Vishal probably expected Sathyam to be his Saamy. He plays the same kind of no-nonsense cop, squares off against the same villain that Vikram clashed with and even utters a punchline that puts a small twist on Vikram's own, now-famous punchline from that film. Unfortunately, the comparisons stop there. While Saamy would figure among the better cop movies in Tamil cinema, the haphazard screenplay, the silly romance and the amateurish storyline place Sathyam in the bottom half of the list.

Sathyam(Vishal) is a conscientious cop who believes in bringing criminals to book through judicial means rather than eliminating them through staged encounters. This attitude brings him to the notice of the Police Minister Kondaldasan(Kota Srinivasa Rao), a power-hungry politician who has his eyes on the indisposed Chief Minister's chair. Kondaldasan plans to eliminate his competitors to the CM's post and a skilled assassin(Upendra) is chosen for the mission. As the assassin begins to kill his targets, Sathyam is assigned to the case. Meanwhile Deva(Nayanthara), an aspiring reporter who lives in Sathyam's apartment complex, clashes with him as he teams up with some naughty kids to harass her.

We've recently been used to cops who take the law into their own hands. So things start off differently here with Vishal intent on doing things by the book. As he begins to investigate the political murders, the film also shows signs of turning into an investigative thriller(even if not a very intelligent one since its primary elements are Vishal's intuition and Upendra's sloppiness). But both these starts lead to nowhere as the film eventually ends up following the exact same trajectory of most other masala cop movies. So Vishal goes up against a powerful politician, is victimized by the same system he believed in and gets increasingly frustrated at the state of affairs.

The film's screenplay is a mess with originality, continuity and tonal consistency not very high on the director's list of priorities. So we have a violent fight sequence followed by a Home Alone-style sequence of physical and slapstick comedy, the more physical parts of which are shown in Aalavandhaan-style animation. There's a sequence that recreates the scene at the RTO in Indian, even bringing back Senthil in an identical get-up as the corrupt officer. A chase sequence at the airport is lifted from Casino Royale. And as always, songs pop up at regular intervals, introduced by abrupt lead-ins. All this ensures that none of the aspects, like the romance, the action or the comedy, are convincing and we never buy into even a minute of the film.

Sathyam makes the same mistake that most other movies starring a big-name hero make - namely, treating the protagonist as a superhero rather than a hero. This is established early in the proceedings when a ball that Vishal kicks, after hitting the main bad guy, ricochets off him to hit all his buddies and then zips back to rotate furiously under Vishal's outstretched palm! Scenes like this make Vishal seem like a cartoon character rather than a flesh-and-blood character and nips any involvement we could've had with the character, right in the bud.

Vishal looks the part with his stern looks and toned physique. Its obvious that stunts are his strength and he proves this during the fight sequences. I felt during one scene in Yaaradi Nee Mohini that Nayanthara had good comic flair that just hadn't been exploited. Not the case here though. She hams pretty badly, especially initially during her tiffs with the kids and Vishal. She looks gorgeous and every bit the heroine in the duets though. Harris Jayaraj does nothing special for his 25th movie. Chellame... reminds us of Vaseegaraa... while Aaradi Kaathe... is his now-familiar hero introduction number. Ada Gada... is staged as a fantasy number aimed at the kids but looks kinda cheap. Paal Pappaali... is the worst of the lot and pops up at the worst time also.