CleanupBot at 04:41, 22 March 2026

2026-03-22T04:41:51Z

New page

{{short description|2004 film by N. Maharajan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Arasatchi
| image = Arasatchi.jpg
| caption = DVD cover
| director = [[N. Maharajan]]
| writer = N. Maharajan
| starring = [[Arjun Sarja|Arjun]]<br />[[Lara Dutta]]
| producer = Murali Manohar<br />Haresh Vikram Vijayakumar
| studio = Cee (I)TV Entertainment(p)ltd
| music = [[Harris Jayaraj]]
| cinematography = [[S. Saravanan]]
| editing = B. S. Vasu<br />Saleem
| distributor = Mars Entertainment Group<br />Motion Pictures Partners
| released = {{Film date|2004|09|17|df=y}}
| runtime = 154 minutes
| country = India
| language = Tamil
}}

'''''Arasatchi''''' ({{translation|Government authority}}){{efn|Spelt onscreen as ''Arasaktchi''.}} is a 2004 Indian [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-language [[vigilante film|vigilante]] [[action film]] directed by [[N. Maharajan]], starring [[Arjun Sarja|Arjun]] and [[Lara Dutta]], alongside an [[ensemble cast]]. This is the [[Tamil cinema|Tamil]] debut of Dutta. The film was released on 17 September 2004.

== Plot ==
Brammanadham, a lawyer who defends rapists and murderers, is killed by a cricket ball hit by Siddharth. Siddharth is the General Manager of a five-star hotel owned by Rajesh. Rajesh's daughter, Lara, returns from abroad to join her father's hotel, but only as a trainee under the macho Siddharth. Soon, Lara falls in love with Siddharth.

The time for duets begins. Lara's friend, Prakash, is a public cause campaigner. His efforts lead to a raid on a brothel, resulting in a minister's arrest. The minister's goons attack Prakash, and Siddharth witnesses the crime. However, Siddharth refuses to testify, prompting Lara to leave him. Janakiraman defends the killer and gets him acquitted. Siddharth then kills Janakiraman. Major Vishwanath, a military officer, witnesses the murder and postpones his heart surgery to ensure the killer is caught. Siddharth now explains why he is targeting lawyers who defend criminals. Vishwanath ultimately abandons his mission.

Next, Karunakaran defends a rapist, and he is also killed. The turn then comes for advocate Ashok Mehta, who arrives from Delhi. The twist is that Ashok is Siddharth's brother-in-law, as Ashok's wife is Siddharth's long-lost sister. The story now shifts to the brother-sister relationship.

In the end, Ashok is shot dead by Siddharth on the court premises. The police open fire, and bystanders form a human wall and are shot. Siddharth tells the TV crew how his mission has now spread to the masses.

== Cast ==
{{cast listing|
* [[Arjun Sarja|Arjun]] as Siddharth
* [[Lara Dutta]] as Lara
* [[Vivek (actor)|Vivek]] as Hotel Assistant Manager
* [[S. Ve. Shekher]] as Rajesh, Lara's father
* [[Karan (actor)|Karan]] as Prakash
* [[Vindhya (actress)|Vindhya]] as Menaka, Prakash's wife
* [[Nassar (actor)|Nassar]] as Major Vishwanath
* [[Raghuvaran]] as Ashok Mehta (Siddharth's brother-in-law)
* [[Anandaraj]] as Advocate Brammanadham
* [[Charan Raj]] as Advocate Janakiraman
* [[P. Vasu]] as Saravanaperumal, Siddharth's father
* [[Kavitha (actress)|Kavitha]] as Lakshmi, Siddharth's mother
* [[Abitha]] as Swetha, Siddharth's sister
* [[Manivannan]] as Hotel Receptionist
* [[Devan (actor)|Devan]] as Karunakaran
* [[Rajan P. Dev]] as Contractor Muthupandi
* [[Mansoor Ali Khan (actor)|Mansoor Ali Khan]] as Inspector India Ganesan
* [[Ajay Rathnam]] as Inspector Karthikeyan
* [[Vaiyapuri]] as Soosai
* [[M. N. Nambiar]] as Iyer
* [[Ponnambalam (actor)|Ponnambalam]] as Muthupandi's henchman
* [[Uma (actress)|Uma]] as Gayathri
* [[Delhi Ganesh]] as Sivaraman
* [[Mahanadi Shankar]] as Goon
* [[Vijay Krishnaraj]] as Home Minister N. Gramani, M. A.
* [[Bose Venkat]] as Police Inspector
* [[Riya Sen]] as Bar Dancer in item song (Iruvadhu Vayasu)
* [[Perarasu]] as reporter (uncredited)
}}

== 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 (2001 film)|Indian]]'' with [[Sunny Deol]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 March 2000 |title=TAMIL CINEMA 2000 |url=https://cinematoday2.itgo.com/666Hot%20News%20Just%20for%20U.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319072600/https://cinematoday2.itgo.com/666Hot%20News%20Just%20for%20U.htm |archive-date=19 March 2016 |access-date=17 October 2016 |website=cinematoday2itgo}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-07-17 |title=A long wait |url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/07/17/stories/2003071701190401.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101023053747/http://hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/07/17/stories/2003071701190401.htm |archive-date=2010-10-23 |access-date=2016-12-01 |website=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref> The filming was held at Le Royal Meridian Hotel, Chennai, and the songs were picturised at locations in London, New Zealand and Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mannath |first=Malini |date=6 June 2003 |title=Arasatchi |url=http://www.chennaionline.com/location/arasatchi.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030920115501/http://www.chennaionline.com/location/arasatchi.asp |archive-date=20 September 2003 |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Chennai Online}}</ref> The song "Mughalai Mughalai" choreographed by Raju Sundaram was shot at London especially at London Central Tower.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=17 August 2003 |title=டான்ஸா? உடான்ஸா? |url=https://archive.org/details/kalki2003-08-17/page/88/mode/2up |access-date=4 February 2024 |magazine=[[Kalki (magazine)|Kalki]] |pages=86–87 |language=ta |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

