Sivaji (film)
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''Sivaji: The Boss'' is a 2007 Indian
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
-language action masala film directed by S. Shankar and produced by
AVM Productions AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar. It is the oldest film studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...
. The film stars Rajinikanth in the titular role, alongside
Shriya Saran Shriya Saran Bhatnagar ( born 11 September 1982) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil and Hindi films. Although Saran aspired to become a dancer, she became an actress and made her film deb ...
, Vivek and Suman. In the film, a software systems architect returns to India from the United States to provide free medical treatment and education but faces hurdles from the system and a dangerous influential political leader.
A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...
composed the music in his 100th milestone composition, while the art direction, cinematography and editing were handled by
Thota Tharani Thota Tharani is an Indian art director, production designer and painter known for his work in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi cinema. With over six decades of experience, he is recognized for his detailed set designs and visual storytellin ...
, K. V. Anand and Anthony respectively. With a budget of , the film was the most expensive Indian film at the time of its release. Rajinikanth became the highest-paid Indian actor with this film, earning a fee of around .
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 the ...
of the film commenced in November 2005 and lasted till February 2007. Filming took place in various locations, including
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
and
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
. It became the first Indian film to use
Dolby Atmos Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels as well as free-moving sound objects, interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horiz ...
surround sound technology. Released on 15 June 2007, ''Sivaji'' received highly positive reviews from critics and became a commercial success by grossing ₹125-160 crore worldwide. It emerged as one of the highest-grossing Indian films at its release. The film won a
National Film Award The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...
, three
Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...
and two
Vijay Awards The Vijay Awards are presented by the Tamil television channel STAR Vijay to honour excellence in Tamil cinema. It has been given annually since 2006, with the latest—the 10th edition—of the award-giving ceremony having been held i ...
. The film was converted into 3D and released on 12 December 2012 as ''Sivaji 3D''. The runtime of the 3D version was shorter than the original, cut to 155 minutes. It also emerged as the first Tamil film to enter the 100 crore club in the history of Kollywood. This marks the final cinematography work of K. V. Anand due to directing films since 2005, which he debuted in '' Kana Kandaen'' as well as the final dialogue writing work of Sujatha before his death on 27 February 2008.


Plot

Sivaji Arumugam is a wealthy Indian
software engineer Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining software applications. It involves applying engineering principles and computer programming expertise to develop ...
who returns to
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
after working for 10 years in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. He aims to establish a non-profit trust called Sivaji Foundation, which includes a network of hospitals and educational institutions that serve the poor free of charge. A highly influential political lobbyist and businessman, Adiseshan, who runs profit-making educational institutions and hospitals, sees Sivaji as a deadly competitor. To start his foundation, Adiseshan forces Sivaji to pay bribes to several government officials to obtain the basic approvals and sanctions. This eventually forces him to mortgage his property and sell his belongings to pay out the bribes. Meanwhile, Sivaji falls in love with Tamizhselvi, a demure and traditional girl who works as a saleswoman at a musical instrument shop. Tamizhselvi and her family are initially scared of Sivaji's advances, but he soon manages to win Tamizhselvi's heart and her family's approval. However, when an astrologer checks Sivaji's and Tamizhselvi's horoscopes, he warns that their engagement will lead to heavy financial ruin and their union will result in Sivaji's death. Tamizhselvi initially refuses the proposal due to her concern for Sivaji, but he calms her fears and convinces her to marry him. Adiseshan starts sabotaging Sivaji by influencing the state government to bring Sivaji to court and force him to admit that he paid numerous bribes. The judge declares the verdict against Sivaji, and his foundation is closed. Sivaji, reduced to poverty, decides to play the game his own way. With the help of his uncle, Arivu, Sivaji acquires evidence of 2 billion worth of illegal earnings from Adiseshan and uses it to blackmail him into giving Sivaji half the money. Adiseshan sends goons to retrieve the document and money, but Sivaji thrashes them. Sivaji proceeds to do the same to others with illegal cash, including the officers he bribed. He then transfers the money to his friends worldwide. They then deposit the money as donations to the Sivaji Foundation, making it legitimate. Sivaji informs the Income Tax Department about illegal money held by the tax evaders, including Adiseshan, and gets them arrested. After this, Sivaji marries Tamizhselvi. Sivaji blackmails the chief minister, who was on Adiseshan's payroll, and legally reopens his foundation. Adiseshan indirectly exploits Tamizhselvi's innocence, and she gives up Sivaji's laptop to save his life. He is arrested with presentable evidence. Adiseshan and the police try to unlock his computer through voice recognition but cannot do so without him. Sivaji refuses and Adiseshan tortures him to the point of death. To cover this up, Adiseshan and the police organise mercenaries to shoot at the police van carrying Sivaji's body, making it look like a murder by a third party. However, Sivaji fakes his death after being informed of the plans to kill him by a sympathetic police constable before the interrogation. Left alone in the room, he electrifies himself and loses consciousness. Dr. Chezhian, Sivaji's friend, Tamizhselvi, and Arivu intercept the police van after being informed by Sivaji through an MMS and replace his body with a dummy before the mercenaries open fire. Chezhian then revives him using a
defibrillator Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). Defibrillation delivers a dose of electric current (often called a ''count ...
. Following Sivaji's "death", Adiseshan tries to open Sivaji's laptop, but they fail, and all the data is erased. A few days later, the revived Sivaji returns to take control of the foundation, disguised as his NRI friend, M. G. Ravichandran. Though Adiseshan immediately realises that Ravichandran is Sivaji, he cannot prove it. Later, Sivaji confronts Adiseshan at one of his institutions, and the two fight. Sivaji breaks open the terrace containing all of Adiseshan's black money, which flies out onto the campus, attracting students who come running out, resulting in a stampede in which Adiseshan is trampled to death. Sivaji Foundation soon becomes a frontier for India's economic and industrial rise. Sivaji served a short jail sentence for
money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
and India was recognised as a superpower by 2015.


