The Kavitalaya banner has completed shooting its big budget film, Sami, starring Vikram and the promising Trisha Krishnan. The shooting took place in Tirunelveli, Salem, Karaikkudi and Palani in Tamil Nadu.

According to K Balachander's daughter Pushpa Kandasamy, who is producing the film, Sami is a prestigious production for Kavithalaya. "After the successful Rajnikanth film, Muthu, Sami is our next big production."

"This is Vikram's film. We are making every effort to satisfy his fans. Vikram is a very good actor so the screenplay has elements to showcase his talent. He also has to satisfy the masses so Sami will be a treat in both action and performance. It has many emotional moments like the poignant relationship between the father and son and the affection between the husband and wife," she says.

Kandasamy guarantees, "Sami will be a sensible commercial film. We want it to be a good family entertainer, a treat for the summer holidays."

The inspiration for Sami, she says, came from real life. Aaruchaami, known as Sami, is an honest cop working in Tirunelveli who solves the region's communal problems with his down-to-earth approach. Sami's communal clashes may remind some of the clashes that took place in southern Tamil Nadu a few years ago.

"Adding native colour to the story always makes it look authentic. That is why we chose Tirunelveli as the backdrop. People can identify with the characters and situations," explains Kandasamy.

Sami is expensive, she says, because it needed crowds in almost every frame: "The hero may live in a middle class house, but we had to have lots of people in the film."

This is director Hari's second film after Thamizh (starring Prasanth and Simran). "We wanted a successful young director. We remembered Thamizh -- we were quite impressed by the way Hari handled the film. There was nothing artificial about Thamizh, though it was a commercial film. Besides, Hari is no stranger to us -- he assisted my father in a few films," says Kandasamy.

Trisha Krishnan was chosen as the heroine because Kavithalaya wanted a "heroine who had not been paired with Vikram before."

Composer Harris Jayaraj's music has always been associated with urban youth. But in Sami, "You will see a different Harris Jayaraj," promises Kandasamy. "All the songs in Sami are for the masses."