''Satyam'' () is an Indian 2008

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, nativ ...

-language

action drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

written and directed by debutante A. Rajasekhar (an associate of

Suresh Krissna Suresh Krissna (born 25 June 1959) is an Indian film director who has directed Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi Language films. His first independent film as a director was '' Sathya'' (1988), with Kamal Haasan. He is well known for ha ...

) in his directorial debut. The film stars Vishal in the role of a cop for the first time.

Nayanthara Diana Mariam Kurian, known professionally as Nayanthara, is an Indian actress and film producer who is known for her work in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She was in the ''Forbes India'' "Celebrity 100" 2018 list, with her total annual ...

plays the female lead role, while popular

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

actor

Upendra Upendra (Devanagari: उपेन्द्र) is an Indian masculine given name. The meaning of the Sanskrit word ' is "younger brother of Indra" and refers to either Krishna or Vishnu, who as a son of Aditi (or in the Vamana avatar) was born subs ...

plays the parallel leading role as Vishal's mentor, making his Tamil debut. The film was simultaneously shot in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

as ''Salute'', with a slightly different cast and locations. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by

Harris Jayaraj Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi. He has been honoured with K ...

. The film released on 14 August 2008. The film was produced by

Vikram Krishna Vikram Krishna Reddy, credited in films as Ajay, is an Indian film producer and former actor in Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Ta ...

, Vishal's brother.

Plot

The plot opens with Sathyam, an Assistant Police Commissioner rescuing a hooligan from encounter thirsty cops around the

Napier Bridge Napier Bridge is a bridge in Chennai, India, built over the Coovum River, connecting Fort St. George with the Marina beach. It is also one of the historic structures and landmark of the city. History One of the city's oldest bridges, it was ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(

Hussain Sagar Hussain Sagar (alternatively referred to as Tank Bund; ) is a heart-shaped lake in Hyderabad, Telangana, built by Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah in 1563. It is spread across an area of and is fed by the River Musi. A large monolithic statue of the Gau ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

in Telugu version), only to arrest him later. He reminds his fellow cops that a cop's duty is to kill crime not criminals. Sathyam meets his first challenge in tracking a mysterious killer of three ministers. In the process, he finds the culprit named Manicka Vel, only to receive a rude shock to know his identity. The murderer is none other than a former police officer based in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

(

Pulivendula Pulivendula (2008) is a town located in the YSR Kadapa district, a district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a small town which became 3rd grade municipality in 2008 from nagar Panchayat. Proddatur is the biggest town which is ne ...

in Telugu version), who inspired Sathyam to become an honest police officer. Revealing the reason behind his change of mind, the ex-cop says that he is on a killing spree as he failed to set right things in khakhi uniform. Sathyam, who throws a challenge at his mentor that he would use the power of law to put the wrongdoers behind the bars, vows to throw light on the illegal activities of the Home minister Kondal Dasan (Kondal Rao in Telugu version), who aims for the Tamil Nadu's/Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister post. In the meantime, he also has a romantic episode with Deivanayaki alias Deiva (Divya in Telugu version), a TV journalist. This begins with Deivanayaki suing the locality's children through their parents. The children swear vengeance through a 'gangleader' who happens to be none other than Sathyam himself. The 'gang' succeeds by making their rival a laughing stock with multiple pranks. Annoyance turns to love as Deiva and Sathyam get to know each other better. During his attempts to establish the truth, Sathyam faces various troubles. The Minister's proxies give him various troubles by killing children by offering them ice creams laced with drugs to eat and killing his mother. When Sathyam arrests Acharya, the Minister's proxy, and takes him to court, the Minister's henchmen attack him while driving and Sathyam is stabbed. Thillanayagam (Dilli Babu in Telugu version), the other proxy, shoots Acharya and blames Sathyam. Sathyam performs his mother's funeral rites and is suspended from the force and jailed. Manicka Vel, to be released the next day, feels sad for Sathyam and laments his loss in the jail. Thillanayagam runs for MLA with the Minister's support so that he cannot be harmed by Sathyam. He gloats to Sathyam at the jail about his newfound power and challenges Sathyam's honor and dignity. At a public rally for Thillanayagam's candidature, the Kondal Dasan openly challenges and insults Sathyam, who is released from jail by a sympathetic officer and coming to disrupt the public rally. Manicka Vel stands in the corner aiming to kill Thillanayagam and the Dasan. Sathyam arrives and exposes the Minister and Thillanayagam by shooting them and forcing them to confess the truth about the Minister's intentions and the death of the proxy. Thillanayagam reveals everything about himself, Acharya, and Dasan. While lamenting the situation he is in and calling for reform, Sathyam is shot by the Minister's henchman and questions the honesty and trust his people and fellow officers have in him. Manicka Vel arrives on the scene and salutes Sathyam, with other officers following suit. A newscast is shown with Kondal Dasan and Thillanayagam being arrested and Sathyam is reinstated in the police force. Sathyam is promoted to Deputy Commissioner by the Chief Minister and marries Deivanayaki, and the credits roll.

