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Raajjiyam
Raajjiyam (transl. Kingdom) is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language political action film directed and produced by Manoj Kumar. The film stars Vijayakanth, Dileep, Shamita Shetty and Priyanka Trivedi. The music was composed by Bharadwaj. The film was released on 14 April 2002,[2] it became a commercial failure.[3] The film marked the debut of actors Dileep, Shamita and Priyanka in Tamil cinema. PlotKarthikeyan runs a Central Government-authorized Secret Service agency called "Jothi Security Force" under the guise of an organization that helps people arriving in Chennai. He leads a happy life with his wife Geetha, daughter Pooja, and younger brother Surya, a mute. Surya falls in love with Anuradha, a woman that Karthikeyan brings home from the railway station, but her past forces her to reject his romance. When the governor's daughter-in-law dies, Karthikeyan finds out that it was a murder and arrests the governor's son Kiran Kumar. Though the governor congratulates Karthikeyan and appoints him as his personal bodyguard, he is plotting his revenge on him. The innocent Surya is then arrested during a riot. In jail, Inspector Kabilan, who hates Karthikeyan after being humiliated by him and works for the governor, tortures Surya. Kabilan later swaps Kiran Kumar and Surya: Surya gets hooked in jail and Kiran Kumar is secretly released from jail. Karthikeyan eventually discovers the plot and takes revenge by killing Kabilan and the governor. Cast
ProductionThe fight scene between Vijayakanth and Ponnamabalam was taken on a revolving bamboo, with the two men standing on either edge, the scene choreographed by Super Subbarayan. For the set, 20 lorries carrying bamboos were brought in, and set designer Shanmugham arranged them in order to make the place look like a bamboo fortress. It took twelve days to shoot the scene, and canning the shots was Kartikraja.[4] The film was produced at a cost of ₹7 crore.[1] SoundtrackThe music was composed by Bharadwaj, and lyrics were written by Snehan.[5]
Critical receptionPearl of Rediff.com wrote, "Though the film created expectations as a political thriller with Vijaykanth spewing dialogues laden with political nuances, Raajjiyam is about brothers, laced with action sequences".[6] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote, "Guru Films' 'Rajjiyam' has characters that lack depth and situations that lack verve. Manoj Kumar's screenplay and direction leave much to be desired."[7] Cinesouth wrote "Manojkumar should have worked harder with the screenplay. Politically influenced dialogues and fight sequences don't alone satisfy a viewer. Its a shock that he doesn't know this".[8] Chennai Online wrote "Vijaykant fights with gusto, though the camera inadvertently catching the rope tied to the back of the hero, destroys the illusion, as he does his gravity-defying leaps and kicks-in-the-air act. This is just one of the instances of the lack of seriousness in scripting and narration and the slips and loopholes that abound in the film".[9] References
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