''Thambi Arjuna'' () is a 2010

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 Pud ...

action 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 l ...

directed by Vijay R. Anand. The film stars

Ramana Ramana may refer to: * Ramana, Pakistan, place in Pakistan * Ramana, Azerbaijan, place in Azerbaijan * Chintapalli Ramana, Telugu film writer * Mullapudi Venkata Ramana, Telugu scriptwriter * Ramana Maharshi, Hindu spiritual figure * Ramana Reddy ...

, newcomer Feroz Khan and

Ashima Bhalla Ashima Bhalla is an Indian actress who has appeared in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil language films. She also appeared on television, portraying the lead role in the Indian soap ''Meri Awaz Ko Mil Gayi Roshni'' on StarPlus. She also participated in ...

, with

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 ...

, Suman, newcomer Sharmila,

Bala Singh Bala Singh (7 May 195227 November 2019) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil language films. After making his debut in Nassar's '' Avatharam'' (1995), he appeared as the antagonist in over a hundred films. Early life and career Bala Sin ...

and Rajendran playing supporting roles. The film, produced by G. M. Balaji and Manisha Khan, had musical score by

Dhina Dhina (also credited as Dheena) ( ta, தினா; born on 15 January 1966) is an Indian film and television series composer from Tamil Nadu, India. Biography and career Dhina first worked as an assistant musician under popular composer G. K ...

and was released on 30 July 2010. It is dubbed into hindi as ''Bhai Arjuna''.

Plot

Arjuna, who studies

aeronautical engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is sim ...

in Australia, returns to

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 ...

after a two-year absence and reminisces about the events that had led him to leave the country. Arjuna and his elder brother Dharma were orphans who were brought up by the rowdy Mani. Dharma did not want his brother Arjuna to follow in his footsteps and made his brother study aeronautical engineering. Dharma then left Mani's gang and became a powerful don. Arjuna was in love with Radhika, the daughter of Police Commissioner Vedagiri. Radhika also fell in love with him, but when she learned of his brother's profession, she felt pessimistic. To fulfil his brother's wish, Dharma requested Vedagiri to give his daughter in marriage to his brother, but Vedagiri humiliated Dharma and beat him up with his shoe. An angry Arjuna beat Vedagiri in turn with his shoe in front of Radhika and told him that he did not want to marry Radhika anymore. After this incident, Arjuna went back to Australia, and Dharma left his don life. Dharma surrendered himself to the government, and he was thus leading a peaceful life. Back to the present, Mani sequesters Dharma and requests Arjuna to save Radhika who was abducted by a tribe, and in return, Mani promises to release his brother. Mani is in fact following Vedagiri's instruction. Arjuna then saves Radhika, who is still in love with him, but Vedagiri cannot forget the humiliation and wants to take revenge on Dharma and Arjuna. The

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

gives free rein to the police to end rowdyism and orders to

encounter Encounter or Encounters may refer to: Film *''Encounter'', a 1997 Indian film by Nimmala Shankar * ''Encounter'' (2013 film), a Bengali film * ''Encounter'' (2018 film), an American sci-fi film * ''Encounter'' (2021 film), a British sci-fi film * ...

all the rowdies, including the reformed don Dharma. The police shot all the rowdies, including Mani and Dharma's right-hand man Kaaka. The film ends with Dharma and Vedagiri shooting each other to death.

Cast

as Arjuna *Feroz Khan as Dharma *

as Radhika *

as Chief Minister * Suman as Vedagiri, Radhika's father *Sharmila as Bhuvana * Rajendran as Mani *

as Kaaka *

Rekha Bhanurekha Ganesan (born 10 October 1954), better known by her stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in more than 180 fi ...

as Radhika's mother *

Lollu Sabha Manohar Lollu Sabha Manohar is an Indian actor and comedian who has appeared in Tamil cinema. He started his career with the television show ''Lollu Sabha'' alongside other comedians, including Santhanam. Career Manohar first garnered attention throug ...

as Manohar *

Yuvarani Yuvarani (born 30 November 1974) is an Indian actress. She has appeared in several Tamil films in the female lead role while she has also featured in television serials. She played Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950) ...

*Usha Elizabeth *Nadhisha as Fardeena *Master Parthiban as Karthik *Master Arif as Ashok

Production

Vijay R. Anand, a former associate of actor

, made his directorial debut with ''Thambi Arjuna''. Actor Ramana had undergone rigorous workout and toned his physique for the role. Malayalam actor Feroz Khan signed to play the baddie, Suman played a tough policeman while

was chosen to play the heroine. Speaking about the film, the director Vijay R. Anand said, "Women always occupied a prominent place in history. They created and destroyed many empires. 'Thambi Arjuna' is a tale of a young woman and her lover" and added, "I want my movies to do all the talking. It will be shot using state-of-the-art technology. Action sequences are the highlights of the film". During the shooting of the climax, a freak fire accident caused severe injuries and burns to the heroine Ashima Bhalla. The scene required her to be surrounded by fire and kerosene was poured around her accordingly. But suddenly due to a freak accident, the fire caught up with her and her legs were completely burned. She was then taken to the hospital immediately.

Soundtrack

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by

. The soundtrack features 6 tracks with lyrics written by Na. Muthukumar,

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 ...

and Uma Subramaniam. The audio was released on 28 April 2010 by

V. C. Guhanathan V. C. Guhanathan is a film screenwriter, director and producer who has worked on Indian Tamil films. He made his directorial debut in the 1970s, before proceeding to make successful films like ''Thanikattu Raja'' (1982) and ''Michael Raj'' (1987 ...

and

received the first CD.

Release

The film was released on 30 July 2010 alongside ''Aaravadhu Vanam'' and ''Ilakkana Pizhai''.

Critical reception

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

said, "The first half had a tangible script to back all the sound and fury of the musical score. There are some ably choreographed chase scenes .In the latter part, the situations loose out on conviction, the logic lop-sides and the motivation and behaviour of the characters are confusing". S. R. Ashok Kumar of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' wrote, "the director has gone wrong with the measure of essential cinematic ingredients". ''Behindwoods.com'' rated the film 1.5 out 5 and stated, "The movie has a decent script but if only it hadn’t trailed away to other banalities, it would have sustained the grip and been a better one".

Box office

The film took an average opening at the

box office, beginning in the third position the first week and finishing in the fifth position the second week.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 8209378, Thambi Arjuna 2010 films 2010s Tamil-language films Indian action films Indian gangster films Films about organised crime in India Films shot in Chennai Films shot in France 2010 directorial debut films 2010 action films