Sivaji (2007)

Corrupt police and politicians target a computer engineer for trying to better the lives of less privileged citizens.

Director:

S. Shankar (as Shankar)

Writers:

S. Shankar (story and screenplay), Sujatha (dialogue)

Stars:

Rajinikanth, Shriya Saran, Suman

11 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Rajinikanth	...	Sivaji Arumugam (as Rajnikanth)
Shriya Saran	...	Tamizhselvi / Vidyabharti Ramlingam
Suman	...	Adisheshan
Vivek	...	Arivu Mama
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ala Aljundi	...	Italian Gangster
Amarasigamani	...	Amarasigamani
Balaji
Jemini Balaji
M.S. Bhaskar	...	Anbanantham's P.A
Bobby
Chelladurai
Deepak
Bianca Desai	...	Pia the Model
Deva	...	(as Dr. Deva)
Dhamu	...	(as Damu)

Storyline

Held in a cell, Sivaji reflects how he came to be under police scrutiny and his subsequent arrest for a variety of economic offenses. He had returned to Chennai from the U.S. to live with his parents and maternal uncle, and had hoped to invest money in colleges and hospitals so that people who are not privileged can benefit - much to the chagrin of a sophisticated goon, Adisheshan, who threatens him, and asks him not to tread on his territory. Disregarding this and hoping to get his projects going, Sivaji runs into bureaucratic corruption and red-tape - so much so that he gives in and bribes an official Rs.4 Crores to complete his Rs.200 Crore project. An enraged Adisheshan has the local politician stop the work, but Sivaji bribes the latter Rs.50 Crores, after liquefying most of his assets. While he is busy wooing and attempting to marry Tamizhselvi/Vidyabharti Ramlingam, a new politician takes over, stops his project, and demands another Rs.50 Crores. Unable to come up with the ...

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Plot Keywords:

hospital | shaved head | new identity | politics | coin toss | 

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Taglines:

The Boss

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi English Tamil

Release Date:

15 June 2007 (India)

Also Known As:

Sivaji: The Boss

Filming Locations:

Bilbao, Vizcaya, País Vasco, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

INR 600,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£168,603 (UK) (15 June 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

A.V.M. Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

188 min

Sound Mix:

DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After helping make S. Shankar's last film Anniyan (2005) a success, Prakash Raj was almost immediately selected to play the role of Adisesha in this film. However, he couldn't accept the role due to conflicting schedules with other films, so the role was offered to big names like Sathyaraj, Mohanlal, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Nana Patekar, before it was finally accepted by Suman.

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Goofs

The CBI officer who arrests Sivaji cites FERA act violation. But in the year 2000, FERA act was repealed and replaced by FEMA act.

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Quotes

Shivaji: If you knew the day you are going to die, the rest of the your living days would be hell.

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Connections

Features King Kong (2005)

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Soundtracks

Style
Performed by BlaaZe, Tanvi Shah, Rags and Suresh Peeters
Produced by A.R. Rahman
Written by Pa. Vijay

User Reviews

Here comes Rajni - The Boss !

There is nothing new in the story of Sivaji The Boss(2007). It's the ages old tussle between good and evil being given the shape of the honest and sincere hero's being pitted against the corrupt system in Mera Bhaarat Mahaan. But this hackneyed story contains a lot of entertainment for the audience and in the end, this is what matters the most.

Our software professional hero Sivaji(Rajnikant) who happens to come from a modest background, earns around Rs. 150 crores by working in the USA and then returns to India to serve his country by providing free education and treatment to the underprivileged through his charitable institution called Sivaji Foundation. However there's a villain(Suman) in the way who considers his activities a threat to his money-making machinery. Alongwith him, the corrupt political and bureaucratic system prevailing in our country becomes a major problem for our hero who meanwhile has to set right his love life also.

Finally, our hero loses the legal battle also which is completely in favour of might and not what's right. He is on the road now having lost all his wealth. Then his heart(and his fate) shows him the way to leave the garb of a simple, sincere and law-abiding Sivaji and move into the persona of Boss, the boss of all those who are on the wrong side. How he turns the tables on them and puts his dream of serving his country into reality is the stuff of the post-interval session of the movie.

Quite some time back, Vidya Baalan had asserted for one movie of hers that it contained only three things - Entertainment, Entertainment and Entertainment. Well, she only must be knowing better what's the significance of uttering the same word thrice when one would have sufficed. Following the same line, Rajnikant can assert this word hundreds of times for this movie(or any similar movie done by him). Forget logic. Just allow yourself to be entertained by the time-tested masaalas poured in the movie. And then here's Rajnikant, the boss of the box office who won't disappoint you in terms of entertainment at least.

I am not going to ask the script-writer and the director(Shankar) as to how our hero is able to convert whooping sums of black money into white money through his money-laundering act controlled from the USA, something which went above my head. If only getting better of the baddies and snatching their moneys were so easy! But then please note that here's not a commoner assigned with this job. It's Rajni, the Boss capable of doing all those things which lesser mortals can't do. And it's needless to discuss the fight and action sequences specially designed for him.

The highly illogical script in which doses of romance and comedy do nothing but block the flow of the narrative, quite unfortunately, supports the superstitious mentality of the Indians through the activities of the heroine who's first the betrothed of the hero and then the wife. She believes the talks of a soothsayer regarding her matrimonial alliance with the hero and acts upon them which ultimately lands our hero into jail. Well, our hero has no complaints because he knows that whatever his lady-love is doing is for the sake of saving his life only(from an imaginary danger). And when he has no complaints, why should we? Whatever Rajni Sir does, is capable of keeping the audience enchanted in the hall. Always maintaining his image of a common man's hero while balancing it with his larger-than-life persona, Rajni Sir has conquered countless hearts for a lifetime. He appears to be the director's actor. Hence if he is over the top, the director(and his image in public psyche as well) is only to blame.

Shreya Saran has done nothing but filled the quota of a heroine which is a must because the hero has to romance also according to the prevailing norms of Indian cinema. Among others, Suman as the villain and Vivek as the comedian maternal uncle of the hero have done satisfactorily.

The movie is way too long and the songs and dances(plus the rom-com sequences) forced into the narrative are responsible for it. Technically, the movie is just okay. Ditto for the music of A.R. Rehman.

Sivaji The Boss is the successful fight of a commoner against the corrupt system but the fighter is not exactly a commoner like me or you or any other similar spectator of this movie. This fighter is Rajnikant, the extra-ordinary. He is larger than life which we, unfortunately, aren't and can't. Hence the hero of the story wins his individual fight in the reel life but the cruel Indian system continues to throttle the real ones in the real life.