Singam II

Singam 2
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Hari
Produced by	S. Lakshman Kumar[1]
Written by	Hari Shivgopal Krishna[2]
Starring	Suriya Anushka Shetty Hansika Motwani Vivek Santhanam
Music by	Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography	Priyan
Editing by	V. T. Vijayan
Studio	Prince Pictures
Distributed by	2D Entertainment
Release dates	5 July 2013 (2013-07-05)[3]
Running time	165 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	450 million (US$7.2 million)[4]

Singam II is a 2013 Tamil action-masala film written and directed by Hari.^[5] A sequel to the successful 2010 film Singam, the film stars Suriya who reprises his title role along with Anushka Shetty, Hansika Motwani, Vivek and Santhanam in supporting roles. Produced by S. Lakshman Kumar, it has music and background score by Devi Sri Prasad. The film was released on 5 July 2013 along with a Telugu dubbed version titled Yamudu II to mixed reviews.^[3][6] A Hindi version entitled Main Hoon Surya Singham II released later on 2 August.^[7]

Upon release, the film was a huge commercial success,^[8][9][10] eventually being declared a Blockbuster worldwide by trade annalysts.^[8]

Plot

After having killed the notorious drug dealer Mayil Vaaganam, Duraisingam (Suriya) has gone undercover after meeting the Home Minister and is working as an NCC officer in a school in Thoothukudi. The only people who know about this operation are the Chief Minister and Home Minister apart from himself. Sathya (Hansika Motwani) is a student who falls for Duraisingam though he is waiting to marry Kavya (Anushka Shetty), his love interest from the previous film. Susai (Santhanam), a local who works in the same school shows Duraisingam parts of Thoothukudi and also tells him about the rouge elements dominating the area helping him in his surveillance. He requests the Home Minister to transfer Erimalai (Vivek) and another cop for assisting him. Sathya's moves are frequently repulsed by Duraisingam who learns that Sathya is the niece of Thangaraj (Rahman). Bhai (Mukesh Rishi) and Thangaraj, are two criminals who control the area. Bhai and Thangaraj have connections with an international gangster and drug lord Danny (Danny Sapani).

Though they are partners in their smuggling business, they conceal their partnership to the outside world and pretend like arch rivals when they are out in the public. How Duraisingam overcomes the criminals, brings down their empire and finally unites with Kavya forms the crux of the story.

Cast

• Suriya as Durai Singam
• Anushka Shetty as Kavya
• Hansika Motwani as Sathya
• Vivek as Erimalai
• Santhanam as Susai
• Danny Sapani as Danny
• Radha Ravi as Duraisingam's father
• Nassar as Mahalingam
• Vijayakumar as The Home Minister
• Rahman as Thangaraj
• Mukesh Rishi as Bhai
• Rajendran as Saghayam
• Mansoor Ali Khan as Karim
• Thalaivasal Vijay as Sathya's father
• Manorama as Kavya's grandmother
• Sumithra as Durai Singam's mother
• Janaki Sabesh as Kavya's mother
• Anjali in the item number "Vaale Vaale"

Development

Production

Reprising their roles from the original film are Vivek, Vijayakumar, Nassar, Anushka Shetty and Radha Ravi. Hansika Motwani plays one of the female leads.^[11] British actor Danny Sapani plays the antagonist.^[12] The actress Anjali is also featured in an item number.^[13] Prakash Raj did not return for the sequel, but he can be seen in clips from Singam that are intermittently featured during Singam II. The film was shot mainly in Kerala, Tuticorin, Chennai, Hyderabad, Tirunelveli and Karaikudi. The director has also filmed some of the key songs, stunts and talkie portions in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa, Malaysia as well as Kenya. Primary production began in September 2012 and lasted for seven months. It was wrapped up on 30 April 2013.^[14]

Marketing

The film's first look was officially released on 26 January 2013. The first teaser was released on 16 May on YouTube and fetched over 1 million views within three days. A second teaser was released on 5 June.^[15] The satellite rights were sold to Sun TV for an undisclosed price. The film was premiered on Tamil television during Diwali 2013.

Soundtrack

Singam II
Soundtrack album by Devi Sri Prasad
Released	2 June 2013
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Language	Tamil
Label	Gemini Audio
Producer	Devi Sri Prasad
Devi Sri Prasad chronology
Iddarammayilatho (2013) Singam II (2013) Yevadu (2013)

Devi Sri Prasad, who had also worked on the score of Singam, returned for Singam II, marking his fourth project with both Suriya and director Hari. Bollywood singer Baba Sehgal had recorded a song in the film following the success of his "Kadhal Vandhale" number from the original.^[16][17] The soundtrack was released on 2 June 2013, a day after its originally scheduled launch in a grand event attended by several celebrities.^[1][18][19]

