Thamizhan is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by debutant Majith and produced by G. Venkateswaran. The film stars Vijay in the lead role with Priyanka Chopra, who made her debut as a lead actress in the film. Revathi, Nassar, Ashish Vidyarthi and Vivek also play pivotal roles in the film, while the film's score and soundtrack were composed by D. Imman. The story involves solving several corruption cases by a lawyer named Surya in the process fighting against a criminal boss and finally making indian law basics available as a free book to common people.
Plot
Surya is a happy go lucky guy and often gets involved in petty fights. He falls in love with Priya. His brother in law Sakthivel, advises him to join as a junior to senior lawyer Lakshminarayanan. He becomes a upright lawyer who values and tries to redress things the legal way. Sakthivel, is killed in the process of upholding justice by an corrupt bigwig GK. He takes up a mission to make the layman understand his legal rights and learn the Indian law basics. So, Surya is seen as a hero by the people. GK's diary factory gets sealed by Surya for violating food safety norms. Surya's sister Jaya also meets a pitiful end at the hands of GK's goons, but Surya refuses to give up. GK's goons start a riot in a village in a village and puts the blame on Surya. Surya gets arrested and gets beaten up by the corrupt cops, and retaliates in return. Surya is summoned at the court and fights up legally, suggesting several reforms in the judicial system of India. After Surya gets released, GK attempts to shoot him but gets thrashed by the people. Surya tells GK to reform before he gets punished. For his service, Surya is honoured by the President Of India. Finally, it is shown that Surya's dream had come true.
In 2001, producer G. Venkateswaran signed on Thirupathisamy to direct Vijay in an action film titled Velan. The film, a remake of the director's Telugu film Azad, saw Priyanka Chopra, winner of the beauty pageantMiss World 2000, being brought in by Venkateswaren to make her debut and play the lead female role. However, before production began, Thirupathisamy died in an accident and Venkateswaren duly decided to give debutant Majith a chance to direct a film with the same cast. Gautami was initially selected to play Vijay's sister in the film, but was later replaced by Revathi. Vivek was signed on to film comedy scenes for a sum of 15 lakh. A new technical team of music director 18-year-old Imman, who had scored for serials earlier, and cinematographer Ekambaram, who had apprenticed with Jeeva, were also selected. Furthermore, the sets were designed by Sabu Cyril, dance choreography was by Raju Sundaram, and stunts were arranged by Super Subbarayan. A scene for the film featured the producer and lyricist Vairamuthu making guest appearances as themselves during a book launch event. The patriotic nature of the film led to a postal stamp being released with Vijay's face on it. The similarities of title and release date between Thamizhan and the Prashanth-starrer Thamizh created confusion, with the producers of both films unable to accommodate any changes. The commercial success of the movie led Vijay to portray the role of a lawyer again for a second time in his career, in the 2005 action movie Sukran.
Release
Made on a high budget of 5 crore, Thamizhan was sold for 11.5 crore to distributors. The movie was later dubbed in Telugu as Dammunte Kasko and in Hindi as Jeet - Born To Win.
Critical reception
The film opened to mixed reviews from film critics on 14 April 2002. Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu praised Vijay's image change and claimed he acts out a "creditable portrayal", while adding that "dialogue is a strong point of the film". Though she also mentioned that "debutante Priyanka Chopra has precious little to do" and that Revathi's role was of a cliched elder sister. In comparison, a reviewer from Bizhat.com stated that "the message conveyed leaves you exhausted and stressed", giving the film an average review.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the film was composed by D. Imman, who with the soundtrack made his debut at 19 years old. Actress Priyanka Chopra sang a song in the film, with Vijay recommending her after he had heard her humming to a tune.