During the making of the film, music composer [[Harris Jayaraj]] fell out with the director. Because of this, the song "Ippadiyea Vittu" was not shot, and it appears only in soundtrack version<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 June 2002 |title=Kollywood Currents |url=http://in.movies.yahoo.com/020612/113/1pvb2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020816205613/http://in.movies.yahoo.com/020612/113/1pvb2.html |archive-date=16 August 2002 |access-date=15 November 2020 |website=Yahoo Movies}}</ref> The film was completed in 2003 but got delayed due to financial problems and finally released in 2004;<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 July 2004 |title=Alas, the movie will be released |url=http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/9897.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041025005244/http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/9897.html |archive-date=25 October 2004 |access-date=29 April 2013 |website=IndiaGlitz}}</ref> in between production delays, Maharajan finished ''[[Anjaneya (film)|Anjaneya]]'' with [[Ajith Kumar|Ajith]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

== 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=P. Kalidass vs Central Board Of Film Certification on 15 September, 2004 |url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1705088/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250502053356/https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1705088/ |archive-date=2 May 2025 |access-date=27 January 2025 |website=indiankanoon.org}}</ref>

== Soundtrack ==
The music was composed by [[Harris Jayaraj]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 August 2003 |title=Arasatchi (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |url=https://music.apple.com/in/album/arasatchi-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1491462828 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119125655/https://music.apple.com/in/album/arasatchi-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1491462828 |archive-date=19 January 2023 |access-date=19 January 2023 |website=[[Apple Music]]}}</ref>

{{Track listing
| extra_column = Singer(s)
| headline = Track listing
| total_length = 28:44
| title1 = Arakonathil Aarambam
| extra1 = [[Sunitha Sarathy]]
| lyrics1 = [[Thamarai]]
| length1 = 5:32
| title2 = Chant of Arasaktchi
| extra2 = [[karthik (singer)|Karthik]], Chandran
| lyrics2 = [[Viveka (lyricist)|Viveka]]
| length2 = 2:32
| title3 = Ippadiyea Vittu Vittu
| extra3 = [[Shankar Mahadevan]], [[Swarnalatha]]
| lyrics3 = [[Na. Muthukumar]]
| length3 = 5:37
| title4 = Irubadhu Vayadhu
| extra4 = [[Harini (singer)|Harini]], [[Febi Mani]]
| lyrics4 = Viveka
| length4 = 4:20
| title5 = Kozhaa Puttu Penney
| extra5 = Sriram, [[Srilekha Parthasarathy]]
| lyrics5 = [[Snehan]]
| length5 = 4:39
| title6 = O Muhalai Muhalai
| extra6 = [[Harish Raghavendra]], [[Harini (singer)|Harini]]
| lyrics6 = Thamarai
| length6 = 6:04
}}

== Critical 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."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mannath |first=Malini |date=September 23, 2004 |title=Arasatchi |url=http://www.chennaionline.com/film/moviereviews/tammov369.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016072825/http://www.chennaionline.com/film/moviereviews/tammov369.asp |archive-date=16 October 2006 |access-date=19 January 2023 |website=Chennai Online}}</ref> ''[[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".<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 September 2004 |title=Arasatchi |url=https://www.sify.com/movies/arasatchi-review-tamil-pclv8mcdficgc.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228200919/http://www.sify.com/movies/arasatchi-review-tamil-pclv8mcdficgc.html |archive-date=28 December 2016 |access-date=29 July 2019 |website=[[Sify]]}}</ref> Visual Dasan of ''[[Kalki (magazine)|Kalki]]'' called the film "above average".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=தாசன் |first=விஷுவல் |date=3 October 2004 |title=அரசாட்சி |url=https://archive.org/details/kalki2004-10-03/page/12/mode/2up |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240205081239/https://archive.org/details/kalki2004-10-03/page/12/mode/2up |archive-date=5 February 2024 |access-date=20 January 2023 |magazine=[[Kalki (magazine)|Kalki]] |page=12 |language=ta |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{noteslist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}

[[Category:2004 Indian films]]
[[Category:2004 Tamil-language films]]
[[Category:2000s vigilante films]]
[[Category:2004 action films]]
[[Category:2004 films]]
[[Category:Films directed by N. Maharajan]]
[[Category:Films scored by Harris Jayaraj]]
[[Category:Films set in India]]
[[Category:Films shot in Canada]]
[[Category:Films shot in Chennai]]
[[Category:Films shot in London]]
[[Category:Films shot in New Zealand]]
[[Category:Indian action films]]
[[Category:Indian vigilante films]]
[[Category:Tamil-language Indian films]]

Arasatchi - Revision history

CleanupBot at 04:41, 22 March 2026