Samurai (2002 film)
The film starts with Thiyagarajan (Vikram), a student in medical school, going to visit his childhood friend, Nisha. On the way, he meets a kind-hearted but naughty schoolgirl, Deiva (Anita Hassanandani). Deiva, who stays with her grandmother, is the daughter of police officer Sandana Pandian (Nassar). Sandana has a run-in with Thiyagu but later realizes that Thiyagu is actually a good person. Thiyagu meets up with his four friends to kidnap a politician for his dirty doings at which time he finds out that Sandana and Sandana's wife (Bindu Panicker) are neighbors and good friends with his friend. After the dirty politician gets kidnapped, Sandana is appointed to investigate the case. Meanwhile, Thiyagu undergoes training to make his body and mind fit like that of his friends. Thiyagu then kidnaps another five people also for their dirty doings. Sandana is unable to catch the culprit. During this time, Nisha's friends try to molest Deiva. Unable to bear the trauma she experienced on her own, she returns to her parents. However, Sandana is already stressed out from the investigation and doesn't want to hear about Deiva's problems. Thiyagu helps to relieve Deiva's anxiety by telling her she now knows how to avoid that type of situation in the future. After that, Deiva, not knowing his true identity, falls in love with Thiyagu.
A flashback shows Thiyagu's studious classmate, Kavitha, (Jaya Seal) writing in her diary about things she wants to tell Thiyagu but never does. Although Thiyagu gets irritated with her, he still loves her. While attending medical school, Kavitha discovers that a pharmaceutical company distributed dangerous medicines that caused a boy's death. When she tries to expose the company, no one, not even Thiyagu or her friends, supports her because they don't know the boy. This upset her so much she commits suicide. Before dying though, Kavitha asked Thiyagu to get revenge for the boy's death on her behalf. After much thought, and after reading Kavitha's diary, Thiyagu and his friends decide to take revenge on those who use a loophole in the law to complete their prison sentence in guest houses and hospitals. Sandana discovers that the next target is a minister who is behind the pharma crime for which Kavitha committed suicide. Even though Sandana tries to protect him, the minister still gets kidnapped. Later Sandana finds out that Thiyagu is the man responsible for the kidnappings. Knowing Pandian is behind him, Thiyagu tries to escape. When Deiva conveys her love to Thiyagu, he reveals his identity to her. Pandian captures Thiyagu and puts him on trial in an open court with many magistrates and other people. They ask him to release the people he kidnapped but Thiyagu argues that he will only release them after they are punished with a death sentence. The magistrates deny the request stating there is no law that has such a punishment. The abductees end up being released, and everyone that heard Thiyagu's argument form a protest and kill all the abductees. Sandana takes Thiyagu and his friends away in a van but releases them saying that Thiyagu is right, there is a need for such a law that gives the culprits a punishment of death. As Thiyagu is leaving, Deiva shows up which reminds him of how he felt about Kavitha. Deiva tells him that Kavitha is always with him just as she will be and the film ends with Thiyagu and his friends leaving with Deiva. Vikram signed the film in May 2000 and it became the first venture he committed to after the blockbuster success of Bala's "Sethu". North Indian model Anita Hassanandani was selected to make her debut in the film, but another film, "Varushamellam Vasantham" starring Anita Hassanandani was released before "Samurai". Simran was approached to play a pivotal role in the film, but Jaya Seel, who appeared alongside Prabhu Deva in "Pennin Manathai Thottu", was roped in instead to play a medical student. Malayalam actor Kollam Thulasi was signed up to play a villain in the film making his debut in Tamil films. Vikram went to yoga classes to prepare for the opening scene for "Samurai", where he poses in the Mayura asanam posture. In a 2002 interview, the actor stated that when he first met Balaji, "he was a very enthusiastic, charged person" and was able to convince Vikram to star in the film. He also compared Balaji with director Shankar. Shooting commenced at Chennai and the unit then moved on to locations in Kuttralam, Ooty, Andhra, U.P. and Bihar. Some scenes with the lead pair were shot in the forest areas of Kerala which was also the location for a song shot on Vikram. Again, a lavish set was erected at the AVM Studios where Vikram, Anita, and new-face Shreya took part. The film was also heavily shot in Orissa, while songs were canned in Syria. "Samurai" opened in July 2002 to mixed reviews from critics. The Hindu's critic noted that ""Samurai" will satisfy action lovers but for those looking for innovation in story and screenplay, the soldier leaves you yearning". With respect to performances, the critic added that "with an admirably well-maintained physique and powerful eyes Vikram is all geared up for action". Moreover, "Anita is more of an essential prop, but Jayaseel in a cameo has scope to perform, which she does well". Rediff.com wrote that "the net result is disappointing due to the worn-out theme that is very reminiscent of recent films". However, the reviewer also went on to say "Vikram, though, is convincing in his portrayal and the 'training' scenes where he gains expertise and invulnerability is thrilling and the stunt scenes draw applause". A critic from Nowrunning.com felt that "Vikram has done an excellent job as the revolutionary in Samurai and he has ably used his physique and emoting capabilities to lift the film to an above average action thriller." The critic also noted that "the few flaws in the screenplay and a similar climax from an earlier Ajith-starrer ("Citizen") has marred the otherwise technically well-made film. "
The director himself later labelled the film a "damp squib" mentioning he made serious errors with the film's screenplay. The film successfully ran 100 days in theatres, ending a string of consecutive successful Vikram films in "Dhill", "Kasi" and "Gemini". However, despite this, it was reported that Balaji Sakthivel was still keen to make Vikram star in his next film, though the director next went on to make the successful low-budget film "Kaadhal" (2004). "Samurai" was later dubbed under the same name in Telugu to capitalise on Vikram's star potential. The film was also later dubbed into Hindi as "Samurai: Ek Yodha" in 2012 by Wide Angle Media Pvt. Ltd. The music and background score were composed by Harris Jayaraj.
Synopsis
The film features Vikram in the title role, with supporting roles played by Anita Hassanandani, Jaya Seal, and Nassar.