''Singam'' () is an Indian
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
-language
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series.
This article explains what film series are ...
centered around the title character
Duraisingam, an honest police officer who aims to eliminate corruption from the society. The film series began in 2010 with the release of ''
Singam
''Singam'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Hari, and produced by K. E. Gnanavel Raja under his Studio Green banner in association with Reliance Big Pictures, and distributed by Sun Pictures. It stars Sur ...
'', directed by
Hari
Hari ( sa, हरि) is among the primary epithets of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, meaning 'the one who takes away' (sins). It refers to the one who removes darkness and illusion, the one who removes all obstacles to spiritual progress ...
and starring
Suriya
Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter and a philanthropist. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He received numerou ...
as the titular character. The film received positive reviews and grossed ₹90 crore worldwide.
The first film also spawned two direct sequels: ''
Singam II
''Singam II'' is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Hari. A sequel to the 2010 film ''Singam'' and the second installment in the ''Singam'' film series, the film stars Suriya, Hansika Motwani, Anushka Shetty, Da ...
'' (2013), and
''Si3'' (2017).
Overview
''Singam'' (2010)
Durai Singam, is the honest police sub inspector of Nallur, assisted by his bumbling colleague Erimalai. His family business is provision stores and Duraisingam wants to join it, but he joined police due to his father's wishes. He resolves most of the problems in his village with non-violence and mutual counselling. He uses force only when the situation demands it, thereby gaining much reputation and love from the villagers. Mahalingam is an industrialist in Chennai and a friend of Singam's father. He comes to the village with his beautiful daughter Kavya. Eventually Singam and Kavya fall in love with each other.
Everything seems to be smooth-running until Chennai-based Mayil Vaaganam, a big-time extortionist with shady mafia dealings who blackmails people by complaining to the Income Tax Department, is required to travel to Nallur to sign a conditional bail. He instead, sends one of his allies to do the formalities, much to the anger and rage of Singam who demands Mayil sign the bail in person. Humiliated, Mayil reaches Nallur but is unable to take any revenge on Singam fearing the immense love and devotion of the entire village towards Singam. Using his political contacts, he gets Singam transferred to Chennai to teach him a lesson.
The next part of the movie revolved how Duraisingam overtake problem given by Mail Vaaganam
''Singam II'' (2013)
Picking up the storyline from where Singam ended, Duraisingam has gone undercover after meeting the Home Minister and is working as an NCC officer in a school in Thoothukudi. The only people who know about this operation are the Chief Minister and Home Minister apart from himself. Sathya is a student who falls for Duraisingam though he is waiting to marry Kavya, his love interest from the previous film. Susai , a local who works in the same school shows Duraisingam parts of Thoothukudi and also tells him about the rouge elements dominating the area helping him in his surveillance. He requests the Home Minister to transfer Erimalai and another cop for assisting him. Sathya's moves are frequently repulsed by Duraisingam who learns that Sathya is the niece of Thangaraj. Bhai and Thangaraj, are two criminals who control the area. Bhai and Thangaraj have connections with an international gangster and drug lord Danny. Though they are partners in their smuggling business, they conceal their partnership to the outside world and pretend like arch rivals when they are out in the public. How Duraisingam overcomes the criminals, brings down their empire and finally unites with Kavya forms the crux of the story.
