''Friendship'' is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language

sports comedy A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme (arts), theme. It is a production in which a sport, sporting event, athlete (and their sport), or follower of sport ...

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

directed by John Paul Raj and Sham Surya. A remake of the 2018 Malayalam film ''

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

'', the film stars Arjun,

Harbhajan Singh Harbhajan Singh (born 3 July 1980) is a member of parliament in Rajya Sabha and an Indian retired cricketer and cricket commentator, who played for the Indian national cricket team from 1998 - 2016. Singh was a right-arm spin bowler. In India ...

, Losliya Mariyanesan,

Sathish Sathish Muthukrishnan (born 23 May 1987) is an Indian actor and comedian working in the Tamil film industry. He made a breakthrough portraying a role alongside Sivakarthikeyan in '' Ethir Neechal'' (2013). He won Edison Award for Best Comedian ...

. It marks the acting debut of Harbajan Singh and Losliya Mariyanesan, after the latter's stint at Bigg Boss Tamil. The film was released on 17 September 2021.

Cast

* Arjun as Lawyer Sylender *

as Bhagat Singh aka Bhajji * Losliya Mariyanesan as Anitha *

as Jeeva * Kuttikara Rajesh Saudi as Doctor * M. S. Bhaskar as Advocate Chanakyan * J. Satish Kumar *

Venkat Subha Venkat Subha (died 29 May 2021) was an Indian actor, producer and writer. Career He was known for his roles in films such as ''Azhagiya Theeye'' (2004), '' Kanda Naal Mudhal'' (2005) and '' Mozhi'' (2007). He also acted in few television soap ...

* Monika Thomas Puthuran as Madhu * Robin Prabhu as Prabu * KPY Bala as Browny * Pala. Karuppiah as Judge

Production

The

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

of the film began in March 2020.

Casting

Harbhajan was chosen to play the main lead role after becoming popular in the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

since playing for

Chennai Super Kings Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 2008, the team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The team is owned by India ...

(CSK) in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

. He often interacted with Tamil spectators while playing for CSK and apparently was offered the role to portray a college student from

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

in the film. It is also the first time that an Indian high-profile cricketer is set to play the main lead role in an Indian film. Sri Lankan news anchor Losliya Mariyanesan who rose to prominence after taking part in the ''

Bigg Boss Tamil 3 ''Bigg Boss 3'' was the third season of the reality TV game show ''Bigg Boss'', which commenced on 23 June 2019 with 17 contestants (15 first-day entrants, 2 wildcard entrants, and 1 re–entrant). Kamal Haasan returned as host for the show thir ...

'' reality television show aired on

Star Vijay Star Vijay is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly Star India), a subsidiary of Asianet Star Communications. The channel's headquarters is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Star Vijay change ...

was signed on as the female lead role opposite Singh. In February 2020, Arjun Sarja signed on to play a role in the film while Satish was chosen to play the supporting role of the friend of Singh's character.

Release

The film was released on 17 September 2021 in theatres.

Soundtrack

The first single of the film, titled ''Superstar Anthem'' and sung by actor

Silambarasan Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendar, nicknamed as Simbu or his initials S. T. R., is an Indian actor, filmmaker and musician in Tamil cinema. He began his acting career by playing roles as a child artist in films directed by his father T. Rajendar, b ...

, was released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

coinciding with the birthday of Harbhajan Singh on 3 July 2020. It was revealed that the single was crooned as a tribute to

Rajnikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

References

{{Reflist Indian romantic comedy-drama films Indian sports comedy-drama films 2020s Tamil-language films 2021 films