Vaanchinathan
Vaanchinathan is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Shaji Kailas in his Tamil debut. The script was written by Liaquat Ali Khan. It stars Vijayakanth, Sakshi Shivanand, Ramya Krishnan and Prakash Raj in pivotal roles. The film was released on 14 January 2001. Plot. Vanchinathan (Vijayakanth) is naturally the supercop who has been transferred from Gujarat. He is someone who is not averse to using the law in his own ways by killing someone and picking a suitable alibi, as long as the person is evil and will not be punished by the law. Chidambaram (Prakash  Raj) is a newspaper magnate who thrives on chaos and confusion, which will help him boost sales of his paper. Their enmity becomes personal when Chidambaram challenges Vanchinathan to arrest him when he cleverly commits a murder in broad daylight in front of Vanchinathan's own eyes. Production. The team had initially agreed terms with Suresh Gopi to feature in a pivotal role, but his unavailability led to team casting Prakash Raj. Soundarya was to appear in the film, but later opted out due to unknown reasons. Shilpa Shetty had also signed on to star in the film. Likewise, Nadhiya  was expected to make a return to Tamil films through the project, but eventually went against doing so. A fight scene involving Vijayakanth, Ramya Krishnan and rowdies was shot in a set erected at AVM studios. The song sequence, 'Amul Baby', was shot at New Zealand. Soundtrack. Music was composed by Karthik Raja, collaborating with Vijayakanth for the second time after "Alexander". Release. The film released on 14 January 2001 and opened to mixed reviews. Rediff wrote "But the masala is appetising and in the final analysis, that is all that counts". Similarly, Lolluexpress claimed that film is a "collection  of scenes from actor's previous movies". "Hindu" wrote "Liyakath Ali Khan's story and screenplay are crisp and action-packed" and also noted " sequences remind you of the Parthiban starrer `Abhimanyu' or Vijayakanth's own ``Vallarasu"". Distributors who had bought the film had incurred heavy losses. Post release it was rumoured that footage of two heroines have been deleted to reduce the timing which earned criticism.