In 2003, director Hari surprised everyone with Saamy. He used a simple trick to make the usual cop vs criminals saga feel very refreshing for the masses. The movie's protagonist was a top cop (Vikram) with questionable ethics. This was the very reason why Saamy stood out among other cop films that were made in Tamil cinema until then. For decades, the filmmakers have classified cop characters only in two categories: Honest Raj and Corrupt Raj. We were shown that being an honest police officer was a risky business and good cops paid dearly for doing their duty. The hero of Saamy invokes the same argument to justify his disloyalty to the office. Unlike heroes of Sivaji Ganesan's Thanga Pathakkam (1974), Kamal Haasan's Apoorva Sagodharargal, Rajinikanth's Moondru Mugam, Vijaykanth's Chatriyan, Vikram's Saamy had a very flexible morality. He bent and twisted the provisions of law and his own sense of righteousness according to his whims. Just look at Saamy's style of executing the rule of law. He never gave two hoots about lying on the job. He took bribes and settled rape cases off the record. He provoked people and arrested them on made up charges. He manufactured unrest in a protest march and shot his opponents with his unlicensed firearm. He sabotaged the official manhunt for Perumal Pichai (Kota Srinivasa Rao). Only to track down Perumal to his safehouse, pump bullets into his chest and set his body on fire. To see a 'hero' perform all the conventional actions of a villain was a real surprise. The only consolation was his targets were not civilians. Saamy was a non-believer of the very institution that he so desperately wanted to serve. After a small setback for honestly doing his job, Saamy transforms into a vigilante in uniform. He becomes the judge, jury and executioner, all rolled into one. Hari had made up for the absence of craft in the film with memorable one-liners, good songs (by Harris Jayaraj) and infusing every scene with a lot of energy. And the movie would not have been the same without actor Vivek in it. As a comedian, Vivek was at the peak of his form in this film. Saamy's moral ambiguity was counterbalanced by Vivek's comedy which served as a commentary on social injustice in the country. Saamy also did a great service to Vikram's career in expanding his market. The terrific success of the movie was presided by Vikram's box office hits like Dhill, Gemini and Dhool that cemented his position as a commercial hero in the industry. Saamy was arguably the last film where Vikram succeed in doing a mass masala template. Later, he only flourished in roles that allowed him to channel the Oscar-worthy performer in him. But, it seems he is not content with doing only characters that are very nuanced and deep. After 15 years, Vikram is returning as a super cop, who loves gabbing, with the sequel to Saamy. Titled as Saamy Square, the film seems to pick up right from where the first movie ended. Saamy Square is the product of the same director (Hari) and hero (Vikram). The sad part is it doesn't have Vivek to give the audience something to think about when they leave the theatre.