Reception

The soundtrack of Singam II received a tepid response from critics yet topped the charts. The song, Puriyavillai was the critical favorite.^{[citation needed]} Times of India gave the album 3/5 stars and stated that "DSP gets a foot-tapping album in Singam 2, though it sounds uncomfortably very similar to Singam."^[20] BehindWoods gave the album 2.5 stars out of 5, stating that it is "a straight forward, nothing fancy, DSP album."^[21] IndiaGlitz also gave it 2.5 stars in a scale of 5, concluding that the album is "strictly for the masses, targeting the masala aspect."^[22]

Release

Singam II was submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification by 26 June 2013 to receive its censorship rating^[23] and was passed with a 'U' certificate.^[24] The release date of the movie was confirmed as 5 July 2013.^[25] The movie released on about 2400 screens worldwide, one of the largest releases for a Tamil film.^[3] The movie released in a record 151 screens in Kerala^[26] and 63 screens in USA.^[27] The film's Telugu version was distributed by K. E. Gnanavel Raja's Studio Green.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
The Times of India	[28]
Indiaglitz	[29]
Sify	[30]
Behindwoods	[31]
Hindustan Times	[32]
Rediff	[33]
Rotten tomatoes	[34]
Review Raja	[35]

Singam II received mixed reviews with praise for Suriya's portrayal of Durai Singam and it's story line, and criticism towards the film's length and over-commercialism. Oneindia reviewed, "Singam 2 is a typical Hari style movie, which is routine, loud, long and racy. But he has made it an enjoyable action entertainer."^[36] Indiaglitz gave 3 of 5 stars and wrote, "Singam 2 is everything you would look for, love, masala, sentiment, raw Action and so on, however adding a slight overdose to every single element mentioned, as a whole it almost topples over...yet watch it for Suriya."^[37] Rediff also rated it 3 out of 5, agreeing; "the film has a lot of power-packed action sequences and the story races along with a tremendous pace keeping you engaged throughout. In spite of the number of characters in the film, the screenplay is extremely clear cut, with every role outlined beautifully. The only negative would be the length – the movie runs for almost three hours. A slightly shorter version would have created a greater impact".^[33]

Behindwoods gave a 3.25 out of 5 rating and agreed; "From the word go, Singam 2 clearly establishes that it’s fulcrum is only action and the quantity of romance, sentiment and comedy that occupied equal proportion in Singam is less here. Yet, Suriya shoulders the film big time. The sincerity and dedication of this artist is something that needs to be lauded."^[31] Deccan Chronicle gave it the verdict: "Even if you are not a Suriya fan, Singam 2 is worth a watch. The film roars rather well."^[38] The reviewer from MovieCrow gave the movie 2.5 out of 5 stars; "Suriya's earnestness as a doting lover, teacher, son, and cop deserves applause" but the "camera incessantly zooms, hovers, pans and never takes a break for even a moment."^[39] Zee News commented, "the movie was directed without a soul. Suriya is the only character that makes you feel satisfied in the entire movie."^[40] Times of India rated it 3.5 out of 5 and wrote; "If Singam was mass masala, then Singam-2 is doubly so. Hari is clear about what entertainment he wants to dole out to his audiences, and goes about delivering it unapologetically."^[28] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 69% approval rating from the audience with an average score of 3.8/5, based on an aggregation of 195 reviews.^[34]

Box office

Singam II had a sold-out opening with as much as 95–100% occupancy.^[41] The movie collected 92.5 million (US$1.5 million) on its opening day in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, while the Telugu dubbed version Yamudu II collected 37.5 million (US$600,000).^[42] The film grossed a record 500 million (US$8.0 million) on its first weekend worldwide.^[43]

It collected 200 million (US$3.2 million) in Tamil Nadu, with 27 million (US$430,000) in Chennai alone on the three-day weekend. In the UK and USA, it earned 5960000 (US$95,000) and 16 million (US$260,000) respectively on its opening weekend.^[44] The film was declared a "Blockbuster" in Chennai by the fourth week where it earned 118 million (US$1.9 million).^[7][45] And after seven weeks, the amount totalled at 133 million (US$2.1 million).^[43][46] The film completed a 50 days theatrical run on 23 August 2013.^[47]

The film's Telugu version Yamudu II was an unusual success and earned 140 million in just 10 days from Andhra Pradesh.^[48] According to Sify.com, the film ruled the Chennai Box office in the 'Top 5' position continuously for 8 weeks after its release and was declared a 'Superhit'.^[49] It was a box-office "Hit" in Kerala as well with final earnings of about 85 million according to trade sources in the state.^[50]

It performed exceptionally well in the Malaysian market, earning around 99.8 million (US$1.6 million) within four weeks.^[51] The film became the 3rd highest grosser in Malaysia after Enthiran and Sivaji.^[52][53] The film's total business in UK after a one month run was pegged at 17.9 million.^[54] Singam II completed 100 days in several screens across Tamil Nadu on 12 October 2013.^[55]

See also

• List of highest-grossing Indian films worldwide

References

External links

• Official website
• Singam II at the Internet Movie Database