Narasimha (2001 film)

Narasimha
Directed by	Thirupathisamy
Produced by	L. K. Sudhish Vijayakanth (Uncredited)
Screenplay by	Thirupathisamy
Story by	G. V. Kumar
Starring	Vijayakanth Isha Koppikar Raghuvaran Nassar Ranjith
Music by	Mani Sharma
Cinematography	SK.Boopathy
Edited by	B.S.Vasu Saleem
Production company	Captain Cine Creations
Distributed by	Captain Cine Creations
Release date	13 July 2001
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Narasimha is a 2001 Tamil action film directed by Thirupathisamy, which features Vijayakanth in the lead role. The film features an ensemble supporting cast including Isha Koppikar, Raghuvaran, Nassar and Sharat Saxena, while the soundtrack for the film was composed by Mani Sharma. The film released in July 2001. It was later dubbed in Telugu as Salute and Hindi as Agni Jwala^[1][2]

Cast

Production

The film was initially supposed to be directed by N. Maharajan of Vallarasu fame but due to a lack of dates, Vijayakanth had to opt for another director with Thirupathisamy, being selected.^[3] Due to the success of his previous two films and his work in Narasimha, the director was signed up to direct a new film titled as Velan with Vijay and Priyanka Chopra in the lead roles.^[4] However the director died before the release of the film after being a part of a car crash while returning home from an editing session — the producers of Narasimha later dedicated the film to him.^[5] The film marked the debut of cinematographer Boopathy, who has since been a regular in Vijayakanth films.^[6]

Soundtrack

The Soundtrack of the film was composed by Mani Sharma. Lyricist Pa. Vijay wrote his 100th song for the film.^[7]

• Simma Narasimma - Shankar Mahadevan
• Egypt Rani - Shankar Mahadevan, Harini
• Kadhal Aararo-Saisivan, Mahalakshmi Iyer
• Lala Nandalala-Kalpana Raghavendar
• Mandela mandela

Release

The Hindu wrote that the film "has beautiful songs and dance, a touch of comedy, attractive costumes and above all a message which says that the country matters more than anything else". In regard to performances, the critic claims that Isha is "beautiful", Rahul Dev "impresses" and that Vijayakanth "has used his histrionic ability to do justice to the character".^[8] However the critic from Rediff called the film a "commercial confection" and concluded that the director "doesn't manage to put all the ingredients together in the right proportion."^[9] The film also dubbed and released in Telugu as Salute.^[10] The Indian Express concluded "the film, despite its dramatics and slick presentation, lacks a clear, solid screenplay, and among the numerous characters, not one is clearly etched."^[11]

In 2006, producer L. K. Sudhish his brother-in-law, were engaged in a legal battle to compensate distributors due to the film's losses.^[12][13]

References