# Arul (film)

Arul (transl. Grace) is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Hari. It stars Vikram in the titular role, alongside Jyothika, Pasupathy, Kollam Thulasi and Vadivelu. The music was composed by Harris Jayaraj, while the cinematography and editing were handled by Priyan and V. T. Vijayan respectively.
Arul was released on 1 May 2004 and became a average success at the box office.

## Plot

Arul Kumaran, a factory worker separated from his family of goldsmiths in Coimbatore, gets into a verbal fight with the corrupt MLA Gajapathy, which results in Arul killing Gajapathy. Arul surrenders to the cops, but is later released from prison. Sethupathy, Gajapathy's brother and a political kingmaker, wants to exact revenge on Arul for Gajapathy's death. A cat and mouse game ensues in which Arul takes responsibility of cleaning anti social elements and also becomes the kingmaker of Coimbatore.

## Cast

* Vikram as Arul Kumaran
* Jyothika as Kanmani
* Pasupathy as MLA Gajapathi
* Kollam Thulasi as Sethupathi, a Kingmaker criminal
* Vadivelu as Thangamani
* Sathyan as Senthil Kumaran, Arul's younger brother
* Vinu Chakravarthy as Bala Dhandayuthapani, Arul's father
* Sujatha as Sornam, Arul's mother
* Saranya Ponvannan as Bhagyam, Arul's elder sister
* Thalaivasal Vijay as Thiru Kumaran, Arul's elder brother
* K. S. Ravikumar as Thirupathi, Arul's elder brother-in-law
* Aarthi as Neelaveni, Kanmani's younger sister
* Vanitha Krishnachandran as Durga, Thiru Kumaran's wife
* Manobala as Paramasivam
* Ponnambalam as Paalayamkottai Kasilingam
* Kuyili as Kaveri, Kanmani & Neelaveni's mother
* Charan Raj as Inspector Ramanathan
* Rekha as Saroja, Gajapathi's wife
* Sarath Babu as Dr. Viswanathan
* Vaiyapuri as Raja
* Benjamin as Mani
* Siva Narayana Murthy as Shanmuga Pandi, a textile shop owner
* Thambi Ramaiah as Moorthi, Sethupathi's assistant
* Besant Ravi as Ravi, Sethupathi's assistant
* Minnal Deepa as Aarthi, Arul's second elder sister-in-law
* Priyanka as Veni
* Chaya Singh as Ponni (Special appearance in the song "Venam Ponni")
* Sampath Ram as Sundar (uncredited)

## Production

After the success of Saamy, Hari decided to renew the collaboration with Vikram for second time with Arul. Jyothika was selected as heroine pairing with Vikram for second time after Dhool. Vivek was originally a part of the cast but fell out with the director and was subsequently replaced by Vadivelu in the film.
Though the film's plot is set in the backdrop of Coimbatore, the film was entirely shot at Karaikudi and was completed within 45 days.

## Music

The soundtrack album and background score were composed by Harris Jayaraj collaborating with Hari and Vikram for the third time.

## Reception

Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote "In story and screenplay Hari could have done better. First of all a fearless, infallible hero pitted against a bunch of hoodlums and brutal, power-crazy politicians is too stereotypical for words. And when a completely unexpected twist occurs just before the break, the rest of the tale should be able to sustain the tempo created at the halfway point. Then, of course, you have the disjointed comic sequences". Nowrunning termed it as "long, stale, tedious and drab." Sify wrote "If you like Rambo style of films, Arul is worth investing". Chennai Online called it "a major let-down".