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Citizen (film)
Encyclopedia
Citizen is a 2001 Tamil
action film
directed by Sharavanan Subbaiya and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film features Ajith Kumar
in the lead role as a social activist with Vasundhara Das
, Meena and Nagma
playing supporting roles. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Deva
, whilst cinematography was handled by Ravi K. Chandran
. The film opened to positive reviews in June 2001.
) finally traces the common factor among the kidnapped trio to Athippatti, a small hamlet consisting of fishermen. But to her surprise both the village and its 690 odd inhabitants seemed to have been wiped away from the face of the earth. The diggings tell a story of a mass massacre that must have taken place about a couple of decades back. 'Citizen' is finally apprehended. He comes out with his story of the gory happenings at Athippatti and how he, as a little boy, had been the sole survivor of the nightmare that gripped the village that day from the map of India, twenty years back. The entire village was wiped off including women and children by the three kidnapped officials because of their greed for power and money. Ajith wants the citizenship of the three government officials revoked including their families as a punishment for their atrocities to the inhabitants of Athippatti
, but it proved to be untrue. Ajith Kumar
put on weight for the film, which would feature him in nine roles and claimed that he was inspired by Kamal Haasan
's award-winning performances in such roles while taking up the film. Sameera Reddy
was originally a part of the cast but opted out as she could not offer bulk dates for the film. Subsequently singer Vasundhara Das
, who had earlier appeared in Hey Ram
was roped in to play the leading lady, while Nagma
was also selected to essay the role of an officer. A special feature into the making of the project was broadcast by Sun TV
in May 2001. The make-up man, Anil Premgikar, was referred to the team by Kamal Haasan
when Ajith went to give his wedding invitation to Kamal Haasan during the shoot of Hey Ram
.
After months of pre-production, the shoot of the film began on December 28, 2000 with Ajith and Vasundhara Das, with Ravi K. Chandran
as cinematographer who had replaced P. C. Sriram
in the project. It took six hours daily for Ajith to don the make-up for the role, so found himself waking up at early hours to get ready for the shot. The location for the Athipatty scenes was an island situated on the outskirts of Chennai and it took three hours for the team to travel from the city and then by boat to get there.
A scene in the film featured five thousand of Ajith's fans as extras and the shot was canned at Rajaji Hall. A song in the film was shot in Australia
in mid 2002, delaying the proposed release date of May 1.
labelled it as "a slow starter, but it picks up momentum after the first half and peaks to a climax, with a difference", adding that it is a " definite milestone in Ajit's acting career".
Furthermore the sync between the dubbing artiste, Anuradha and Nagma
was criticised.
The film was later dubbed and released as Citizen in Telugu, winning positive reviews. His performance saw him win the Cinema Express Award for Best Actor – Tamil
, picking up his second award after previous success in the category in 1999.
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
action film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Sharavanan Subbaiya and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film features Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
in the lead role as a social activist with Vasundhara Das
Vasundhara Das
Vasundhara Das born 1977, is an Indian singer and actress. She has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam films. She is the co-founder of world music band Arya. As a playback singer, she is best remembered for singing "Shakalaka Baby" from the Tamil film Mudhalvan, which was also her debut...
, Meena and Nagma
Nagma
Nandita Morarji better known as Nagma . At her peak in the 1990s, The Hindu stated that she "dominated Telugu and Tamil cinema" with her movies Killer, Gharana Mogudu, Kadhalan, Baashha and many others...
playing supporting roles. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Deva
Deva (music director)
Deva is an Indian film composer and singer. He has composed songs and provided background music for Tamil films in a career spanning about 20 years. Many know his gaana songs, written mostly using Madras Tamil. He is known as the "Father of Gaana Genre" in the Tamil film industry.Deva has composed...
, whilst cinematography was handled by Ravi K. Chandran
Ravi K. Chandran
Ravi K. Chandran is an Indian cinematographer. He has frequently collaborated with leading Indian filmmakers like Priyadarshan, Mani Ratnam, and Rajiv Menon and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Ravi has won two Filmfare Awards and one Southern Filmfare Award during his career.-Career:Ravi K. Chandran was...
. The film opened to positive reviews in June 2001.
Plot
A district collector, a judge, and a police official are all kidnapped in broad daylight. The kidnapper cocking-a-snook at the establishment, calling himself 'Citizen' and appearing in different disguises to get at his targets. C.B.I. officer Sarojini (NagmaNagma
Nandita Morarji better known as Nagma . At her peak in the 1990s, The Hindu stated that she "dominated Telugu and Tamil cinema" with her movies Killer, Gharana Mogudu, Kadhalan, Baashha and many others...
) finally traces the common factor among the kidnapped trio to Athippatti, a small hamlet consisting of fishermen. But to her surprise both the village and its 690 odd inhabitants seemed to have been wiped away from the face of the earth. The diggings tell a story of a mass massacre that must have taken place about a couple of decades back. 'Citizen' is finally apprehended. He comes out with his story of the gory happenings at Athippatti and how he, as a little boy, had been the sole survivor of the nightmare that gripped the village that day from the map of India, twenty years back. The entire village was wiped off including women and children by the three kidnapped officials because of their greed for power and money. Ajith wants the citizenship of the three government officials revoked including their families as a punishment for their atrocities to the inhabitants of Athippatti
Cast
- Ajith KumarAjith KumarAjith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
as Arivanandam (Citizen/Abdullah/Anthony) and Subramani - Vasundhara DasVasundhara DasVasundhara Das born 1977, is an Indian singer and actress. She has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam films. She is the co-founder of world music band Arya. As a playback singer, she is best remembered for singing "Shakalaka Baby" from the Tamil film Mudhalvan, which was also her debut...
as Indhu - Meena as Sevali
- NagmaNagmaNandita Morarji better known as Nagma . At her peak in the 1990s, The Hindu stated that she "dominated Telugu and Tamil cinema" with her movies Killer, Gharana Mogudu, Kadhalan, Baashha and many others...
as Sarojini Harichandran - PandiyanPandiyanPandiyan may refer to:*Any of the kings of the Pandyan Dynasty, which ruled South India from pre-historic times until end of the 15th century*Pandiyan - Tamil actor...
