Sullan (2004)

Sullan is a Tamil action drama in which Dhanush plays a hot-headed youth who falls foul of a powerful local strongman played by Pasupathy. What starts as an insult and a scuffle escalates into a full-blown war of nerves, with the hero's family, friends and the girl he loves all pulled into the danger. The film came early in Dhanush's career, after Kaadhal Kondein and Thiruda Thirudi, when he was moving from youth films into mass action roles, and it was directed by Ramana, who made Thirumalai and Aathi. Pasupathy's rough, menacing villain and Vidyasagar's songs are among its strengths.