Donning the role of an honest cop is indeed a dream of most of the actors in Kollywood. Vishal has fulfilled it in ‘Sathyam’, a usual cat and rat story, however with interesting twists and turns from beginning to end.
Director Rajasekar, who has come out with a tight subject in the first film itself has weaved his day to day experiences during his tenure as a journalist as a racy script, which may be liked by the audience in Andhra Pradesh, than those in Tamilnadu.
Interestingly, this film marks the direct entry of Vishal in Tollywood, as ‘Sathyam’ is his first to be simultaneously made in Telugu, since all his previous flicks were just dubbed to speak the language of the neighbouring State.
Coming to the story, Sathyam (Vishal), an Assistant Commissioner of Police is asked to investigate the motive behind the murders of Ministers. In the process, he finds the culprit (Upendra), only to receive a rude shock to know his identity.
For, the murderer is none other than a former police officer, who inspired Sathyam to take the cop job. Revealing the reason behind his change of mind, the ex-cop says that he is on a killing spree as he failed to set right things in khakhi uniform.
Sathyam, who throws a challenge at his mentor that he would use the power of law to put the wrongdoers behind the bars, vows to throw light on the illegal activities of a Minister (Kota Srinivasa Rao), who aims at the Chief Minister post.
During his attempts to establish truth, Sathyam faces various troubles. However, he proves that truth alone will triumph always. In the meantime, the protagonist also has a romantic episode with Deivanayaki (Nayantara), a TV journalist.
Thanks to the training he got under the guidance of a senior police officer, Vishal fits well to the shoes of a cop. His physique cooperates well with the body language, thus giving him a rigid look.
Nayantara, as a chirpy and vivacious journalist, helps the film whenever it needs the dose of glamour and comedy. Though some of her hilarious sequences fail to evoke laughter, she presents a beautiful chemistry with Vishal in songs. Standing testimony to this is Chellamay Chellamay.
Harris Jayaraj’s music is not up to the mark while R D Rajasekar’s camera work sizzles. Coming to the performance part again, Upendra and Kota Srinivasa Rao make their flags fly high in this Tamil flick, which has traces of Telugu in many a scene. Had the director avoided this Andhra flavour, one can salute Sathyam for many reasons.
Cast: Vishal, Nayanthara, Upendra, Premji Gangai Amaran
Direction: Rajasekhar
Production: Vikram Krishna
Music: Harris Jayaraj