''Arasangam'' () is a 2008 Indian

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

political thriller A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of a political power struggle; high stakes and suspense are the core of the story. The genre often forces the audiences to consider and understand the importance of politics. Th ...

film written and directed by R. Madhesh and produced by L. K. Sudhish. The film stars

Vijayakanth Vijayaraj Alagarswami (25 August 1952 – 28 December 2023), known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor, filmmaker, philanthropist and politician. He worked in Tamil cinema in a career spanning four decades. He ventured into politi ...

in the lead role, making this his 150th film, along with

Biju Menon Biju Menon (born 9 September 1967) is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam films, and also has a few Tamil, Telugu and Kannada film credits. He made his debut in the 1994 Malayalam film ''Puthran''. In a career spanning over ...

in a dual role, while Navneet Kaur, Sheryl Pinto,

Rahul Dev Rahul Dev Kaushal (born 27 September 1968) is an Indian actor and former model who predominantly works in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia language films He also participated in Bigg Boss (Hindi season 10) and was evicted on ...

and

Riyaz Khan Riyaz Khan is an Indian actor and bodybuilder. He predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Tamil cinema, Tamil films and television series, besides acting in a few Telugu language, Telugu and Kannada cinema, Kannada films, as well ...

play supporting roles. The film's soundtrack was composed by

Srikanth Deva Srikanth Deva is an Indian music director of Tamil films. He made his debut as music director in the Tamil movie '' Doubles'' in 2000. He is the son of composer Deva, nephew of the famous music director duo Sabesh–Murali and the cousin of acto ...

with cinematography by Venkatesh Anguraj and editing by

Anthony Anthony, also spelled Antony, is a masculine given name derived from the '' Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descenda ...

. The film was released on 9 April 2008.

Plot

Economically and strategically important CEOs, scientists, etc. are assassinated all over India. Since many of such murders take place in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, the Home Minister of Tamil Nadu pressurises the DGP to speed up the investigation. ATS officer Manoj is invited to Chennai from

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

to help the

Tamil Nadu Police Tamil Nadu Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is over 150 years old and is the fifth largest state police force in India.

Department. He mysteriously disappears during the flight. The police departments concludes there is a link between the assassinations and the disappearance of Manoj and hands over both the cases to criminologist and police trainer Arivarasu, who is also a close friend and brother-in-law of Manoj. Arivarasu's investigation takes him to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada, where he meets Manoj's lookalike Martin Jayapal, who has hatched a plot to destabilise India. How Arivarasu thwarts his intentions forms the rest of the story.

Cast

Production

A duet song featuring Vijayakanth and Navneet Kaur was shot at

Coutrallam Falls Coutrallam Falls (also called Kutralam/Kuttalam Falls) is located in Tenkasi district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu bordering Kollam district, Kerala. The falls is located on the Western Ghats on the river Chittar River, Chittar and is ...

Soundtrack

Lyrics were written by Pa. Vijay and Kabilan.

Critical reception

Pavithra Srinivasan of ''

Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

'' wrote, "Arasangam (Government) directed by Madhesh and starring 'Captain' Vijayakanth certainly didn't inspire wild hopes of an excellent movie. But fate has a way of throwing you off. This movie is one such pleasant surprise" and also noted "In the end though, its Madhesh's screenplay that wins, showing some signs of intelligence and hard work." ''

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...

'' wrote, "For the undemanding masala fan, ''Arasangam'' is worth a look, when you compare it with the recent crop of over hyped super hero films that failed to deliver".

IANS Indo-Asian News Service or IANS is a private Indian news agency. It was founded in 1986 by Indian American publisher Gopal Raju as the "India Abroad News Service" and later renamed. In December 2023, Adani Group, Adani group, known for its clos ...

felt that Navneet Kaur was wasted, but added that "Vijaykanth acts his age and puts in a spirited performance. The action is slickly choreographed by 'Rocky' Rajesh" and the film "is a treat for diehard Vijaykanth fans thanks to a passably decent screenplay".

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes 2000s Indian films 2000s political thriller films 2000s Tamil-language films 2008 crime thriller films 2008 films Central Bureau of Investigation in fiction Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police Films about assassinations Films about identity theft Films about lookalikes Films about missing people Films about terrorism in India Films about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Films scored by Srikanth Deva Films scored by Sabesh–Murali Films set in Toronto Films shot in Toronto Indian crime thriller films Indian detective films Indian political thriller films Police detective films Tamil-language crime thriller films Tamil-language Indian films