''Samrat'' is a 1997

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...

crime thriller film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Sakthi Chidambaram Sakthi N Chidambaram (born Dinakar), is an Indian film director, who directs Tamil films. Career His real name is C. Dhinakaran. He first wrote the dialogues for the films ''Kottai Vaasal'' (1992), ''Veettai Paaru Naattai Paaru'' (1994), ''Uzh ...

(credited as C.Dinakaran) as his first film as a director. The film stars

Ramki Ramakrishnan, better known by his stage name Ramki, is an Indian actor best known for his work in Tamil and Telugu films. He made his debut in ''Chinna Poove Mella Pesu'' (1987). He was a lead actor from 1987 to 2004. He was known for his per ...

Vineetha Vineetha is a former Indian actress, who appeared predominantly in Tamil films and Malayalam films. She has also acted in some Kannada, Telugu and Hindi films. She made her debut through the Tamil film ''Chinna Jameen ''Chinna Jameen'' () i ...

, and newcomer Rukma, with Mohan Natarajan, R. Sundarrajan,

Thalaivasal Vijay Thalaivasal Vijay is an Indian actor and dubbing artist. He was born on 4 August 1962 in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India. He has acted predominantly in numerous Tamil and Malayalam films. Career Vijay's debut film was '' Thalaivaasal'' (1992), ...

Sabitha Anand Sabitha Anand is an Indian actress who has performed in Tamil and Malayalam movies and serials. She was one of the lead actresses in the 1980s. She is the daughter of Jacoob Abdu Rahman Anand, an Indian actor in Malayalam movies during the 1960 ...

, Vasuki, Rajasekhar, and Veera Pandiyan playing supporting roles. The film, produced by Lakshmi Karan, had musical score by Manoj Saran and cinematography by S. Rajasekaran. The film released on 10 October 1997. The film is remake of the Hindi film ''

Baazigar ''Baazigar'' () is a 1993 Indian romantic crime thriller film directed by Abbas–Mustan and produced by Venus Movies. It stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in lead roles, while Raakhee, Shilpa Shetty, Dalip Tahil, Siddharth Ray, and Johnny Le ...

'', which was based on the novel '' A Kiss Before Dying'' written by

Ira Levin Ira Marvin Levin (August 27, 1929 – November 12, 2007) was an American novelist, playwright, and songwriter. His works include the novels ''A Kiss Before Dying (novel), A Kiss Before Dying'' (1953), ''Rosemary's Baby (novel), Rosemary's Baby'' ...

. The film became a failure at the box-office.

Plot

A young man (

) comes in a remote village in

Pollachi Pollachi is a town and a taluk headquarters in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu state, India. Located about to the south of Coimbatore, it is the second largest town in the district after Coimbatore. Pollachi is a popular Marketplace for ja ...

. He claims to be Ashok and to be reported missing when he was a kid. His sister Arukkani (Vasuki) and his brother-in-law ( R. Sundarrajan) accommodate him in their house. There, Ashok meets Damayanthi (Rukma), the daughter of Sundar (Mohan Natarajan), the wealthiest man in the village. They fall in love with each other. When Sundar arranges Damayanthi's wedding with a rich bride, Ashok is heart-broken. The couples decide to get secretly married in a small temple far from the village. After tying the

thaali A mangala sutra (), or thaali (ISO: ''tāḷi''), is a necklace that the groom ties around the bride's neck in the Indian subcontinent, in a ceremony called ''Mangalya Dharanam'' (). The necklace serves as a visual marker of status as a ma ...

around Damayanthi's neck, he removes himself from the knot. Damayanthi runs away crying. The entire scene is recorded by a hidden camera, and Ashok then sends the videotape of the scene to Sundar. Ashok then vanishes from the village and starts to blackmail Sundar. Ashok now lives in the city and tries to repeatedly woo the city girl Chandramukhi (

) under the name of Samrat. Chandramukhi is studying in the city, and she finally falls in love with him. She also succeeds in passing the IPS exams and eventually becomes a police inspector. Chandramukhi is tasked with a tricky mission: to investigate the disappearance of Damayanthi. Damayanthi is none other than Chandramukhi's elder sister. Damayanthi is later found by her father Sundar. However, she is not like as before: she became a mentally disabled person. Sundar explains to Chandramukhi what happened in the past to Damayanthi. Sundar tried to do everything to find Ashok but could not find him. Chandramukhi and her father send Damayanthi in a mental hospital. Chandramukhi continues her investigation with Inspector Kalidas (Veera Pandiyan), but without much success. In the meantime, Samrat covers one's tracks. He even kills Damayanthi and the hospital doctor Ilyas (Rajasekhar), who witnessed Damayanthi's murder. Samrat finally reveals to Chandramukhi the reason behind his acts. In the past, Sundar killed Samrat's innocent father (

) and removed the

from his mother's (

) neck. Sundar later lied to the villagers that he had an affair with Samrat's mother, and she also died. Samrat is a psychopath who wants to take revenge on Sundar at any cost as he believes that his late mother is still alive. Samrat also wants to impose Chandramukhi the same fate as Damayanthi. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.

Cast

as Samrat / Ashok *

as Chandramukhi *Rukma as Damayanthi *Mohan Natarajan as Sundar * R. Sundarrajan *

as Samrat's father *

as Samrat's mother *Vasuki as Arukkani *Rajasekhar as Doctor Ilyas *Veera Pandiyan as Inspector Kalidas * M. R. Krishnamurthy *

Vichithra Vichithra is an Indian actress who has predominantly appeared in Tamil films. She has also appeared in a few Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. Career Her breakthrough came in the form of a glamorous role in Selva's ''Thalaivasal'' (1992), w ...

Jyothi Meena Jyothi Meena is an Indian actress who has predominantly appeared in Tamil films. She is best remembered for her item numbers and supporting roles in ''Ullathai Allitha'' and '' Azhagana Naatkal''. Personal life Jyothi Meena was born in Chenn ...

*K. Prabhakaran *Chitraguptan *John Babu *

Karuppu Subbiah Karuppu Subbiah was an Indian actor who had acted over 300 Tamil language films in comedy roles and minor roles. He also has another name 'Mottai' Subbiah. He is notable for his comedian roles along with actor Goundamani. And also he acted alon ...

* Ashwin Kumar

Soundtrack

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by Manoj Saran. The soundtrack, released in 1997, features 5 tracks with lyrics written by Muthulingam,

Piraisoodan Piraisoodan (6 February 1956 – 8 October 2021) was a Tamil poet and lyricist. He won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist for his songs in movies like ''Thayagam'', '' En Rasavin Manasile'' and ''Neeyum Naanum'' in 1996, 1991 and ...

and C. Dhinakaran.

References

External links

{{Sakthi Chidambaram 1997 films 1990s Tamil-language films Indian romantic thriller films Indian crime thriller films 1997 crime thriller films Films based on American novels Films based on thriller novels Films based on works by Ira Levin Indian films about revenge Tamil remakes of Hindi films 1990s romantic thriller films Films directed by Sakthi Chidambaram