Cast


Production


Development

In 1996, following the release of his '' Indian'', Shankar approached and pitched three storylines to Rajinikanth to consider for his next venture. This included scripts which would later become ''Sivaji'' (2007), '' Enthiran'' (2010) and '' I'' (2015). Rajinikanth was sceptical and refused all three scripts at the time. In August 2005, Rajinikanth signed up for his next film which was to be produced by
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
's oldest operative studio,
AVM Productions AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar. It is the oldest film studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...
, which was run by M. S. Guhan and M. Saravanan. This time Shankar was confirmed to be the film's director. After consulting
Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram. Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001), better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th centur ...
's family to avoid any issues with the film's name, the project was subsequently announced on 24 August 2005. The film was titled ''Sivaji'', after Rajinikanth's name at birth – Sivaji Rao Gaekwad. A tagline, ''The Boss'', which stands for "Bachelor of Social Service", was suffixed to the title. In addition to being AVM Productions' 168th  film, ''Sivaji'' was also Rajinikanth's 154th  film, his 100th  Tamil film and his ninth film with AVM Productions. According to Rajinikanth's biographer Naman Ramachandran, the film was also made to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of the production company's founder, A. V. Meiyappan. ''Sivaji'' was also noted for its change in the traditional yellow-coloured Rajinikanth introductory text which made its debut with ''
Annaamalai ''Annaamalai'' (also spelt ''Annamalai''; ) is a 1992 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language action drama film directed by Suresh Krissna and produced by Kavithalayaa Productions. A remake of the 1987 Hindi film ''Khudgarz'', itself based on Je ...
'' (1992). Instead the text is displayed in Chrome.


