the film's other heroine Roja over her. The story was taken in forest areas and is based on a true story where a small community fights against majority rule. The film released to poor reviews and became a disaster at the box office. The success of Makkal Aatchi, prompted the actor and director to come together in another political film titled Arasiyal (1997). The director, prior to release, played down any potential controversial story plots and indicated it would be more about a politician's personal life rather than his work. The team shot across North India in 1997 with scenes also filmed at the Harmandir Sahib, Punjab. The film fared less well critically than the previous collaboration, with a reviewer noting "the director is caught in a cross-fire between, coming out with a realistic movie, and at the same time, one with the hero running around the trees, and the heroine." It, however, went on to win the third place award in the category for Best Film at the Tamil Nadu State Awards. Selvamani once again launched another political drama venture titled Indian Express in 1997, which would narrate the happenings of an event which had occurred in Trivandrum. However, despite signing up Sarath Kumar to play the lead role as well as Khushbu, Roja and Anupam Kher, the film became stalled and was discontinued after the launch. He instead went on to make a big budget Telugu action film, Rajasthan with Sarathkumar and Vijayashanti. The film was later dubbed and released in Tamil with a few re-shot scenes and a reworked storyline to relate to Tamil Nadu instead of Andhra Pradesh. A critic noted the director was "losing his touch", criticising that aspects were almost "cartoonish" but praised his ability to maintain the viewer's suspense. A further film titled Operation Veerappa, based on the kidnapping of actor Rajkumar by dacoit Veerappan, was announced in 2001 but later dropped. He returned briefly to direct his partner Roja's 100th film, Durga, a Telugu language devotional subject. The film opened in 2001 to poor reviews, with a critic noting it "lacks the distinctive touch" of the director, the film was simultaneously shot in Tamil as Pottu Amman with his brother being credited as the director for Tamil version. Another film which he launched during the project, Police Commissioner featuring Sathyaraj, was shelved shortly after production began. Selvamani became the managing director of