Title Song : Aagaya Suriyanai
Title Movie : Samurai
Singer : Harish Raghavendra & Harini
Lyrics : Padma Shri & Padma Bhushan Kavingar Vairamuthu Ramasamy
Music Director : Harris Jayaraj
Starring : Chiyan Vikram , Anita Hassanandani
& Jaya Seal
Director & Written : Balaji Sakthivel
Produced by : S. Sriram
Cinematography by : Sethu Sriram , S. D. Vijay Milton & A. Venkatesh
Edited by : V. T. Vijayan
Production Company : Aalayam Productions
Release date : 12 July 2002
Story : Vigilante Action Film 
Achievements : The film successfully runs 100 days in theatres, ending a string of consecutive successful Vikram films in Dhill, Kasi and Gemini.

Vikram signed the film in May 2000 and it became the first venture he committed to after the blockbuster success of Bala's Sethu.North Indian model Anita Hassanandani was selected to make her debut through the film, though another film, Varushamellam Vasantham, ended up releasing before Samurai.Simran was approached to play a pivotal role in the movie, but Jaya Seel, who appeared alongside Prabhu Deva in Pennin Manathai Thottu, was roped in to play a medical student.Malayalam actor Kollam Thulasi was signed up to play a negative role in the film and thus made his debut in Tamil films.

Vikram went to yoga classes to prepare for the opening scene for Samurai, where he poses in the Mayura asanam posture. In an interview in 2002, the actor stated that when he first met Balaji "he was a very enthusiastic, charged person" and was able to convince Vikram to star in the film, and he also compared him with director Shankar.Shooting commenced at Chennai and the unit then moved on to locations in Kuttralam, Ooty, Andhra, U.P. and Bihar, Some scenes were shot on the lead pair in the forest areas of Kerala which was also the location for a song shot on Vikram. Again, a lavish set was erected at the AVM Studios where Vikram, Anita, and new-face Shreya took part.The film was heavily shot in Orissa, while songs were canned in Syria.

Samurai opened in July 2002 to mixed reviews from critics. The Hindu's critic noted that "Samurai will satisfy action lovers but for those looking for innovation in story and screenplay, the soldier leaves you yearning". About performances, the critic added that "with an admirably well-maintained physique and powerful eyes Vikram is all geared up for action", and that "Anita is more of an essential prop, but Jayaseel in a cameo has scope to perform, which she does well".Wrote that "the net result is disappointing due to the worn out theme that is very reminiscent of recent films". The reviewer however continued that "Vikram, though is convincing in his portrayal and the 'training' scenes where he gains expertise and invulnerability is thrilling and the stunt scenes draw applause".A critic from Now running felt that "Vikram has done an excellent job as the revolutionary in Samurai and he has ably used his physique and emoting capabilities to lift the film to an above average action thriller." The critic also noted that "the few flaws in the screenplay and a similar climax from an earlier Ajith-starrer (Citizen) has marred the otherwise technically well-made film.The director himself later labelled the film a "damp squib", mentioning he made serious errors with the film's screenplay.

The film successfully runs 100 days in theatres, ending a string of consecutive successful Vikram films in Dhill, Kasi and Gemini. However, despite this it was reported that Balaji Sakthivel was keen to make Vikram star in his next film, though the director next went on to make the successful low-budget film Kaadhal (2004).Samurai was later dubbed and released under the same name in Telugu in late 2004 to capitalise on Vikram's star potential.

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