Cast and crew

The first choice for the role of the female lead was
Aishwarya Rai Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (; Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil films. Rai won the Miss World 1994 pageant and later established herself as one of the most-popu ...
. However, in October 2005, Shankar and Rajinikanth announced that actress
Shriya Saran Shriya Saran Bhatnagar ( born 11 September 1982) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil and Hindi films. Although Saran aspired to become a dancer, she became an actress and made her film deb ...
would play the female lead role. Saran's voice was dubbed by actress Kanika, who was selected after a successful voice test, thereby collaborating for the second time with Shankar. Actor Vivek was signed up for the role of Sivaji's maternal uncle, Arivu, in November 2005. Actress Sunaina made her acting debut through this film in a special appearance; the scene however was later removed from the final cut. Nayanthara, who had earlier worked with Rajinikanth in ''Chandramukhi'', was signed up to perform a special appearance alongside Rajinikanth in the song "Baleilakka". Suman was confirmed in March 2006 to play the role of Adiseshan after
Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...
,
Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...
and
Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English language, Engl ...
were considered. Sathyaraj, who acted with Rajinikanth in '' Mr. Bharath'' (1986), said he declined the role because, "After a film of the calibre of ''Mr. Bharath'' with Rajnikanth, I couldn't settle for anything less".
Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, film maker, mainly working in Hindi language, Hindi and Marathi language, Marathi cinema. Widely regarded as one of the finest and most influential actors ...
was also approached, but he refused owing to a dispute over remuneration. Talks with Sanjay Dutt proved unsuccessful too. Mohanlal said he declined as he could not commit to the project for an entire year without missing out on other projects. For his role, Suman removed his moustache and used
dentures Dentures (also known as false teeth) are prosthetic devices constructed to replace missing teeth, supported by the surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Conventional dentures are removable ( removable partial denture or comp ...
to make his smile visible. Shankar instructed one of the costume designers to give the character a spotless white ''
dhoti The dhoti is an ankle-length breechcloth, wrapped around the waist and the legs, in resemblance to the shape of trousers. The dhoti is a garment of ethnic wear for men in the Indian subcontinent. The dhoti is fashioned out of a rectangular p ...
'', shirt, shoes, a
Rolex Rolex () is a Swiss watch brand and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by German businessman Hans Wilsdorf and his eventual brother-in-law Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex ...
watch and Ray-Ban sunglasses. Before this, Suman had acted with Rajinikanth in ''
Thee The word ''thou'' () is a second-person singular pronoun in English. It is now largely archaic, having been replaced in most contexts by the word '' you'', although it remains in use in parts of Northern England and in Scots (). ''Thou'' ...
'' (1981). Subbu Panchu dubbed for Suman. Debate speakers Solomon Pappaiah and Pattimandram Raja were selected to play supporting roles, with the latter making his cinematic acting debut. Vadivukkarasi and Manivannan were selected to play Sivaji's parents. Raghuvaran appeared in a small role as Dr. Chezhian. Shankar, who also wrote the film's story and screenplay, was paid a then record salary of 100  million (
Indian rupee The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 '' paise'' (Hindi plural; singular: ''paisa''). The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve ...
s) for the project.
A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...
, who was selected to compose the film's soundtrack and background score, was also paid 30  million. Sujatha was assigned to write the dialogues for ''Sivaji''. Tha. Prabhu Raja Cholan, who would later direct the film '' Karuppampatti'' (2013), worked as an assistant director in this film. Rajinikanth's daughter Soundarya worked as a graphics designer, creating the title for this film; she had earlier worked in the same position on two of her father's films – '' Baba'' (2002) and '' Chandramukhi'' (2005). K. V. Anand was hired as the cinematographer in August 2005. Manish Malhotra was responsible for designing the film's costumes, while Anthony and
Thota Tharani Thota Tharani is an Indian art director, production designer and painter known for his work in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi cinema. With over six decades of experience, he is recognized for his detailed set designs and visual storytellin ...
were the editor and art director respectively. Additional make-up for Rajinikanth was done by make-up artist Banu. Director S. P. Muthuraman worked as the film's co-producer.