Cast

Dubbing Artists

Savitha Reddy Savitha Reddy, also known as Savitha Engula Radhakrishnan in the Tamil films, is a dubbing artist in the southern India film industry. She has lent voice for heroines in the Tamil and Telugu industries. She is a recipient of Tamil Nadu State F ...

for

(both Tamil and Telugu versions) *

P. Ravi Shankar Pudipeddi Ravi Shankar (born 28 November 1966), also known as Sai Ravi, is an Indian actor, dubbing artist, director and writer. He predominantly appears in Kannada films, in addition to Telugu language, Telugu and Tamil language, Tamil films. ...

for

(both Tamil and Telugu versions) * Kathiravan Balu for

Ravi Kale Ravi Kale is an Indian actor known for his works in Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Marathi films. Filmography ;Marathi *''Bangarwadi'' (1995) *'' Sumbaran'' (2009) *'' Pipani'' (2012) *'' Vanilla,Strawberry & Chocolate'' (2018) ;Hindi *'' E ...

(Tamil version) * M. S. Bhaskar for both

Brahmanandam Kanneganti Brahmanandam (born 1 February 1956), known mononymously as Brahmanandam, is an Indian actor, comedian, impersonator, and voice actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is particularly known for his comic performa ...

and

Tanikella Bharani Tanikella Bharani (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, poet, playwright and director who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has worked as an actor in more than 750 films, including some in Tamil and Hindi; while he was ...

(Tamil version) *

Sudhakar Sudhakar is an Indian name and may refer to: * Sudhakar (actor) (born 1959), Indian actor * Patel Sudhakar Reddy (died 2009), member of the central committee of the Communist Party of India * Sudhakar Chaturvedi (born 1897), Vedic scholar in Banga ...

for

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

(Telugu version) * Mallikarjuna Rao for

Senthil Senthil (born 23 March 1951) is an Indian comedy actor who works in Tamil cinema. He is famous for his comedian roles along with fellow actor Goundamani. The pair dominated the Tamil industry as comedians in the 1980s and 90s.Vishal trained hard for this role, pumping iron and sported a six pack, which he maintains in his subsequent films as of date. He has also sported a neat short-cropped hairstyle to look like a serious law-abiding police official. This is the first time he is undergoing image makeover for a film in order not to be stereotyped as an action hero. Vishal's brother, Vikram Krishna Reddy, the film's producer, has revealed that the film is about police encounters, a very prominent issue regarding the laws of India. Hence, the protagonist's role runs parallel to that of Surya Sivakumar's in ''

Kaaka Kaaka ''Kaakha Kaakha'' (), titled ''The Police'' in the UK, is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It stars Suriya and Jyothika, with Jeevan playing the antagonist. The film featured musi ...

''. The film was touted to be a bilingual with the Telugu version titled ''Salute''. Each scene was shot twice as Vishal had to wear a Tamil Nadu police uniform for the Tamil version and an Andhra Pradesh police uniform for the Telugu version.

Casting

Trisha Krishnan Trisha Krishnan (born 4 May 1983), known mononymously as Trisha, is an Indian actress and model, who primarily works in Tamil and Telugu films. She was noticed after winning Miss Chennai contest (1999), which marked her entry into the fil ...

was originally selected to do the lead role in ''Sathyam''. Later she was removed and the selection was then between

and

Shriya Saran Shriya Saran Bhatnagar (; born 11 September 1982) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi-language films. Although Saran aspired to become a well-known dancer, she became an actress with her film debut in 2001 ...

. At last,

was selected to play the female lead . The film marked the debut of Kannada actor

in Tamil cinema.

Filming

Filming's first schedule began at

Kadapa Kadapa (colonial spelled Cuddapah) is a city in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located in the Rayalaseema region, and is the district headquarters of YSR Kadapa district. As of the 2022 Census of India, the city had a popula ...

in August 2007, after Vishal completed the shooting for his previous action thriller,

Malaikottai ''Malaikottai'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Boopathy Pandian. The film stars Vishal and Priyamani, while Devaraj, Ajay, Ashish Vidyarthi, and Urvashi play supporting roles. The music was composed by ...

, and then the remaining schedules took place in

and

Tiruvallur Tiruvallur is a Grade I municipality and a fast developing city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of Coovum river about from downtown Chennai (Madras) and just 5 km from megacity border, in the western p ...

throughout February 2008. During the shooting of the climax fight scene in

, thunder and lightning were an issue for both Vishal and Ravi Kale, and the former took treatment for 5 days, thus revising and stalling the final shoot. For the climax speech scene, Vishal sported a bald look for the first time to suit the scene. Shooting finally ended in May 2008.

Music

The film has five songs composed by

, "Sathyam" was his 25th film as music director, and the album was released on 14 March 2008 in

, while the Telugu version, Salute's album was released on 4 June 2008 at

. Lyrics are penned by

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 na ...

, Kabilan &

Yugabharathi Yugabharathi is a Tamil poet and lyricist. His birth name was "Santhanam Desan" and he was known as "Santhanam" by his family and friends. During the early 1990s when he began writing poems for magazines he started using the pen name "Yugabharat ...

. The soundtrack received generally positive reviews from critics. IndiaGlitz described the album as "catchy" and stated that "Harris has given his heart out to package it with the right mix of songs. With good vocals and perfect rhythms, Sathyam songs would be remembered by music-lovers for a long time to come. Sathyam is one more jewel in Harris's crown". Behindwoods mentioned that "Harris Jayaraj has not disappointed us here. But at the same time there's nothing that sweeps us off our feet too."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sathyam (2008 Film) 2008 films 2000s Tamil-language films Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police Indian action films Films scored by Harris Jayaraj 2000s masala films Fictional portrayals of the Andhra Pradesh Police Indian multilingual films Films shot in Turkey Films shot in Chennai Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films set in Chennai Films set in Hyderabad, India 2008 multilingual films 2008 action films 2008 directorial debut films