|Hariharan]], [[Srimathumitha]]
| lyrics3     = [[Vairamuthu]]
| length3     = 5:01
| title4      = Patthu Viral
| extra4      = [[S. P. Balasubramanyam]], [[Swarnalatha]], [[Vasundhara Das]]
| lyrics4     = Vairamuthu
| length4     = 5:18
| title5      = Punnakunnu
| extra5      = Tippu, [[Sriram Parthasarathy]], [[Manikka Vinayagam]]
| lyrics5     = Na. Muthukumar
| length5     = 4:44
| title6      = Soodamani
| extra6      = [[Ranjith (singer)|Ranjith]], [[Pop Shalini]]
| lyrics6     = [[Snehan]]
| length6     = 4:46
}}

==Release==
===Critical reception===
The film received mixed  to positive reviews.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.thehindu.com/fr/2004/05/07/stories/2004050701940300.htm | title=Arul | date=7 May 2004 | first=Malathi | last=Rangarajan | newspaper=[[The Hindu]] | accessdate=21 June 2019 }}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Nowrunning stated the film as "long, stale, tedious and drab".<ref>http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/1331/tamil/arul/204/review.htm</ref> Sify wrote:"If you like Rambo style of films, ''Arul'' is worth investing".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140328231235/http://www.sify.com/movies/arul-review-tamil-13466977.html sify.com]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0421640}}

{{Hari (director)}}

[[Category:2004 films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:Tamil-language films]]
[[Category:Masala films]]
[[Category:2000s Tamil-language films]]
[[Category:Films set in Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Films shot in Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Films directed by Hari (director)]]
[[Category:Films scored by Harris Jayaraj]]
[[Category:Indian action films]]
[[Category:Films featuring an item number]]
[[Category:2004 action films]]