Sivaji (film)

Sivaji (film)

Sivaji is a 2007 Tamil action adventure drama thriller film directed by Shankar and produced by AVM Productions. Rajinikanth and Shriya Saran played the lead roles, with Suman, Vivek and Raghuvaran playing other significant roles in the film. Actress Nayantara too made a special appearance. A. R. Rahman composed the film's successful soundtrack and background music, while Thotta Tharani and K. V. Anand were the creative art director and cinematographer respectively. It completed 175-day run at the box office. About 2 crore tickets were reportedly sold worldwide. This was the first Tamil film to beat the two-year record set by Chandramukhi.

The film revolves around a well-established software systems architect, Sivaji, who returns home to India after finishing work in the United States. On his return, he dreams of giving back to society with free medical treatment and education. However his plans face a roadblock in the form of the influential businessman, Adiseshan. When corruption also arises, Sivaji is left with no option but to fight the system in his own way.

After post-production delays, it was released worldwide on June 15, 2007 in Tamil, and subsequently released in Telugu as a dubbed version on the same date. The film was also dubbed in Hindi, which released on January 8, 2010. Satellite rights for Sivaji were sold for 4 crore to Kalaignar TV, ultimately enjoying success worldwide.

The film was converted into 3D and released on 12 December 2012 as Sivaji 3D, coinciding with the 63rd birthday of Rajinikanth. The runtime of the 3D version was shorter than the original, cut to 155 minutes, and released amidst moderate fanfare and fared positively critically and commercially. It also became the first Indian film to use Dolby Atmos surround sound technology.