''Si3'' (2017)
The film starts with tremble in Andhra Pradesh assembly where long pending murder case of city commissioner Ramakrishna is being discussed where home minister K. Satyanarayana proposes to bring DCP Durai Singam from Tamil Nadu police to solve the long pending case. Initially being attacked by Madhusudhana Reddy's men at railway station at arrival Durai Singam bashes them out and joins the Visakhapatnam police force under CBI pretending to be casual and not serious about the murder case Durai Singam secretly investigates the case from all aspects. Meanwhile, Durai Singam is being followed by Vidhya whom is a journalist from Andhra Pradesh tracking Durai Singam in disguise as student applied for IPS exams. Durai Singam initially says divorced his wife Kavya, but secretly contacts her. Later, after suspicion of Subba Rao it is told to be play to avoid Kavya from attacks from suspects of murder case. But, finally finding Reddy is behind the murder in series of investigation decides to wipe out goondas in Vispakhapatnam along with arresting Police officers involved in murder of commissioner. After, tracking a suspect he come across to know illegal dumping of Bio-waste and E-Waste from Australia by Vittal Prasad a wealthy politician and businessman from Australia and son of central minster Ram Prasad who works as master mind behind dumping of Wates from Australia in Vishakhapatnam by help of Reddy and his staff Rajeev Krishna . When the commissioner tried to expose this to media he was brutally killed by Reddy and his subordinates. This is proved by witness from commissioner's driver Mallaya and school teacher who lost his granddaughter in toxic smoke caused by burning wastes from Australia in nearby dumpyard. When Durai Singam attempts to arrest Reddy and Vittal Prasad with help the witness and evidence collected. But, Reddy's men kills the school teacher and warns Durai Singam that he destroy his whole family from Australia if he further investigates the case. Vittal tries to escape through plane but Durai Singam stops him and takes him to Talakona forest and kills him there.
Singam 4
Shortly after the release of ''Si3'', Suriya confirmed that he and Hari would return for a fourth film in the series in future.
Films
Singam
The first installment of the series, centers on the fictional incidents. Narasimha is a fearless, honest inspector in Rajolu. Friction between Purushottam, a dreaded gangster, and Narasimha leads to the latter being transferred to Vizag, where Purushottam rules the roost. Singam was released on 28 May 2010 (worldwide) and gained positive reviews.It earned ₹90 crore worldwide against a budget of ₹15 crore,
becoming the fifth highest grossing film in Indian history (2010).
Singam 2
After the success of
Singam
''Singam'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Hari, and produced by K. E. Gnanavel Raja under his Studio Green banner in association with Reliance Big Pictures, and distributed by Sun Pictures. It stars Sur ...
Hari and Suriya Re-unite once again for sequel. The film was titled as Singam 2 and also second installment in this series. The plot focused on Duraisingam, an undercover police officer, works in a school in Tamil Nadu and tries to put an end to the criminal activities of Bhai and Thangaraj who rule the area. ''Singam II'' released in about 1500 screens worldwide, one of the largest releases for a Tamil film.
The film released in a record 151 screens in Kerala
and 63 screens in USA.
The film's Telugu version was distributed by K. E. Gnanavel Raja's
Studio Green
Studio Green is an Cinema of India, Indian film production and distribution company based in Chennai. The company was founded in 2006 by K. E. Gnanavel Raja, relative of actor Sivakumar and many of their films feature his sons Suriya and Karthi ...
. It received positive reviews upon release. Critics particularly praised the performances of
Suriya
Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter and a philanthropist. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He received numerou ...
,
Hansika Motwani
Hansika Motwani (born 9 August 1991) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu films. Hansika began her career as a child actor in Hindi films, and later went on to appear in lead roles in Telugu films, including ''Des ...
and
Anushka Shetty
Sweety Shetty (born 7 November 1981), known by her stage name Anushka Shetty, is an Indian actress and model who predominantly works in Telugu and Tamil films. She is the recipient of Three Filmfare Awards South, Two Nandi Award, and One Tamil ...
. The film grossed approximately worldwide from all its versions with a lifetime distributor's share of .
However, ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' stated that the film made 1.36 billion in its lifetime.
Si3
A sequel, Si3, was commissioned after the success of the previous film and was also directed by Hari, with both
Suriya
Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter and a philanthropist. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He received numerou ...
and
Anushka reprising their roles and
Shruti Hassan
Shruti Haasan (born 28 January 1986) is an Indian actress and playback singer who works predominantly in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. Born in the Haasan family, she is the daughter of actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan and actress Sarika Thakur.
