Arasiyal
Arasiyal (transl. Politics) is an 1997 Indian Tamil language film directed by R. K. Selvamani. The film stars Mammootty, Shilpa Shirodkar and Roja. It was released on 12 December 1997.
| Arasiyal | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Poster | |
| Directed by | R. K. Selvamani |
| Written by | R. K. Selvamani Liyakath Ali Khan (dialogues) |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | M. V. Panneerselvam |
| Edited by | Udhaya Sankar |
| Music by | Vidyasagar |
Production company | Motherland Movies Internationals |
Release date | 12 December 1997 |
Running time | 140 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Plot
Chandrasekhar (Mammootty) is an honest collector who arrests Vikram (Anandaraj), an international terrorist, in Delhi. He's transferred to Madras to eradicate the corruption. Chandrasekhar has two sisters, Priya (Jeeva) and Supriya (Roja). Priya is in love with Marudapandi (Charan Raj), a hopeless police officer and Chandrasekhar's friend. Meanwhile, Chandrasekhar is in love with Anita Sharma (Shilpa Shirodkar), a Punjabi girl, who he met in Delhi. Venkatraman (Mansoor Ali Khan), a corrupt politician, is suspected by Chandrasekhar for corruption. Chandrasekhar takes actions against his brothers-in-law, Vishnu (Madhan Bob) and Ramkumar (Uday Prakash) and sent them to jail. Chandrasekhar gets a job promotion because his superiors hate his honest work, but he resigned and showed the journalists the corruption proofs of all corrupted politicians. The people becomes angry and beats all corrupted politicians, and Venkatraman's politic party doesn't even win a seat at the parliament. Chandrasekhar gets married with his lover in Punjab. Venkatraman's wife Vasanthi (Pallavi) was sent to jail for corruption. Venkatraman loses all his money and decides to take vengeance. Vikram, released from jail, wants also to revenge Chandrasekhar and becomes friends with Venkatraman. When Vikram decides to kill Chandrasekhar, he sees his sister Anita Sharma and promised her to protect his husband. Venkatraman's henchmen kidnaps Priya; but when she escaped, she fell from the building and died. They also put a bomb in Supriya's handbag which exploded by killing Supriya and Marudapandi. Venkatraman kills Vikram but Chandrasekhar is suspected for Vikram's murder. Chandrasekhar escapes from the police and kills all corrupted politicians. Finally, Chandrasekhar gets applause for his actions, but the court sends him to jail.
Cast
- Mammootty as Chandrasekhar
- Shilpa Shirodkar as Anita Sharma
- Roja as Supriya
- Mansoor Ali Khan as Venkatraman (R. K. V)
- Anandaraj as Vikram (guest appearance)
- Charan Raj as Marudapandi
- Jeeva as Priya
- Jai Ganesh as Shanmugasundaram, Chandrasekhar's father
- Sumithra as Chandrasekhar's mother
- John Amirtharaj as the Chief Minister
- Thyagu as Thiruvasagam
- Madhan Bob as Vishnu
- Uday Prakash as Ramkumar
- Pallavi as Vasanthi
Production
After the success of Makkal Aatchi, the actor and director to join in another political film titled Arasiyal. The director, prior to release, played down any potential controversial story plots and indicated it would be more about a politician's personal life rather than his work. The team shot across North India in 1997 with scenes also filmed at the Harmandir Sahib, Punjab.[1]
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Vidyasagar, with lyrics written by Vairamuthu, Vaasan, Arunmozhi and Piraisoodan.[2][3] The film marked the debut of Harish Raghavendra in films. Krish of Indolink gave a positive review for the soundtrack.[4]
| Track | Song | Singer(s) | Lyrics | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Arasiyal Arasiyal" | Pushpavanam Kuppusamy, Anitha Kuppusamy | Vairamuthu | 3:49 |
| 2 | "Hello Nanthalaala" | Sujatha Mohan | Vaasan | 4:19 |
| 3 | "Sindhubathi" | Sundar Rajan, Anupama | 5:00 | |
| 4 | "Vaa Sagi Vaa Sagi" | Harish Raghavendra, Uma Ramanan | Arunmozhi | 4:53 |
| 5 | "Varai En Thozhiyae" | S. P. B. Charan, Harini, Shubha Mudgal | Piraisoodan | 4:37 |
| 6 | "Varai En Thozhiyae" II | Sujatha Mohan, Swarnalatha, Shubha Mudgal | 4:34 |
Reception
R. Vijayaraghavan of Indolink.com gave the film 2 stars writing, "Yet another attempt by R.K.Selvamani to cobble up a movie based on real-life political happenings. May be his bad luck, it turns out be a cliche."[5] Despite the mixed reviews, Mammootty's performance was well noted by critics and fans.[6]
The film was a commercial success, however, was an average grosser at the box office.[7]
Awards
The film has won the following awards since its release :
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards 1997
- Best Film Award (3rd Place)
References
- "Deepavali special". Indolink. Archived from the original on 17 August 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- "Arasiyal By Vidya Sagar". muzigle.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
- "Arasiyal — Vidyasagar". thiraipaadal.com. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
- "Arasiyal: A Deepavali release music review". Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
- "Arasiyal: Movie Review". web.archive.org. 19 December 2007. Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- "'Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar' - Mammootty's best works outside Mollywood". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- "Mammootty's pan-Indian appeal proves he's a bonafide star regardless of how Yatra performs-Entertainment News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2022.