Sathyaa was released on 29 January 1988 and became one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of the year. Kitty won the Cinema Express Award for Best Villain Actor. A spiritual successor titled Dha Dha 87 was released in 2019.
Plot
Sathyamurthy "Sathyaa" is an unemployed youth who battles injustice and stays with his father Rajarathnam Mudaliar, the sole breadwinner for his family despite his old age, stepmother, and stepsister Sudha. One day, Sathyaa beats a group of rogues who are thrashing a tea vendor for not paying extortion money. These ruffians are the henchmen of a local goon named Rangan, who works for the local MLA Mariappa. With this incident, Sathya's life changes as he invokes Rangan's wrath. In retribution, Rangan and his men humiliate Sudha in public, forcing Sathya to thrash Rangan and destroy his bar.
Sathya falls in love with Geetha Nair, who works as a salesperson in a cloth shop. Sathyaa begins to grab public attention as he and his friends start taking the law into their own hands, thrashing anyone who tries to break the law. Mariappa also learns about Sathyaa and thinks that he is working for his arch-rival Dhandapani, a social reformer. Mariappa orders that Sathyaa and his friends be eliminated. Mariappa's gang attacks and kills Sathya's friend Sundar in full public view. Though Sathyaa tries his best, no one comes forward to give witness to the murder out of fear, and the murderers are soon released due to lack of evidence. An enraged Sathyaa thrashes the murderers on their release and is arrested but is released on bail by Dhandapani.
Sathyaa's family disowns him for his activities, following which he is approached by Dhandapani, who convinces him to move to his own house and work for him. With Dhandapani's help, Sathyaa manages to have Sudha marry her boyfriend, the local Inspector; saves the marriage of his other stepsister by paying the dowry of ₹20,000 (equivalent to ₹230,000 or US$2,700 in 2023); and also ensuring that his father's employer treats his father with respect. Finally, Dhandapani tells Sathyaa to get some secret files and documents against Mariappa, which can be used to expose him in public. Risking his life, Sathyaa gets a hold of the files. Sathyaa later discovers that Dhandapani is corrupt and a double-crosser who used the evidence against Mariappa to join hands with him and contest in the upcoming election in his place. Sathyaa also learns that none of the evidence collected has been published anywhere.
Later, Dhandapani expels Sathyaa from the house. Enraged and betrayed, Sathyaa barges into a political meeting where Mariappa and Dhandapani are present and tries to expose Dhandapani but is forced out and thrashed by the workers of Mariappa's party. Some days later, Sathyaa sneaks into Dhandapani's house and takes the file containing evidence of both Mariappa's and Dhandapani's illegal activities. While on the run from Dhandapani's henchmen, Sathyaa gets shot and seriously injured but manages to survive and gets hospitalized. After regaining consciousness, Sathyaa learns that the evidence against Mariappa and Dhandapani is destroyed as he used the file as a shield against the gunshots. Sathyaa escapes from the hospital; he then confronts and kills both Mariappa and Dhandapani.
The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, and lyrics were penned by Vaali.[12][13] The song "Valayosai" was initially intended for Ilaiyaraaja's studio album How to Name It?. It had been composed, but not recorded, and was included in Sathyaa at Haasan's insistence.[14] After learning that Lata Mangeshkar would be visiting Madras to sing for another project, Haasan asked Krissna if she could also sing for Sathyaa. Krissna agreed, and the song was "Valayosai". As Mangeshkar did not know Tamil, Balasubrahmanyam helped her with diction.[15] The song is set in Sindhu Bhairavi, a Carnatic raga.[16] In May 2015, the FM radio station Radio City commemorated Ilaiyaraaja's 72nd birthday by broadcasting the composer's songs in a special show titled Raja Rajathan for 91 days. "Valaiyosai" was one of the most-requested songs on the show.[17]
Sathyaa was released on 29 January 1988.[18] Angela Joseph of Screen called Sathyaa "another gem in [Haasan's] mission for good cinema and acting. By shrewdly intertwining commercial ingredients with a good story and brilliant acting, Kamal is propagating love and appreciation for good cinema among the masses".[19] Kitty won the Cinema Express Award for Best Villain Actor.[20]
Legacy
Haasan's looks as Sathyaa became a rage among the public.[21] The 2017 film Sathya was titled after the 1988 film after its lead actor Sibi Sathyaraj got permission from Haasan.[22] A spiritual successor to Sathyaa, Dha Dha 87, was released in 2019,[23] and featured Janagaraj reprising his role.[4]