Filming

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 the ...
commenced on 28 November 2005 with a puja at AVM Productions. The film's launch was a secret event, with only pivotal members of the cast and crew being called for the event's attendance. The first schedule of ''Sivaji'' began on 14 December 2005  with the song "Vaaji Vaaji" featuring Rajinikanth and Saran being shot at Ramoji Film City in
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. The idea of shooting at Ramoji Film City was suggested to Shankar by Tharani who felt that the place offered a lot of scope for him to use his skills and experience as an art director. "Vaaji Vaaji" was picturised with an intention to showcase a
Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...
ian palace setting when Shankar requested Tharani to show "a palace with lots of colour". Tharani created a four-storey Babylonian palace to accommodate 80 dancers and 100 junior artists for the number. The set was built within 30 days. Shooting of the number, which according to K. V. Anand was filmed in Super 35 motion picture film format, was completed in eight days. G. Dhananjayan mentions in his book ''The Best of Tamil Cinema'' that 35 million was spent on the song's making. Tharani described the set designing for the song "Sahana", which was also shot at Ramoji Film City, as "extremely challenging". After listening to the lyrics of the song which speaks of the four traditional calendar seasons, Tharani thought of using a concept titled ''Living in Seasons'', which he used at a
symposium In Ancient Greece, the symposium (, ''sympósion'', from συμπίνειν, ''sympínein'', 'to drink together') was the part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was accompanied by music, dancing, recitals, o ...
held in Japan. For the set's design which depicted the four seasons, Tharani proposed three concepts – a traditional Japanese house, a contemporary house and a futuristic house. Shankar chose the futuristic house concept, which consisted of three domes in the shapes of a square, a circle and a pyramid adjacent to one another. The circular dome had a pathway around it and water falling from a 50 feet high rock, which would seep under the set. Tharani made use of
acrylic glass Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a synthetic polymer derived from methyl methacrylate. It is a transparent thermoplastic, used as an engineering plastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and bran ...
and normal glass with the former being implemented on the floor to make the dance movements more easier to perform. Construction of the set for the number was completed in 30 days. In addition to these two songs, Tharani contributed to similar creations for the music store where Tamizhselvi works as a saleswoman, the street surrounding the music store, the
warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...
behind the music store, the interior portions of Thamizhselvi's house and Adiseshan's office room. The music shop was designed in the
Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the st ...
style, while the warehouse was constructed at AVM Productions with the fight sequence being filmed there as well. Filming of another action sequence in an open-air theatre, which was also designed by Tharani, took place for approximately 15–20 days. K. V. Anand used balloon lights brought from a French company Airstar Space Lighting for the sequence. The interior portions of Thamizhselvi's house was designed using clippings of flats constructed by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board. The "Style" segment was filmed in May 2006 at the
Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry ( ; ; born February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. Gehry rose to prominence in th ...
-designed Guggenheim Museum in
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, Spain, as well as the
City of Arts and Sciences The City of Arts and Sciences (, ) is a cultural and architectural complex in the city of Valencia, Spain, Valencia, Spain. It is the most important modern tourist destination in the city of Valencia and one of the 12 Treasures of Spain. The Cit ...
of Valencia and the Kursaal in San Sebastian. The fair look of Rajinikanth's character in the segment was created using
computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is a specific-technology or application of computer graphics for creating or improving images in Digital art, art, Publishing, printed media, Training simulation, simulators, videos and video games. These images ...
, which was performed by V. Srinivas Mohan, the head of the Chennai-based firm Indian Artists. K. V. Anand re-shot every single movement of Rajinikanth with a British woman named Jacky, who was also one of the song's background dancers. All the shots featuring Rajinikanth in the song and those featuring Jacky were scanned in
4K resolution 4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K UHD) with a 16:9 asp ...
to enhance their clarity after which Jacky's skin colour was digitally implemented onto Rajinikanth's skin. In a scene, Rajinikanth and Shriya Saran imitated the dance from songs from three Tamil films starring
Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram. Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001), better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th centur ...
, MGR and
Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...
, respectively. For the Telugu dubbed version, the scene instead featured songs from films starring ANR, NTR and Chiranjeevi, respectively. French hair-stylist Sandrin Veriar Seth designed two distinct hair-styles for the entire film and 13 hair-styles for the segment alone. To avoid disruptions that could occur at the shooting spot due to Rajinikanth's fan following in
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
, Brinda choreographed "Balleilakka", Rajinikanth's introduction song sequence in Wai, a
hill station A hill station is a touristic town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The English term was originally used mostly in Western imperialism in Asia, colonial Asia, but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by ...
near
Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
with 500 people for eight days. To add more colour to the sequence, a 50-member team of Puli Kali artists from
Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...
were employed by Shankar as background dancers. In November 2006, sequences featuring Rajinkanth, Saran and Vivek were shot at the
Pune Junction railway station Pune Junction railway station (station code: PUNE) is the main railway junction of the city of Pune, India. It is one of the major railway junctions in Maharashtra. Pune Junction consists of 6 platforms. It also has a suburban train network. ...
. Filming of a key portion involving Rajinikanth and Vivek took place in the Victoria Public Hall building in
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
. A fight sequence and the song "Athiradi" were filmed at Binny Mills. The sets for the song were made bearing resemblance to the city of
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
. For the climax scenes, which were filmed at the Magarpatta city SEZ towers, Rajinikanth tonsured his head. The scenes where Sivaji gets the money he transferred to his friends by forgery were filmed in New York City. The completion of those scenes in February 2007 marked the end of the principal photography. The climactic fight between Sivaji and Adiseshan was filmed at Vels University. K. V. Anand told Shobha Warrier of Rediff.com that the portions other than the songs and action sequences were completed in 65 days.


