Nayagan () is a 2008 Indian Tamil language action film directed by Saravana Sakthi, produced by Chakya Celluloid, and written by Vijaykumar Reddy.
The film stars J. K. Rithesh, Ramana, Sangeetha, Keerthi Chawla, Anita Hassanandani, and Anandaraj. It features guest appearances in item numbers by Anita Hassanandani and Rachana Maurya. The music was composed by Mariya Manohar.
The film released on 22 August 2008, was a direct remake of the Tamil film Vegam (2007) which itself was an uncredited remake of the 2004 American film Cellular. Nayagan was not a success, but Rithesh gained significant attention due to the film's extensive marketing.
Dr. Sandhya Viswanath (Sangeetha) is kidnapped from her home by a gang and taken to another location, where she is questioned about her husband's whereabouts. Though the phone in her room is smashed by the gang's leader (Anandaraj), she manages to put together enough broken pieces to make random calls. One of her calls reaches Sakthi (Ramana), who has his own set of problems since he is on the run after eloping with his uncle's daughter Divya (Keerthi Chawla). Initially reluctant, he agrees to help Sandhya and drops the phone off at a police station. The cop Guru (J. K. Rithesh) talks to her but is distracted by another problem, and so Sandhya has to bank on Shakti again.
Music by Mariya Manohar.
Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com rated the film two out of five stars and wrote, "Eventually, it does fall into place -- and the various twists and turns Shakthi [Rithesh] goes through to get at the end are interesting". A critic from Sify wrote, "Nayagan, does not claim anything big. It is unpretentious and turns out to be a slick and racy cop story with all essential masala ingredients, to drive away your weekend blues". The film was also reviewed by Kalki and Webdunia.