Satyam (2008 film)

2008 film by A. R. Rajasekar

Satyam

Theatrical release poster of Tamil version

Directed by| A. Rajasekhar
Written by| A. Rajasekhar
Produced by| Vikram Krishna
Starring| Vishal
Upendra
Nayanthara
Cinematography| R. D. Rajasekhar
Edited by| Anthony
Music by| Harris Jayaraj

Production
company

GK Film Corporation

Release date

* 14 August 2008 (2008-08-14)

Running time

| 183 minutes
Country| India
Languages| Tamil
Telugu
Budget| ₹27 crore[1]

Satyam (transl. Truth)[a] is an Indian 2008 Tamil-language action film written and directed by A. Rajasekhar in his debut. The film stars Vishal, Upendra and Nayanthara. It was produced by Vikram Krishna, Vishal's brother.

The film was simultaneously shot in Telugu as Salute, with a slightly different supporting cast. The score and soundtrack were composed by Harris Jayaraj. The film was released on 14 August 2008,[2] and failed at the box office.[3]

## Plot

[edit]

The plot opens with Sathyam, an Assistant Police Commissioner rescuing a hooligan from encounter thirsty cops around the Napier Bridge in Chennai (Hussain Sagar at Hyderabad 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 (Pulivendula 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 honour 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

[edit]

Actor  | Role

|

Tamil  | Telugu  | Tamil  | Telugu
Vishal | ACP K. Sathyam IPS
Upendra | Inspector Manicka Vel  | Inspector Prathap Rudhra
Nayanthara | Deivanayaki alias Deiva  | Divya
Kota Srinivasa Rao | Kondal Dhasan  | Kondal Rao
Premgi Amaren | Ali | Bora
Senthil | N. Paneerselvam
Brahmanandam | Transport Office Broker
Sudha Chandran | Sathyam's mother
Tanikella Bharani | Deiva's father  | Divya's father
Ravi Kale | Dilli (Thillainayagam/Dilli Babu)
Prabhu Nepaul  | Acharya
Jeeva | Punniyakodi  | Punniyakoti
Hema | Deiva's mother  | Divya's mother
Livingston | Politician
Santhana Bharathi | Minister Malarmannan  | Minister Mahadevaya
Devan | Police Inspector
Vinod Raj | DGP
Apoorva  | Chandramathi
Cheranraj  | Police officer
Krishna Kumar | Mohammed
Avinash | Sathyam's father
Naren | Muthupandi
Meera Krishnan | Muthupandi's wife
Scissor Manohar | Politician's PA
Baby Varsha  | Varsha
Uncredited
Cast (Tamil)  | Cast (Telugu)  | Role (Tamil)  | Role (Telugu)
Venba  | Venba
—  | Ambati Srinu  | Troublesome politician

Dubbing artists

* Savitha Reddy for Nayanthara (both Tamil and Telugu versions)
* P. Ravi Shankar for Upendra (both Tamil and Telugu versions)
* Kathiravan Balu for Ravi Kale (Tamil version)
* M. S. Bhaskar for both Brahmanandam and Tanikella Bharani (Tamil version)
* Sudhakar for Livingston (Telugu version)
* Mallikarjuna Rao for Senthil (Telugu version)

## Production

[edit]

Satyam is the directorial debut of A. Rajasekhar, previously an associate of Suresh Krissna.[4] Vishal trained hard for this role, pumping iron and sported a six pack. He has also sported a short-cropped hairstyle to look like a serious law-abiding police official.[5] 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.[6] Trisha Krishnan was originally selected to do the female lead role in Sathyam. Later she was replaced with Nayanthara.[7] The film marked the debut of Kannada actor Upendra in Tamil cinema.[8] Flight scenes were shot in Chennai and Dubai.[9] For the climax speech scene, Vishal sported a bald look for the first time to suit the scene.[10] The visual effects were provided by Prasad EFX, and supervised by Craig Mumma, known for his work on numerous American films.[11] The film has over 425 visual effects shots.[12]