Themes and influences

Many critics stated that the theme of ''Sivaji'' has been inspired from Shankar's previous films ''
Gentleman ''Gentleman'' (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man; abbreviated ''gent.'') is a term for a chivalrous, courteous, or honorable man. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire ...
'' (1993) and '' Mudhalvan'' (1999). The film deals with the concept of corruption and money laundering and how the film's protagonist employs methods to get rid of those elements. Gopinath Rajendran of ''
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 Naidu ...
'' compared the film's title character to
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
for being a hero "who takes from the rich and passes it on to the poor". Sivaji, who is a software engineer is frustrated with the corruption in India which is shown in the scene where he watches the pitiable condition of poor people stating that: "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer". Sivaji's love for his country is also illustrated in a scene where he is advised by his uncle to go back to abroad but he says "Where else will I go? This is home."


Music

After some re-recording of the background score in Paraguay,
A.R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...
had been to London for additional re-recording. A month and a half prior to the film's official soundtrack release, three songs from the soundtrack were leaked into the Internet. The songs, however, were only unofficial with low quality, where the official versions were composed slightly different and sung by different artists.


Release

The television rights of the film were sold to Kalaignar TV for 4 crore. The film's distribution rights, as distributed by
AVM Productions AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar. It is the oldest film studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...
to various companies are for the selling of rights to
Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
, for
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
and for the rights to Ayngaran, an international Tamil film distributor. The trailer was released by CNN-IBN on 30 May 2007 lasting for three minutes. The official trailer was released by AVM to ''Galatta.com'', the official online sponsor and Ayngaran International. The film was supposed to be released on the Tamil New Year's day, 14 April 2007, but due to post-production delays, the film was released worldwide on 15 June 2007. On 15 July 2007, AVM Productions, the producers of the film, announced their decision to dub the film into
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
. That version was released on 8 January 2010. M. Satyamoorthy, on 9 July 2007, sought to stop the film being screened, claiming that it defamed the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
, a political party, as well as its president,
Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi (, ; ; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, a big-tent liberal political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independence history. ...
, and the then
Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...
,
Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...
. Satyamoorthy cited a scene in which portraits of Gandhi and Singh are visible behind Adiseshan's chair, implying that Adiseshan was a member of the Indian National Congress. Satyamoorthy also claimed in damages from the film's producer, director and lead actor to be paid to the
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
section of the party. Jaya Rajadevan, one of the film's assistant directors, sought an
injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...
in civil court to stop screening of the film for alleged plagiarism. Rajadevan claimed that he had written the film's story and had discussed it with Shankar's manager in 2005. Although the court sent notices to Shankar, among others, the screening of the film was not stopped.


Special screenings

Rajinikanth used his political affiliations to screen the film for several politicians. He went to
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
to showcase the film for the former
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...
, Chandrababu Naidu, on 14 June 2007. At the screening, Rajinikanth told the media that he would invite the Chief Minister, Rajasekhara Reddy, for a special viewing as well. Rajinikanth said that he had screened the film to current and former
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
Chief Ministers, Dr. Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha, respectively, and that India's
Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
, P Chidambaram, was also keen to watch the film. A private screening was also shown to
Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...
.
Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...
saw a special preview of the film at Shenoys theatre in
Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...
. After the screening he says, "It is a very good commercial film. Rajnikant has a halo around him; the man is amazing, simple and straight forward with no starry airs."


3D re-release

A 2012 re-release, also known as ''Sivaji 3D,'' was created by re-mastering the original to
Dolby Atmos Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels as well as free-moving sound objects, interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horiz ...
and post-converting to 3D format and cutting half an hour of running time. ''Sivaji 3D'' is the first Indian film to be launched with the new Dolby Atmos platform. The trailer of 3D version was launched on 13 August 2012 at Prasad Labs along with Rajinikanth. The 3D version released on 12 December 2012, coinciding with Rajinikanth's birthday. The runtime of 3D version was shorter than original, cut to two hours and thirty-five minutes.


