Salim is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by N. V. Nirmal Kumar. It stars Vijay Antony and Aksha Pardasany. Produced by Studio 9, Sri Green Productions and Vijay Antony Film Corporation, the film is a sequel to Vijay Antony's debut film Naan. The film was released on 29 August 2014.
Plot
The plot continues two years after the incidents occurred in Naan. Karthik alias Mohammed Salim is an honest and simple doctor working in a private hospital. He often goes out of his ways to help needy patients that come to him. His talent and nature earn wrath and jealousy of his colleagues. One day, he learns someone is stalking him. He finds it is his suitor Nisha, doing a background check on his character. Salim directly goes to Nisha and gives his personal diary for her to learn more about him. This response from him impresses her so much, and she falls in love with him. As their relationship progresses, Nisha learns that Salim has dedicated himself to his work, so much so that he fails to take care of her and spend time with her, thus creating a rift between them. To reconcile with Nisha, Salim plans to spend a whole day with her. They go to a movie theatre and some goons tease Nisha, but Salim, instead of fighting back, chooses to take Nisha and leave the place. Nisha gets offended by this and starts to ignore Salim and his phone calls. Meanwhile, the hospital's managing director gives Salim a warning to stop refusing fees from patients, as it affects the hospital's income. A few days later, Salim manages to convince Nisha, and they renew their relationship. Nisha asks Salim to go to a party with her, and he agrees. But when he is on the way, he sees a young girl, a gang-rape victim, who is hurt and bleeding on the road. He takes her to the hospital and misses the party. Nisha loses her temper and breaks up with him. The next day, Salim finds that the girl he admitted has been discharged from the hospital. He learns that the managing director has discharged the girl as she is poor and unable to pay the cost. The same evening, he gets an invitation to a party from his hospital. There he learns that the managing director has had enough of his charity and generosity at the hospital's cost and that he is being laid off, and it is his own farewell party. He is also insulted by the managing director for not using his talent and reputation to earn money. Salim storms out of the party in rage. On the way, he gets into a scuffle with a police officer and hits him, ending up in the police station. But he escapes with the police officer's pistol and goes straight to a hotel. There, he finds four men trying to rape the hotel singer. He beats them up and helps the girl leave the place. Saying that they have to learn their lesson, Salim takes them hostage inside the room. One of the men is the son of the Home Minister, so the police, led by a police officer Chezhian, are pressurized to take immediate action. The police find out Salim's identity and raid his home, where they find his wedding cards and learn about Nisha. They take her into custody and to the hotel, where she meets Chezhian and explains Salim's character and that he is not a terrorist to take hostages. The police plan to use Nisha as bait and capture Salim, but they fail to do so when Salim demands the presence of the Home Minister at the hotel. Meanwhile, a police sniper takes a shot at Salim but misses, and Salim throws one of the men out of a window. He tells Chezhian to take him seriously to avoid more disastrous results. It is later revealed that the 4 men had raped the girl who Salim had admitted in the hospital. After discharging the victim from the hospital, they killed both the victim and her mother and disposed of the remains in sewage. Salim realizes he will not be left alive by the minister once he lets go of the hostages. So he demands a car for him to leave and tells the police not to follow him. This time, the minister arranges a car that is fixed with a bomb and a remote detonator. Salim continues to hold the minister's son hostage and gets into the latter's car instead. Later, the minister receives a call from his son telling him that Salim left him on the East Coast Road and escaped. The minister orders his men to bring his son back and kill Salim, who has driven away and made it look like an automobile accident. The men chase the car with trucks and crash into it, only to find it was Salim who chose to leave the car and it was the minister's son who was driving inside.
After his debut venture Naan, Vijay Antony decided to start Salim. Vijay Antony plays the role of a doctor while Aksha Pardasany was signed to portray his fiancé in the film, making her Tamil film debut. Since the movie required Vijay Antony to perform some dare devil stunts, he understood the necessity and underwent rigorous training in Taekwondo for a period of two months. The shoot of the first schedule of the film was held in Chennai in June 2013.
Soundtrack
The music of the film was composed by Vijay Antony. The soundtrack album was released at Sathyam Cinemas, Chennai on 5 June 2014, with Bharathiraja, Bala, M. Raja, R. K. Selvamani and R. Parthiepan among other attending the event. Behindwoods gave 2 out of 5 and called the album "a mixed bag from Vijay Antony".
Release
Salim was released on 29 August 2014 in around 400 screens across the country, including Kerala and Karnataka, with Tamil Nadu contributing close to 300 screens. Gopuram Films and Sri Production distribute the film in India. It was released in about 50 screens in the overseas space in key countries, through Suara Networks.
Critical response
The film has received generally positive reviews from critics. Baradwaj Rangan from The Hindu wrote, "The director, N. V. Nirmal Kumar, subscribes to a rather charming theory: things just happen. Nisha just happens to morph into a ghost. Salim just happens to get arrested by a cop...Salim just happens to visit an old man, who dies a few scenes later, having served little purpose other than to demonstrate another facet of Salim’s goodness. If he was really that good, he’d have refunded my ticket money by now". The Times of India gave 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Vijay Antony is definitely not an expressive actor but with Naan earlier and now Salim, he has managed to find roles where impassiveness is a trait of the character...The first half of Salim nicely sets up what's in store...It is only in the second half that things get somewhat cinematic". The New Indian Express wrote, Salim may not have the best of scripts, but with its racy pace and twists, it manages to keep one glued to the screen for the most part". Sify wrote, " Salim is a decent enough thriller that compensates for its weak first half by a smarter second half and some composed acting by Vijay Antony". Behindwoods in its review stated, "This is not the first time that Tamil Cinema witnesses such a plot, however the way Salim is treated, manages to keep the audiences engaged", calling it a "watchable average movie". Moviecrow stated, Salim is definitely a sound choice by Vijay Antony as a follow up to Naan". Indiaglitz.com wrote, "The film is clean and thought-provoking, and is certainly worth the time invested".