## Soundtrack

[edit]

The film has five songs composed by Harris Jayaraj, Satyam was his 25th film as music director, and the album was released on 14 March 2008 in Chennai, while the Telugu version's album was released on 4 June 2008 at Hyderabad.[citation needed]

Tamil track listNo.| Title| Lyrics| Singer(s)| Length

|
|
|
|

1.| "Aaradi Kaathe"| Pa. Vijay| Hariharan| 4:46
2.| "Ada Gada Gada"| Pa. Vijay| Premji Amaren| 5:02
3.| "Chellame Chellame"| Yugabharathi| Balram, Bombay Jayashree, Sunitha Sarathy| 6:04
4.| "En Anbe"| Yugabharathi| Sadhana Sargam, Benny Dayal| 6:07
5.| "Paal Pappaali"| Kabilan| Ranjith, Naveen, Mahathi| 5:49
Total length:| 27:48

Telugu track list[13]No.| Title| Lyrics| Singer(s)| Length

|
|
|
|

1.| "Nammara Nestham"| Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry| Hariharan| 4:45
2.| "Ada Gada Gada"| Chandrabose| Premji Amaren| 5:02
3.| "Muddula Muddula."| Sahithi| Balram, Bombay Jayashree, Sunitha Sarathy| 6:00
4.| "Ninnena Nenu"| Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry| Sadhana Sargam, Benny Dayal| 6:06
5.| "Endammaya"| Sahithi| Naveen, Mahalakshmi Iyer| 5:46
Total length:| 27:39

## Critical reception

[edit]

Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com wrote, "The movie is technically and visually well polished -- and that, in itself is a pity, as, without a good screenplay and execution, it falls flat".[14] Sify wrote, "Debutant director A.Rajasekhar tackles the film half heartedly as he dilutes it with a lot of mass masala, which shifts the focus from the plot. The problem is that, story is wafer thin and the end product looks like a B-grade Telugu action movie".[15] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote, "Interesting in bits and pieces and gripping in fits and starts, GK Film Corporation’s Satyam (U/A), is a dampener of sorts. And if you walk out of the cinemas with a sense of disappointment, it’s because of A. Rajasekar’s inept screenplay".[16]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Also the title character.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Vishal-Nayan in Sathyam". Sify. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
2. ^ "Interview with Vishal". Idlebrain.com. 13 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 January 2025. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
3. ^ "Vishal goes to Himalayas". The Times of India. 5 July 2009. Archived from the original on 15 March 2025. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
4. ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (9 May 2008). "Promising note". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 November 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
5. ^ "Vishal thinks love is in the hair". Music India Online. 27 July 2008. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
6. ^ KR, Manigandan (23 July 2008). "The truth about Sathyam". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
7. ^ "Trisha watches Satyam!". The Times of India. 18 August 2008. Archived from the original on 24 February 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
8. ^ Reddy, T. Krithika (11 July 2008). "Role call". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
9. ^ "'Chellame was a toughie'". The Times of India. 9 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
10. ^ "Vishal's new look". The Times of India. 29 May 2008. Archived from the original on 24 February 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
11. ^ Kumar, S.R.Ashok (11 January 2008). "Visual effects with Hollywood touch". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 November 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
12. ^ "Prasad EFX dolls up Satyam with visual effects". Businessofcinema.com. 18 August 2008. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
13. ^ "Salute". MusicIndiaOnline. Archived from the original on 15 September 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
14. ^ Srinivasan, Pavithra (14 August 2008). "No good, not good at all". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
15. ^ "Satyam". Sify. Archived from the original on 23 January 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
16. ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (22 August 2008). "After the hype and hoopla -- Satyam". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Satyam at IMDb
* Satyam at Rotten Tomatoes

*[transl.]: translation
*[No.]: Number