Box office

The theatrical rights of the film were sold for in Kerala and in Andhra Pradesh. Worldwide, the film was estimated to have been released in about 750 screens. The film opened to virtually full cinemas. ''Sivaji'' was released in 303 screens in Tamil Nadu, 300 screens in Andhra Pradesh; 12 screens in North India and 145 screens across the rest of the world. It was released in 16 screens in
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
and grossed within the first four days, at that point a new record for
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
cinema. The film also debuted well in
Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
and in
Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
. Despite protests from pro-
Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
groups, the film debuted in 13 screens. In the national capital, New Delhi, the film debuted on 4 screens in PVR Cinemas. Based on what the distributors claim, there was "overwhelming response to the film", with the number of screens increasing to 12 by the second week. The film made a good debut in the nation's other metros as well such as
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
and
Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
, as well as in other non-traditional markets for Tamil films such as Pune and Baroda. The film grossed 4.07 crore in two weeks; 8.5 crore in five weeks, and 10 crore in seven weeks in Chennai. ''Sivaji'' was also successful in international markets. The film had a wide release with over 145 prints and in 200 theatres (Tamil Version alone) in over 20 countries across South East Asia, Europe, North America, GCC and Australia and others, one of the widest release for an Indian film in the international markets. Internationally, ''Sivaji'' had good screenings in Malaysia. grossing over US$2 million in Malaysia, ''Sivaji'' made a debut with 150 shows in Singapore. In Sri Lanka, the film debuted across 70 screens with all 700 shows virtually sold out. In the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
that contains a sizeably large Indian diaspora, the film opened to a good response. The film has collected over $8.5 Million from the overseas markets. In Canada, the film released in 10 screens in 3 major cities along with special screenings for the Tamil diaspora in the smaller cities. In United Kingdom, the film debuted on the box-office list at No.9 with earnings of about £14,000 per screen and was the first Tamil film to enter UK Top 10. In United States, ''Sivaji'' was released in 24 screens with subsequent additions of 19 screens for the Tamil version. The producers of the film claimed that the film was going to be dubbed in Chinese and Japanese by Ayngaran International, the holder of international rights of the film. The response in
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
was disappointing, while the box-office collections in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
and Durban allowed it to become the first Tamil film to feature in the South African box-office top 10.
Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Changi Airport. Considered to be one of the world's best carriers, the airline is ranked as a 5-star airline as well as ranked ...
bought a 3-month exclusive in-flight screening rights to the film, a first for the airline for any Tamil film. In the UK, 13 seconds of the film was cut. The original film showed Rajinikanth throwing a firecracker into his mouth, lighting it and then spitting it out at Pattimanram Raja, which was removed to give the film a 12A rating, The Ayngaran UK DVD release was uncut and given an 18 rating by the
BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited at cinemas and video works (su ...
. It was also the first Tamil film to be officially released on a
1080p 1080p (1920 × 1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the sc ...
High Definition
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
disc. In addition, the 3D re-release (which was already shortened by half-an-hour) was cut further to remove scenes of bloody injury and violence in 2 scenes to get a 12A rating. The worldwide box office collection of ''Sivaji'' was ₹100—160 crore. The overseas distributor Ayngaran International reported collections as follows: US$2,000,000, Canada $500,000, UK$750,000, Europe and Gulf $750,000, Malaysia $2,000,000, Singapore $750,000, Sri Lanka $1,250,000, Australia, New Zealand & Thailand $250,000. ''Sivaji'' was released in South Africa in late July 2007 after six weeks of its release by the leading South African distributor Ster Kinekor with four prints and released in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.


