Saatchi (transl.Witness) is a 1983 Indian Tamil-language action film, written and directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar and produced by P. S. V. Hariharan. The film stars Vijayakanth, Viji and M. N. Nambiar. It is a remake of the 1981 Malayalam film Raktham.[1][2] The film was released on 16 September 1983.[3]

Saatchi
Theatrical release poster
Directed byS. A. Chandrasekhar
Screenplay byS. A. Chandrasekhar
Story byKaloor Dennis
Produced byP. S. V. Hariharan
StarringVijayakanth
Viji
M. N. Nambiar
CinematographyP. Vijay
Edited byP. R. Gautham Raju
Music byShankar–Ganesh
Production
company
Veeralakshmi Combines
Release date
  • 16 September 1983 (1983-09-16)
Running time
138 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

edit

After a policeman marries his love interest, he is tasked with apprehending a dangerous criminal.

Cast

edit

Production

edit

Chandrasekhar initially planned to remake his Kannada film Geluvu Nannade as Vetri Namadhe with Vijayakanth and Mohan in lead roles; however the project was shelved after Mohan left the film hence Chandrasekhar started another project which eventually became Saatchi.[4] The lead role was offered to Prabhu, and later Karthik, both of whom declined; Vijayakanth was ultimately cast.[5] The film was launched on 9 May 1983 at AVM Studios.[6] Filming took place in Salem.[7]

Soundtrack

edit

The music was composed by Shankar–Ganesh.[8]

TitleSinger(s)Length
"Aagayam Poo"S. N. Surendar, P. Susheela04:20
"Maarividu"Malaysia Vasudevan03:10
"Malar Manjangal"S. N. Surendar, Vani Jairam03:35
"Thenna Marathula"S. N. Surendar, P. Susheela03:45

Critical reception

edit

Jayamanmadhan of Kalki praised the performances of Vijayakanth and Nambiar but panned Viji's acting and concluded calling it a fast-paced film.[9] Balumani of Anna praised the acting, stunt choreography and stated it would have been better if the focus on the first half of the screenplay had been a little more than the focus on the second half. Although the first half is a bit boring, the second half makes up for it.[10]

References

edit
  1. "Balidaan". MySwar. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  2. Arunachalam, Param (2020). BollySwar: 1981–1990. Mavrix Infotech. p. 541. ISBN 978-81-938482-2-7.
  3. "நட்சத்திர படப் பட்டியல்". Cinema Express (in Tamil). 1 December 2002. pp. 41–43. Archived from the original on 2 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  4. விஜயகாந்த் (22 January 2006). "வலி... வருத்தம்... வாழ்க்கை!" (PDF). Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 88–91. Retrieved 5 March 2024 via Internet Archive.
  5. "ஐந்து படங்கள் தொடர் தோல்வி... விஜயகாந்த் வாழ்க்கையில் திருப்புமுனை ஏற்படுத்திய எஸ்.ஏ.சி !". Nakkheeran (in Tamil). 26 July 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  6. "பி. எஸ். வீரப்பாவின் சாட்சி". Anna (in Tamil). 15 May 1983. p. 3. Archived from the original on 16 June 2025. Retrieved 16 June 2025 via Endangered Archives Programme.
  7. "சிவப்பு மல்லி படப்பிடிப்பில் விஜயகாந்த் காட்டிய சின்சியாரிட்டி". News18 (in Tamil). 22 November 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  8. "Satchi". AVDigital. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  9. ஜெயமன்மதன் (9 October 1983). "சாட்சி". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 13. Retrieved 26 April 2023 via Internet Archive.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  10. பாலுமணி (18 September 1983). "சாட்சி". Anna (in Tamil). p. 3. Archived from the original on 30 November 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2025 via Endangered Archives Programme.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
edit