Sandakozhi

Sandakozhi is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by N. Linguswamy and produced by Vikram Krishna under the banner of G K Film Corporation. The film stars Vishal, Meera Jasmine, Rajkiran, Lal, Raja, Suman Setty and Ganja Karuppu. The music was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja and the cinematography was handled by Jeeva and Nirav Shah, while the editing was handled by G. Sasikumar.

Sandakozhi was released on 16 December 2005 and became a major success, running for over 210 days in theatres. The Telugu dubbed version titled Pandem Kodi was released on 19 May 2006 and was commercially successful. The film was remade in Kannada as Vayuputra. A sequel titled Sandakozhi 2 was released in 2018, but did not reach the success level of the original film.

Plot
Balu is an engineering student studying in Chennai, who visits his classmate and friend Karthik's home in Chidambaram after the final exams. Balu meets Karthik's sister Hema and they develop an affection which transforms into love. Kasi is the local gangster in Chidambaram who is feared by the entire town. On his way back to his place, Balu sees Kasi chasing a man with an aruval. When Kasi was about to kill the man he was chasing, Balu interferes and stops Kasi, who gets enraged and immediately tries to attack Balu, but Balu smashes Kasi in front of everyone to save himself and leaves.

Kasi is furious and wants vengeance against Balu. Kasi's men trap Karthik/Hema's father and learn about Balu's native place. Kasi sets goons to kill Balu but gets shocked when he learns that Balu's father is a powerful chieftain of Theni named Durai, and it will be difficult to attack them. Kasi leaves to Theni and waits for the right moment to kill Balu and his family. Balu meets Hema, Karthik and their family at a temple. Hema/Karthik's father is initially angered by seeing Balu as he was responsible to bring trouble by hitting Kasi, but Balu convinces him and both the families approve Balu and Hema's relationship.

One day, Kasi tries to kill Balu, but Durai get attacked instead. Durai understands that Balu is being targeted and decides to protect him. A localite in Theni hates Durai and his family and decides to help Kasi kill Durai. Kasi utilises the opportunity to kill Balu and Durai during a temple festival, but Balu saves Durai and fights Kasi. Durai asks Balu to fight with him. Balu thrashes Kasi and leaves, challenging him to return if he still has guts to finish him.

Production
Sandakozhi was originally narrated for Vijay, but he declined the project without listening to the full script, and was replaced by Vishal. Vishal worked hard for the role by taking courses in acting and dancing. A fight scene involving Vishal and Lal was picturised in Dindigul for seven days. The songs have been shot at locations in Australia, New Zealand and Chennai. An introduction song for Rajkiran was shot at Theni. The song "Ennamo Nadakirathe" was shot at Mauritius for six days.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack, composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, teaming up for the first time with director N. Linguswamy and Vishal, was released on 25 November 2005. Both the film score as well as the songs were appreciated and praised as outstanding with the song "Dhavanipotta Deepavali" considered as the pick of the album.

Critical response
Sify wrote "Sandakozhi is a well-packaged film without any big stars or unwanted sentiments." Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote "Sandakozhi is an engaging entertainer, an action-flick with a difference". Behindwoods wrote "Lingusamy has given a total commercial entertainer." Lajjavathi of Kalki wrote even though the impact of the film Run was visible at times, it was not boring. The first half is a non-stopping express and the second half is a fast-moving metro train with occasional stops. Sandakozhi which came out without major stars and any unnecessary sentiments is a Jaikira Kozhi (winning rooster). Vikatan wrote Director Lingusamy's mixed taste shines in the tumultuous romance and thrilling action knots only if the liveliness and excitement of the first half had been the same in the second half, Sandakozhi could have been given a loud whistle.

Box office
The film was a commercial success grossing $4.5 million at the box office.

Sequel
In December 2015, Linguswamy announced that he would direct the sequel of Sandakozhi with Vishal again, which was shelved. However, the project was revived in 2017 with Vishal confirming his presence in the sequel. Rajkiran from the original has been retained in the sequel, with additional new cast involving Keerthy Suresh and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar. The film released in 2018; however, it failed to replicate the success of its original film.