Sivaji: The Boss -- is directed by S. Shankar and produced by AVM Productions. Rajinikanth stars in this film as Sivaji Arumugam. Shriya Saran, Vivek and Suman also portray pivotal roles. The film's score and soundtrack was composed by A. R. Rahman.
The release of films starring other major Tamil actors was postponed to release much after Sivaji. It is the costliest Tamil film venture to date with an estimated cost of Rs. 80 Crores. It was dubbed into Telugu language and released simultaneously.
The movie was released on June 15, 2007 in over 2,500 theatres worldwide, after several postponements.
Plot
Sivaji is a Software Systems Architect who returns home after working hard for many years in USA. With a Rs.200 crore budget he wants to setup a charity medical college and hospital. Adiseshan is a politically influential businessman who plots his downfall and Sivaji ends up losing all his money. The rest of the movie revolves around how he starts from scratch to get back his money and resume development of his foundation.
Casting
For his crew, Shankar picked his preferred technicians; with Sujatha as the dialogue writer, K. V. Anand as the cinematographer, Peter Hein as the stunt master, Thotta Tharani as the art director, Vairamuthu as the chief lyricist, Manish Malhotra as the costume designer, Prabhu Deva as the choreographer, Anthony as the editor and J. D. Jerry of Pavithra fame, Balaji Sakthivel of Kaadhal fame, Hosimin of February 14 fame and Gandhi Krishna of Chellamae fame as the team of assistant directors. Also, despite receiving rave reviews for the music composing in Anniyan, Harris Jayaraj was dropped as the music director and Shankar's orthodox music composer, A. R. Rahman was chosen, creating great expectations for the project.
In late 2005, Shankar and Rajinikanth announced officially that Shriya Saran had been selected to essay the role as Rajinikanth's love interest.
In late 2005, Shankar and Rajinikanth announced officially that Shriya Saran had been selected to essay the role as Rajinikanth's love interest.
Shankar and his crew opted for Manivannan, Livingston, Vadivukarasi, Pyramid Natarajan, Uma Padmanabhan, Solomon Pappayya, Muthukaalai, Nellai Siva, Bose Venkat and M'Sia Prabhu to play supporting roles.
Another key role of a doctor played by a guest actor was given to Raghuvaran,. Another guest role was supposed to feature an actress in the form of an item number for the song, Balleilakka, a range of heroines were considered for the role and Nayanthara paired with Rajinikanth for the second successive time after their pairing in Chandramukhi.
Publicity and Release
Ratings India: U[20] United Kingdom: 12A[21]
As the Rajinikanth-Shankar combination has raised great expectations of the film, almost dozen other Tamil films that were ready for release were postponed due to pressure by risk-averse distributors viz. Pirappu, Satham Podaathey, Oru Ponnu Oru Paiyan, Kaanal Neer, Unnale Unnale, Ninaithu Ninaithu Paarthein , Solli Adippen, Chennai 600028 , Thoovaanam , Kannum Kannum and Koodal Nagar.
From early days, the film had been expected to rewrite records set by the previous Rajinikanth starrer Chandramukhi as it saw the combinations of all the biggest stars in Tamil cinema. The production house AVM, owned by M. Saravanan and M. S. Guhan was the largest, oldest and most successful to date production house in Chennai. Shankar, the director, had delivered eight back-to back hits and had worked with all the major technicians in the industry. The music director, A. R. Rahman was one of the big names from Indian music industry and had claimed several international honours with his work in The Lord of the Rings Musical. While as, Rajinikanth was undoubtedly Tamil cinema’s most prominent figure, earning him the title Superstar among his fans. After the announcement several infamous brands including, Coke, Hutch, Aircel and Reliance roped in as brand sponsors to the project.
Sivaji's chances at the box-office were set to be hampered by the ICC Cricket World Cup initially and the film was postponed again to sort out post-production work. The delay continued, when A. R. Rahman, claimed he was disappointed of his background score and planned to re-do it, delaying the release finally to June 15, 2007.
The film's distribution rights, as distributed by AVM Productions to various companies are - 3.5 crores for the selling of rights to Kerala, 14 crores for Andhra Pradesh and 13.95 crores for the rights to Ayngaran, an international Tamil film distributor. Sivaji was given the rating Universal by the Censors Association, only cutting three scenes - a double meaning dialogue by Vivek and two scenes of close up views of Shriya Saran's naval and cleavage.
A pre-teaser trailer was released by CNN-IBN on May 30, 2007 lasting for three minutes. The official trailer was released by AVM to Galatta.com, the official online sponsor and Ayngaran International..
Soundtrack
A. R. Rahman was paid Rs. 2 Crores for the project, making him the highest paid Indian music director. He re-recorded the entire background score in London. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and some choral singers have rendered out moments in a background track.
For the trailer and more details, visit the official web site http://www.sivajitheboss.com/
For more stills, visit http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/moviegallery/7911.html
For review of the movie, visit http://www.rajini-in-sivaji.com/
