Dhool

The film stars Vikram, Jyothika and Reema Sen in the lead roles. Vivek, Sayaji Shinde, Telangana Shakuntala, and Pasupathy, among others, play important roles. Produced by A. M. Rathnam at a cost of ₹7 crore, the film was released on 10 January 2003. It received positive reviews and was a commercial success. Dhool was remade in Telugu as Veede (2003), and in Sinhala as Ranja (2014).

Dhool
Poster
Directed by	Dharani
Screenplay by	Dharani
Dialogues by	Bharathan
Story by	Dharani
Produced by	A. M. Rathnam
Starring	Vikram Jyothika Reema Sen
Cinematography	S. Gopinath
Edited by	V. T. Vijayan
Music by	Vidyasagar
Production company	Sri Surya Movies
Release date	10 January 2003 (2003-01-10)
Running time	172 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹7 crore
Box office	est. ₹12–13 crore

Arumugam is a kind-hearted man whose village is suffering due to a chemical factory which releases toxic waste into the river. The villagers decide to petition Minister Kaalaipandi, requesting him to close the factory. Arumugam and his childhood friend Eswari, along with her grandmother Mundakanni, leave to Chennai to meet Kaalaipandi, who has won from the village's constituency. The three reach Chennai and stay with Narayanasamy alias Narain, who also belongs to the same village, but is settled in Chennai. Swapna is a fashion model who also lives near Narain's home and gets attracted towards Arumugam, whereas Narain loves her. Arumugam meets Kaalaipandi amidst a heavy crowd and conveys the problems faced by their villagers due to water pollution. Kaalaipandi assures that he will take swift action.

Meanwhile, Sornakka and her brother Aadhi are local goons who are involved in many illegal activities with Kaalaipandi supporting them behind. One day, Eswari accidentally collides with Aadhi, following which he tries to hit her, but is saved by Arumugam. In the ensuing scuffle, Arumugam fractures Aadhi's hands. Sornakka and Aadhi set an eye on Arumugam and decide to trouble him. Along with Kaalaipandi's help, Sornakka and Aadhi kidnap Arumugam and injure him badly. Kaalaipandi also informs that he will never take any action against the chemical factory in his village. Swapna rescues and treats Arumugam. Arumugam discloses Kaalaipandi's true face and the culprits behind him to Eswari and Mundakanni. Arumugam decides to take revenge on Kaalaipandi and tarnish his image among the public. Arumugam uses Kaalaipandi's memopad and forges a letter praising an adult film and requesting it to be published in a daily newspaper.

The newspaper editor believes it and publishes it the next day. This brings agitation among political parties and people demand resignation from Kaalaipandi. Sornakka decides to kidnap Eswari and kill Arumugam, but Arumugam thrashes Sornakka's men and saves Eswari. While trying to escape, Sornakka dies in an accident. Kaalaipandi decides to bring back his lost image by staging a fast until death event, which will bring sympathy among citizens. Arumugam mixes his village's dirty water into the drink served to break the fast, where Kaalaipandi discloses about the water on the media. Fearing his position will be removed, Kaalaipandi attempts to kill the CM in hospital while putting the blame on Arumugam. Arumugam is arrested on a false case. When Kaalaipandi once again tries his luck to kill the CM, Arumugam uses his skills and gets Kaalaipandi killed on the hands of police officers (who were aiming for Arumugam). The CM exposes Kaalaipandi, while Arumugam and the villagers celebrate as the CM took action to close the chemical factory.

After the success of their 2001 collaboration Dhill, Dharani and Vikram announced in February 2002 that they were to come together again for a project titled Dhool. The lead role had originally been offered to Vijay, who declined. The song "Aasai Aasai" was partially shot in Denmark, and plans had been earlier made to shoot song sequences in London, though the team later opted against doing so. A huge set of a temple, a church, some houses and a shopping area, was erected at the Indian Express office premises.

The music was composed by Vidyasagar. A part of the song "Karimizhi Kuruviye" from the 2002 Malayalam film Meesa Madhavan was reused in "Aasai Aasai", which was later reused as "Rafta Rafta" with a slight change in tune in the 2004 Hindi film Hulchul, another film where the music was composed by Vidyasagar. The music of "Ithanundu Muthathile" and "Koduva Meesai" were used for two songs in Telugu film Naaga, another film that Vidyasagar composed the music for.

Upon release in January 2003, the film was financially successful, despite opening alongside other prominent ventures such as the Kamal Haasan-Madhavan starrer Anbe Sivam and Vijay's Vaseegara. Aarkhay of Rediff.com review praised Vikram's enactment citing that "Vikram is at his peak" and that "he seems as much at home with comedy as with action, in romance as in emotional sequences". Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu said, "Vikram's brain-brawn combo does help sustain the tempo. It's only that there's nothing new that "Dhool" offers. But as long as the till keeps ringing, little else matters, you suppose". Sify wrote, "Vikram's Dhool is a typical omnibus masala concoction serving all the nine rasas that go into a typical pot-boiler meant for the front-benchers. The verdict right away is not bad, if you are the type who love unadulterated kichidi entertainers. Still it could have been a whole lot better, if the climax hadn't gone irrevocably loony". Visual Dasan of Kalki called the film a same old commercial film which entertains citing dosa served as pizza while praising the performances of all star cast and concluded saying Dharani, the director who has given importance to the message of giving pizza to be baked in a bullet train that is moving at a stormy speed, like ginger juice for digestion, can now be called an action director. The film became a major success and cemented Vikram's status as a matinée idol in Tamil Nadu.

Dhool was remade in Telugu as Veede (2003), with Reemma Sen reprising her role, and in Sinhala as Ranja (2014).^{[better source needed]} A Hindi remake was planned by Guddu Dhanoa in 2004 with Sunny Deol and Gracy Singh starring, but did not materialise.