''Rishi'' is a 2001 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

-language

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

written and directed by

Sundar C Vinayagar Sundar Vel (born 21 January 1966), known professionally as Sundar C., is an Indian film director, actor and producer. He has directed over 34 films in Tamil and acted in 17 movies as the protagonist. His notable films include ''Ull ...

. The film stars

Sarath Kumar Sarathkumar Ramanathan (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, politician, filmmaker, and singer. He has acted in more than 130 Tamil language, Tamil, Telugu language, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. He has won two Tamil Nadu State Film A ...

Meena Meena () is a sub-group of Bhils. They speak Meena language. They started adopting the Brahmin worship system. Its name is also transliterated as ''Meenanda'' or ''Mina''. Historians claim that they belong to the Matsya tribe. They got the sta ...

and

Sanghavi Sanghavi (born Kavya Ramesh) is an Indian actress and a model known for her work predominantly in Telugu and Tamil language films. She was one of the leading actresses in South Indian cinema for a decade from 1993 to 2004. In her career spannin ...

, while

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...

Arun Pandian Arun Pandian is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician. He began his career as an actor as part of the critically acclaimed film ''Oomai Vizhigal'' (1986). After retiring from acting, he took the post of chief producer for the London-based A ...

, Devan,

Ramesh Khanna Ramesh Khanna (also spelt as Ramesh Kanna) is an Indian actor and film director who has worked in Tamil cinema. He has acted in a number of supporting and comedian roles. Early life Khanna was born on 12 June 1954 in Chennai and third child to ...

, and

S. S. Rajendran Sedapatti Suryanarayana Rajendran, also known by his initials SSR (January 1928 – 24 October 2014), was an Indian actor, director, producer and politician who worked in Tamil theatre and cinema. Film career Rajendran made his acting de ...

play supporting roles. The film has music scored by

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...

, cinematography by U. K. Senthil Kumar, and editing by P. Sai Suresh. The film released on 16 February 2001.

Plot

Rishi (

) is a tough, suave, professional thief who is the right-hand of Satyan (

), the underworld kingpin. On one of Rishi's missions, he happens to watch Minister Devaraj ( Devan) kill Hema (

Bhuvaneswari Bhuvaneshvari (Sanskrit: भुवनेश्वरी, IAST: ''Bhuvaneśvarī'') is a Hindu goddess. She is the fourth amongst the ten Mahavidya goddesses in Shaktism, and one of the highest aspects of ''Mahadevi''. She is identified as Adi Par ...

), a TV reporter who is about to expose him. Before dying, Hema hands a floppy to Rishi. Rishi neither bothers about the floppy nor the murder, but Devaraj wants the floppy back. Things get confusing because of Velu (Sarath Kumar), who looks like Rishi and gets into trouble. Velu is the opposite of Rishi: he is simple-minded, takes life easy, and works for a moneylender. The "seth" lends money for buying cars, and Velu, with his friend Cheenu (

), persuades errant customers to either repay dues or part with their cars. Complications arise when the paths of the duo cross, for Rishi and Velu are lookalikes. Only Indu (

), a salesgirl, seems to have some family to speak of. The narration moves smoothly forward with Rishi and Velu leading their own lives, then their paths cross. One is mistaken for the other, and complications arise. The underworld guns for Velu. Indu, who becomes Velu's girlfriend, sees Rishi with Nandini and berates Velu for his duplicity. Meanwhile, Rishi turns over a new leaf when one of his tasks ends up in a singer Nandhini (

) being blinded. He saves her life, finances for her eye operation, and turns her protector, knowing fully well that she could identify him and the rest of the gang. He even parts ways with Satyan on the issue, but the latter is unwilling to let him go. Velu is puzzled when he is attacked by a gang who demands the floppy from him. When Indu accuses him of having an affair with a girl she sees him in the hospital with, Velu visits the hospital and encounters Rishi. The duo strikes a good rapport. The puzzle pieces fall in place. Devaraj, realizing that his ministerial position is shaky, kidnaps Nandini and blackmails Rishi to kill the Chief Minister (

), but Velu goes in his place. The scene where he tries to warn the security personnel about the assassination attempt, only to find that they too are part of the conspiracy is taken straight from a Hollywood film. The movie ends rather abruptly, with Velu being shot and the Chief Minister's life being saved.

Cast

as Velu and Rishi (dual role) *

as Indhu *

as Nandhini *

as Chief Minister *

as Inspector Shakthivel *

as Sathya * Devan as Minister Devaraj *

as Cheenu (Velu's friend) *

as Hema * S. Ve. Shekher *

Madhan Bob S. Krishnamoorthy (born 19 October 1953) professionally known as Madhan Bob, is an Indian actor and comedian, appearing in many Tamil films in supporting roles. Madhan Babu is known for his amusing facial expressions, laughter and protruding ey ...

Thalapathy Dinesh Thalapathy Dinesh (also spelled Thalapathi Dinesh) is an Indian action choreographer who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He started his career in the cinema as an extra fighter in '' Naan Sigappu Manithan'' and later he became as a stunt master and ...

Crane Manohar Crane Manohar (born 4 October 1965) is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil films, mostly in comedy roles. He appeared in many Vadivelu and Vivek comedy tracks. Career Manohar initially worked as a crane technician for films and when he start ...

Production

The film was initially titled as ''Sri Ramajayam'' but ran into production trouble, before retitled and relaunched as ''Rishi''. The film was shot in Chennai and song sequences were shot in Switzerland. During the making of the film, there were reports that the film had a similar storyline to another Tamil film which was in production, ''

Citizen Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

'' (2001). But the movie borrowed liberally from another Hollywood movie Nick of Time

Soundtrack

The film score and soundtrack were composed by

, who teamed up with Sundar C. for the second time after ''

Unakkaga Ellam Unakkaga ''Unakkaga Ellam Unakkaga'' () is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Sundar C., starring Karthik and Rambha with Goundamani, Vivek, Vinu Chakravarthy, Anju among others in supporting roles. The film, sc ...

''. The soundtrack released on 6 October 2000 and features 6 tracks overall with lyrics penned by

Palani Bharathi Palani Bharathi is an Indian writer and lyricist who works in Tamil cinema. Early life Palani Bharathi was born in Karaikudi to Sami Palaniappan, a poet, and Kamala. He has a brother and four sisters. Palaniappan was an assistant of orator/w ...

Pa. Vijay Pa. Vijay is an Indian actor, poet, writer, director, producer and film lyricist for Tamil cinema. He won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics in India for his song ''Ovvoru Pookalume'' in Cheran's ''Autograph'' (2004). Career Vijay is a nat ...

and producer Panchu Arunachalam.http://www.saavn.com/s/album/tamil/Rishi-2001/8eLIvg8elnQ_ The song "Vaa Vaa Poove Vaa" was a huge chartbuster.

References

External links

*

{{Sundar C. 2001 films Films scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja Films directed by Sundar C. 2000s Tamil-language films Indian action films 2001 action films