Visaaranai’s cop Samuthirakani ‘honoured’ to get National Award

Samuthirakani, who picked up the Best Supporting Actor trophy for Visaaranai, he is both surprised and honoured.

Actor-filmmaker Samuthirakani, says he is surprised and feels honoured after winning the Best Supporting Actor National Film Award for his performance in Tamil cop drama Visaaranai.

Samuthirakani dedicated his award to his mentor, late filmmaker K Balachander. (Samudhrakani/Facebook)

“This comes as a sweet surprise. I feel honoured, and I would like to thank director Vetrimaaran and producer Dhanush for giving me an opportunity to be part of this important film. Tamil cinema needs more such films,” said Samuthirakani.

Visaaranai, on police brutality, also bagged two more awards for best Tamil film and best editing for late Kishore TE.

Visaaranai review: Vetrimaaran shows realism at its harshest best

Visaaranai is based on the true experience of a Coimbatore-based autorickshaw driver, M Chandra Kumar who wrote a book, Lock Up, narrating his 13 days in a small prison cell in Andhra Pradesh.

Read: After Visaaranai, Vetrimaaran to adapt another book into a film

Inspired from true events and partly based on the novel Lock Up, the film is about four immigrant workers who were wrongly pinned for a crime they never committed. Samuthirakani said he would like to dedicate his award to his mentor, late filmmaker K Balachander.