...
in a cameo role. The film focused on a case A police chief is tasked with solving the murder case of the police commissioner. When he finds out that a powerful gangster is responsible for it, he decides to end the latter's tyrannical reign. It was released on 9 February 2017 to positive reviews from both critics and audiences; some stated that "Durai Singam strikes again! Suriya and Hari don't disappoint you in this Singam franchise". Proving to be similarly successful to the first entry in the series, the film became another profitable addition to the franchise, having earned ₹110 crore.
worldwide from a budget of ₹65 crore. And becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of 2017.
Future films
Si4
Shortly after the release of
Si3, Suriya confirmed that he and Hari would return for a fourth film in the series in future.
Recurring cast and characters
This table lists the main characters who appear in the Singam Franchise.
Additional crew and production details
Release and revenue
Box office performance
The franchise has been notable for its profit, with ''Singam''
and its follow-up having earned a combined profit of ₹325 crore, according to IBtimes.
Reception
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...
described the film ''Singam'' as a "predictable entertainer that follows the age old formula", while Suriya "carries the film to the winning post. His passion and the way he brings an ordinary regular larger-than-life hero character alive on screen is lesson for other commercial heroes".
Rediff.com
Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City.
, it had more than 300 e ...
felt it was an "unapologetic... entertainer and has Suriya in every frame. Lovers of commercial potpourri will definitely get their money's worth." The film was the third highest-grossing Tamil film of 2010, earning more than 5.38 crore in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
alone.
In
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, the film collected $1,471,508 and $12,956 in United Kingdom.
With regard to ''
Singam II
''Singam II'' is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Hari. A sequel to the 2010 film ''Singam'' and the second installment in the ''Singam'' film series, the film stars Suriya, Hansika Motwani, Anushka Shetty, Da ...
'', Rediff.com felt "the film has a lot of power-packed action sequences and the story races along with a tremendous pace keeping you engaged throughout... The only negative would be the length – the movie runs for almost three hours. A slightly shorter version would have created a greater impact".
''
Deccan Chronicle
''Deccan Chronicle'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded by Rajagopal Mudaliar in the 1930s & currently owned by Samagrah Commercial Pvt Limited. It is published in Hyderabad, Telangana, by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited ( ...
'' gave it the verdict: "Even if you are not a Suriya fan, ''Singam 2'' is worth a watch. The film roars rather well." In contrast,
Zee News
Zee News is an Indian Hindi-language news channel owned by Subhash Chandra's Essel Group. It launched on 27 August 1999 and is the flagship channel of the Zee Media Corporation.
The channel has been involved in several controversies and has ...
felt, "Suriya is the only character that makes you feel satisfied in the entire movie". ''Singam II'' had a sold-out opening with as much as 95–100% occupancy.
According to Sify, the film stayed inside the top five positions at Chennai box office continuously for eight weeks after its release and was declared a 'Superhit'.
Reviewing ''Si3'', ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
'' lauded Suriya and Hari, writing,"
isconsistency in handling cop stories convincingly and entertainingly needs to be commended as he has been proving his expertise repeatedly". ''
The New Indian Express
''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...
'' similarly praised Suriya, but found "as a commercial film director,
ari'sstorytelling methods also suffer from following a set of rules, which include frequent yawn-inducing songs". In contrast,''The Hindu'' felt it was "loud, fast, and without a single memorable moment". Likewise, Sify called the film "a cocktail of harebrained predictable plot, exhausting action scenes and slapstick comedy". The film collected in domestic box office on its opening day and in 5 days of release.
It collected worldwide in 6 days.
In other media
Soori imitated the character of Durai Singam in ''
Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam
''Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam'' () is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by Ponram, in his directorial debut. Produced by P. Madan under the Escape Artists Motion Pictures banner, it stars Sivakarthikeyan, Sathyaraj, Sri ...
'' (2013). After, he play Veera Babu in Si3. Santhanam also parodied the character in ''
Vellore Maavattam
''Vellore Maavattam'' ( en, Vellore district) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by R. N. R. Manohar, starring Nandha and Poorna in the lead roles. Produced by AGS Entertainment, the film released on 6 October 2 ...
'' (2011).
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Singam
Indian film series
Action film series