Critical response

Malathi Rangarajan of ''
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'', in a review about the story, said that the lead character carrying out a rebellion against corruption was something "not be true to life". She concluded by saying that "the story sags towards the end". She, however, appreciated the performances of the prominent actors, the soundtrack, art direction, photography and the animation. Ananth Krishnan, another review from ''The Hindu'', a month after the film's release, said that the film "... presents an effective diagnosis of entrenched corruption but the rather disturbing remedy it offers is, good old vigilantism." It concluded by saying that, though the film did well at the box-office, the message of rejecting the corrupt system instead of reforming it was troubling. T. S. V. Hari of ''
Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...
'' said that the director, Shankar, was not creative enough for the film and added this by saying "''Sivaji'' turns out to be a rehash of all his previous jingoistic claptrap efforts". It appreciated the other technical departments and suggested a good response at the box office. ''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' had a similar review about the story saying that "it had nothing new to offer" but promised it to be entertaining and gave it four stars. Nidarsana of ''
Kalki Kalki (), also called Kalkin, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu. According to Vaishnavism, Vaishnava cosmology, Kalki is destined to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga, the last of the four ages i ...
'' praised the performances of Rajini, Vivek, Shriya and Suman, Vivek's humour while also praising Tharani's art direction, Anand's cinematography and Sujatha's dialogues but felt Shankar compromised a lot for Rajinikanth as the subject of black money is dealt just like that and due to story taking a backseat with Rajini taking the forefront, ''Sivaji'' feels deserted without Shankar's signature yet Shankar is on par with himself for portraying Rajini as larger than life. R. G. Vijayasarathy of '' Rediff.com'' summed the film by saying, "No logic, only Rajni's magic". About the story, he said, "Unfortunately, (the) message is lost in the maze of illogical and sometimes absurd sequences". The review, however, praised the performances of Rajinikanth, Shriya and Vivek and the technical crew. ''
Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...
'' wrote: "There is only one hero here, .nbsp;– Rajni himself. Such is the overpowering screen presence of his cinematic charisma in every frame of the film. The film works big time as Shankar has made the film on a grand scale, .which is a visual treat with superbly choreographed action scenes. All this comes with top-of-the-line techno-finesse, perhaps the best ever in Tamil cinema" and also wrote that "Technically, .a revelation .there are stunning visuals, which is paisa vasool. K.V.Anand's cinematography is top class. Art director Thotta Tharani work is enticing, especially the sets in songs". '' Ananda Vikatan'' rated the film 41 out of 100.


Accolades

; 2007 National Film Awards * Won – Silver Lotus Award for Best Special Effects – M.S. Indian Artists, Chennai ;2008
Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...
* Won – Filmfare Award for Best Music Director –
A.R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...
* Won – Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer – K. V. Anand * Won – Filmfare Best Art Director Award – Thotta Tharani * Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Rajinikanth * Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Film – ''Sivaji'' * Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Playback Singer Female – Chinmayi ;2007
Vijay Awards The Vijay Awards are presented by the Tamil television channel STAR Vijay to honour excellence in Tamil cinema. It has been given annually since 2006, with the latest—the 10th edition—of the award-giving ceremony having been held i ...
* Won – Vijay Award for Favourite Hero – Rajinikanth * Nominated – Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine –
Shriya Saran Shriya Saran Bhatnagar ( born 11 September 1982) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil and Hindi films. Although Saran aspired to become a dancer, she became an actress and made her film deb ...
* Won – Vijay Award for Best Music Director –
A.R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...
* Nominated – Best Playback Singer Female – Chinmayi * Nominated – Best Playback Singer Male –
Udit Narayan Udit Narayan Jha (born 1 December 1955) is an Nepali and Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured mainly in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. He has also sung in various other languages including Telugu language, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil ...
2007
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Cinema of Tamil Nadu, Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Governmen ...
* Won- Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film – First Prize


Legacy

Sunil, M. S. Bhaskar, Komal and Rangayana Raghu spoofed the character M. G. Ravichandran in '' Kantri'' (2008), '' Maasilamani'' (2009), '' Thipparalli Tharlegalu'' (2010), and '' Rama Rama Raghurama'' (2011), respectively.


Notes


References


Sources

* * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sivaji 2007 action films 2007 films 2000s Tamil-language films Films scored by A. R. Rahman Films about corruption in India Films directed by S. Shankar Films set in Chennai Films shot in Andhra Pradesh Films shot in Wai, Maharashtra Films shot in New York City Films shot in Spain AVM Productions films Indian 3D films Indian vigilante films 2000s masala films Indian films set in New York City Films shot in Chennai Indian political films Indian action films Films involved in plagiarism controversies Films that won the Best Special Effects National Film Award 2000s political films Works subject to a lawsuit Indian intellectual property law Tamil-language Indian films 2007 controversies Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films shot in Italy Films shot in Pune Films shot in Bilbao Films shot in Valencia 2007 3D films Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police Films about poverty in India 2000s vigilante films