- Nizhalgal RaviNizhalgal RaviNizhalgal Ravi is an Indian actor who has performed in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. He started his career in 1980 with the film Nizhalgal.-Career:...
as Santhanam - Cochin Hanifa
- DevanDevan (actor)Devan is an Indian film actor and politician. He started his film career as the producer of the technically brilliant, but box-office flop movie Vellam and then opted to become an actor. Devan is known for his handling of serious roles, though he started his career with supporting roles...
as Devasakayam - Ajay Rathnam as Krishnamoorthy
Production
Early indications suggested that the film directed by Saravana Subbaiyah was a remake of the 1973 English film The Day of the JackalThe Day of the Jackal (film)
The Day of the Jackal is a 1973 Anglo-French film, set in August 1963 and based on the novel of the same name by Frederick Forsyth. Directed by Fred Zinnemann, it stars Edward Fox as the assassin known only as "the Jackal" who is hired to assassinate Charles de Gaulle.- Synopsis :The film opens...
, but it proved to be untrue. Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
put on weight for the film, which would feature him in nine roles and claimed that he was inspired by Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
's award-winning performances in such roles while taking up the film. Sameera Reddy
Sameera Reddy
Sameera Reddy is an Indian film actress, primarily working in the Hindi film industry and Tamil industry. Apart from Bollywood, Reddy has also appeared in a number of Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam films.-Early life:...
was originally a part of the cast but opted out as she could not offer bulk dates for the film. Subsequently singer Vasundhara Das
Vasundhara Das
Vasundhara Das born 1977, is an Indian singer and actress. She has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam films. She is the co-founder of world music band Arya. As a playback singer, she is best remembered for singing "Shakalaka Baby" from the Tamil film Mudhalvan, which was also her debut...
, who had earlier appeared in Hey Ram
Hey Ram
Hey Ram is a controversial Indian film released both in Tamil and Hindi in 2000 and written, directed, produced by and starring Kamal Haasan...
was roped in to play the leading lady, while Nagma
Nagma
Nandita Morarji better known as Nagma . At her peak in the 1990s, The Hindu stated that she "dominated Telugu and Tamil cinema" with her movies Killer, Gharana Mogudu, Kadhalan, Baashha and many others...
was also selected to essay the role of an officer. A special feature into the making of the project was broadcast by Sun TV
Sun TV (India)
Sun TV is a regional Indian cable television station. It is the flagship channel of the Chennai-based Sun Network. It was founded and currently owned by Kalanidhi Maran. It was the first fully privately owned television channel in India when it emerged in 1992...
in May 2001. The make-up man, Anil Premgikar, was referred to the team by Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
when Ajith went to give his wedding invitation to Kamal Haasan during the shoot of Hey Ram
Hey Ram
Hey Ram is a controversial Indian film released both in Tamil and Hindi in 2000 and written, directed, produced by and starring Kamal Haasan...
.
After months of pre-production, the shoot of the film began on December 28, 2000 with Ajith and Vasundhara Das, with Ravi K. Chandran
Ravi K. Chandran
Ravi K. Chandran is an Indian cinematographer. He has frequently collaborated with leading Indian filmmakers like Priyadarshan, Mani Ratnam, and Rajiv Menon and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Ravi has won two Filmfare Awards and one Southern Filmfare Award during his career.-Career:Ravi K. Chandran was...
as cinematographer who had replaced P. C. Sriram
P. C. Sriram
P. C. Sreeram is a cinematographer and film director, educated at the Film and Television Institute of Tamil nadu . P.C. Sreeram is fondly called as PC sir. P.C. Sreeram won appreciations for his various cinematographic works and his directorial venture Kurruthipunal was selected as India's...
in the project. It took six hours daily for Ajith to don the make-up for the role, so found himself waking up at early hours to get ready for the shot. The location for the Athipatty scenes was an island situated on the outskirts of Chennai and it took three hours for the team to travel from the city and then by boat to get there.
A scene in the film featured five thousand of Ajith's fans as extras and the shot was canned at Rajaji Hall. A song in the film was shot in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in mid 2002, delaying the proposed release date of May 1.
Release
The review from The HinduThe Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
labelled it as "a slow starter, but it picks up momentum after the first half and peaks to a climax, with a difference", adding that it is a " definite milestone in Ajit's acting career".
Furthermore the sync between the dubbing artiste, Anuradha and Nagma
Nagma
Nandita Morarji better known as Nagma . At her peak in the 1990s, The Hindu stated that she "dominated Telugu and Tamil cinema" with her movies Killer, Gharana Mogudu, Kadhalan, Baashha and many others...
was criticised.
The film was later dubbed and released as Citizen in Telugu, winning positive reviews. His performance saw him win the Cinema Express Award for Best Actor – Tamil
Cinema Express Award for Best Actor – Tamil
The Cinema Express Best Actor Award is given as a part of its annual Cinema Express Awards for Tamil films.-Winners:...
, picking up his second award after previous success in the category in 1999.