Sudhandhiram (transl. Independence) is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language crime action film directed by Raj Kapoor and produced by K. R. Gangadharan. The film stars Arjun and Rambha while Raghuvaran, Radhika and Sharat Saxena play supporting roles.[1] It is a remake of the Hindi film Ghulam (1998) which itself is based on the 1954 American film On the Waterfront.

Sudhandhiram
DVD cover
Directed byRaj Kapoor
Screenplay byRaj Kapoor
Story byAnjum Rajabali
Produced byK. R. Gangadharan
Starring
CinematographyM. V. Panneerselvam
Edited by
Music byS. A. Rajkumar
Production
company
KRG Movies
Release date
  • 25 February 2000 (2000-02-25)
Running time
146 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

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Vishwa is a goonda and an aspiring boxing champion. He does the typical goonda jobs (like scaring a batsman of the local cricket club to make sure he becomes out) for Sopraj, the local dada. He is usually bailed out by a lawyer Padmini, who believes that there is still good in him and he just needs to be given another chance. Sopraj is aiming to build a colony in the area after vacating the people already living there. Vishwa's brother Raghu, is an accountant on Sopraj's payroll. Love blossoms between Vishwa and Divya, the girlfriend of the head of a local gang. When a social worker Vikram intrudes in the affairs of Sopraj, he asks Vishwa to bring Vikram to him. Vishwa does so thinking that Sopraj is just going to talk some sense into him but Sopraj brutally kills him instead. This makes Vishwa turn over a new leaf. Though his love for his brother prevents him initially, he finally decides to turn approver against Sopraj.

Cast

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Soundtrack

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Soundtrack was composed by S. A. Rajkumar and lyrics were written by Kalaikumar.[2]

Song Singers Length
Coco Cola Shankar Mahadevan, Swarnalatha 04:07
Ennanamo Matram Sujatha, Hariharan 05:01
Konjam Chillunu S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Anuradha Sriram 04:07
Mazhai Mazhai Hariharan, Sujatha 04:43
Varthai Illamal Hariharan, K. S. Chithra 05:00

Reception

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Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote, "With a rough, rugged and unkempt look, Arjun does make an impression, but not the kind he created with Mudhalvan. It is mainly because there is not enough clarity in the characterisation", and appreciated Vivek's comedy for limited double entendres, "terrific sense of timing and well conceived humour".[3] Krishna Chidambaram of Kalki wrote the biggest downfall after the biggest success is the little devil that haunts Arjun for so long, it has continued even after Mudhalvan.[4] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote "The film is a remake of that successful Hindi film 'Ghulam'. No doubt, it had a well-crafted screenplay and a racy narrative style. But the maker while producing a faithful copy of the screenplay has forgotten that the original's success was also due to other factors".[5]

The film became a commercial failure and prompted a legal tussle between Arjun and Gangadharan soon after regarding non-payment as per contract.[6] Owing to the success of Mudhalvan in Telugu, the film's dubbing rights were bought in advance of the original release and a Telugu version titled Bose was released alongside the Tamil film.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Movie: Sudanthiram". Tamil Star. Archived from the original on 30 April 2005. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Sudhandhiram". JioSaavn. 29 January 2000. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  3. ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (25 February 2000). "Film Review: Sudhandhiram". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
  4. ^ சிதம்பரம், கிருஷ்ணா (19 March 2000). "சுதந்திரம்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 64. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ Mannath, Malini. "Swatantiram". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 14 September 2003. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  6. ^ Rasika. "Money can be tricky!". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 23 September 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  7. ^ Naresh (14 January 2000). "On the Sets". Screen. Archived from the original on 24 March 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
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