Samar (2013 film)
Samar is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language mystery action thriller film written and directed by Thiru. It stars Vishal, Trisha and Sunaina, with Manoj Bajpayee and J. D. Chakravarthy as the antagonists. Sampath Raj, John Vijay, Sriman, Jayaprakash and Azhagam Perumal play other supporting roles. Richard M. Nathan handled the cinematography, while the film's soundtrack and score were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja and Dharan Kumar, respectively. The story revolves around a trekking guide, who goes to Bangkok to meet his girlfriend, and witnesses a series of puzzling incidents there. After several delays, the film was released on 13 January 2013.
Plot
The film opens with Sakthi, son of a forest ranger, beating up a gang that illegally cuts precious trees to earn money. Sakthi is a jungle trekker who spends his time bringing groups of tourists on trips into the jungle.Almost immediately, the story changes track and introduces Sakthi's girlfriend, Rupa. The lovers soon part ways, citing compatibility issues where Rupa complains that Shakthi is not the loving boyfriend she wanted. Sakthi's character is such that he does not remember even a single detail in their love life that Rupa deems important. Rupa tells Sakthi that he does not seem to have the time for a girlfriend and that he does not even care to do so. Rupa further aggravates the situation by asking Sakthi to close his eyes and tell her the colour of the dress she was wearing right then, but Sakthi finds that he could not. Grieved, Rupa leaves Sakthi, saying this was his character and that he would not change.
After three months, Sakthi still had not recovered from his break-up. However, he receives a courier from his girlfriend saying that she misses him, and a flight ticket to Bangkok, where she resides now. Sakthi is overjoyed and leaves for Bangkok. Being his first trip to a foreign country, Sakthi seeks help from his co-passenger Maya. They end up becoming friends, and Sakthi tells Maya about his lady love.
In Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, Sakthi and Maya part ways, and Sakthi makes his way to the Buddhist Temple where Rupa had written in the letter that she would meet him at. Although he waits for hours, Rupa doesn't turn up. At night, IPS Officer Muthumaran checks on him, saying that he wasn't allowed to stay at the temple at night. Upon learning that Sakthi is a Tamilian just like himself, he offers him a place to stay while Sakthi finds his girlfriend. However, Muthumaran does imply that he does not trust women and that Sakthi should not get his hopes up high that Rupa will come looking for him. Another day, in a case of mistaken identity, Sakthi gets caught up in the middle of a shootout between two gangs, one intent on protecting him and the other seemingly hell-bent to riddle him full of holes. As the gang protecting Sakthi gain the upper hand in the firefight, they whisk him away to a posh hotel in a luxury car. Sakthi is confused and doesn't understand why he was dragged off.
A magazine in the seat next to him in the car attracts his attention, and to his shock, Sakthi sees an exact look-alike on the cover of the magazine. It turns out that his doppelgänger, remarkably also named Sakthi, is a multi-millionaire tycoon who is adored by many and targeted by a few in Bangkok. He doesn't know how to prove his identity as everything stands against him. Things get bizarre as Trekker Sakthi has been forcefully dropped into the role of Tycoon Sakthi and situations seem to prove him as someone he was not.
In the hotel, Trekker Sakthi argues with the Tycoon Sakthi's personal assistant Manohar about his true identity. He takes out his passport and shows it to Manohar. An amused Manohar gives the passport back to Trekker Sakthi and asks if it was true that he was merely the son of a forest ranger, why would he have multiple visas of so many countries, which was expected in a businessman's passport. To his horror, Trekker Shakthi finds that his ordinary, rarely travelled Indian passport has inexplicably turned into a Thai passport with visas to several countries like Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Sakthi enlists the help of Maya, who brings him to a branch of Bangkok Bank to recover his details, hoping there would be a discrepancy somewhere to help Trekker Sakthi prove he was not Tycoon Sakthi.
In a turn of events, when Trekker Sakthi signs his signature to access the Tycoon's bank account balance hoping that his different signature might be proof enough, the bank's security system shows that his signature was an exact match – and that he had a little over half a billion US dollars in his account. At this juncture, even Maya starts to suspect that both Sakthis are the same person. Sakthi gets further and further mangled in more trouble with his assumed identity.
After a long cat and mouse game, Sakthi spots Manohar again, not in a business suit as before, but as a pimp in the streets. Sakthi gives chase and beats him up enough to find out the truth – that he was being played by two ruthless, psychotic businessmen watching his every move through hidden cameras, who have orchestrated all the bizarre situations Sakthi had found himself in before Manohar reveals the names he is shot and falls into the hole. Shakthi is blamed for the murder, and the police do not believe his situation. Shakthi learns that Rupa had never written the letter. Two business tycoons, Rajesh Arunachalam and John Frederick, happen to be friends from childhood, born in rich families. They play a game creating problematic situations intentionally for unsuspecting people choosing randomly placing bets on them to determine whether they survive or not.
In present, both villains bring a person posing as Maya's boyfriend Rohit to provoke the anger of Sakthi so that he would show his anger towards Maya. Sakthi plays the same game back at the villains with Maya, by pretending to slap and kill her. Maya stands on a road where villains were travelling, and they think she is a ghost, they panic, lose control of the car and become unconscious. The next day, Rajesh and John find themselves staying in a suite owned by them, and a news broadcast shocks them – to the whole world, John and Rajesh are dead, and their funeral is taking place. They run away and end up before Shakthi and Maya. Joseph Kuriyan, Muthumaran, and Jayaraj, the people who were involved in the game, arrive there, and the film ends with Shakthi and Maya walking away from the seaside while the sound of a pistol is heard, which indicates that both villains are killed.
Production
Development
In mid-August 2011, Vishal confirmed that his next project after Vedi would be a film to be directed by Thiru, with whom he had collaborated in Theeradha Vilaiyattu Pillai before. The film was titled Samaran, and was reported to be an action adventure film, with Vishal playing a "forest trekker". The film's title was changed to Samar in April 2012. At the audio release function, Vishal revealed that the film was written for his friend, actor Arya, but that he wanted to enact the lead role after listening to its narration. The first look of the film was unveiled by Thiru on 1 May 2012 via Twitter.Casting
Trisha, who had previously declined five of Vishal's films – Thaamirabharani, Sathyam, Thoranai, Theeradha Vilayattu Pillai and Vedi - was signed as the lead actress of Samar. It was initially reported that Arvind Swamy had agreed to play a negative character; however Thiru clarified that Arvind Samy was considered but never approached, adding that it was not a negative character either. Arvind Swamy later clarified that he was not going to make a comeback. Sneha Ullal was supposed to play a prominent role, which was eventually secured by Sunaina. Prakash Raj originally agreed to act in the film, but as filming became delayed by a month, he opted out of the project and was subsequently replaced by Hindi actor Manoj Bajpai, making his Tamil film debut, while J. D. Chakravarthy, with whom Bajpai acted in the Hindi film Satya, was recruited to play another pivotal role as Thiru wanted to reunite the Satya actors.Filming
The director stated that Samar would be filmed on location in the forests of Chalakudy, Kerala. Most of the scenes from the first schedule were shot in Ooty and featured only Vishal and Sunaina. Several stunt scenes were shot in Bangkok with the help of Chinese stuntman Nung, which Vishal performing without using any safety ropes. The song "Poikaal Kuthirai", picturised on Vishal, was shot for over five days in almost 18 locations in Bangkok. In October 2012, the crew left for Malaysia to shoot the last song on Vishal and Trisha.In August 2012, a producer named Vijay brought an interim injunction over the usage of the title Samar, claiming that he had registered the same a year ago for his upcoming film. Thiru confirmed by October 2012 that the title issue had been solved and that the film's title remains unchanged.
Music
The soundtrack was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, continuing his association with Thiru. It was released on 4 December 2012, with Agathiyan, Thiru's father-in-law, being present at the event. The background score was composed by Dharan Kumar.Pramodh of Musicperk rated the album 6.5/10, quoting "This album is a treat for Yuvan fans". Karthik of Milliblog wrote, "Samar is proof that Yuvan can doze off while composing".