''Si3'' (short for ''Singam 3'', ) is a 2017 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 ...
Studio Green
Studio Green is an Indian film production and distribution company based in Chennai. The company was founded in 2006 by K. E. Gnanavel Raja, relative of actor Sivakumar and many of their films feature his sons Suriya and Karthi. They have pr ...
deputy commissioner
A deputy commissioner is a police, income tax or administrative official in many countries. The rank is commonplace in police forces of Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, usually ranking below the Commissioner.
Australia
In all Aust ...
in
Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...
battles against a criminal operation dealing in deadly toxic waste.
The film was officially announced in October 2014 under the initial official title ''S3'', the short-term for ''Singam 3;'' however, it was later changed to ''Si3'' to exploit the Tamil Nadu Government's rule of entertainment tax exemption for films titled in Tamil.
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 in January 2016. It was shot for the most part in Visakhapatnam. Devi Sri Prasad who is supposed to compose the film's music was replaced by
Harris Jayaraj
J. Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil cinema, Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, Telugu and two films i ...
, cinematography was handled by Priyan and editing by V. T. Vijayan.
''Si3'' was released on 9 February 2017 to mixed reviews from critics and grossed ₹110 crore at the box office.
Plot
A debate occurs within an
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 ...
state assembly about the long pending murder case of
Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...
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 ...
to Vizag as the new DCP, by order under the CBI. As Singam arrives in Vizag station, he fends off an attack from goon Ravi, who works for Vizag's most influential and powerful don Madhusudhana Reddy. Singam starts to behave as a corrupt cop and secretly investigates the murder of commissioner.
Singam is followed by Vidya, a journalist in guise of a student hoping to write a story on Singam. Singam had previously kept his marital status a secret to protect his wife, but after curiosity from constable Veeram, he lies and closes it as a divorce, revealing the truth only to Inspector Subba Rao. After briefly confronting Bheemli Selvam, Reddy's man who ordered the attack at the train station, Singam finds that a constable at the station has gotten sick from consuming an expired medicine tablet. With help from a paroled hacker named Murali, Singam tracks Mallaiya who drove Ramakrishna to Vizag harbour on the night of the murder. A local schoolteacher informs Singam that a toxic smoke attack from the nearby dump killed his 32 students, including his grandchildren.
Singam realizes that Ramakrishna intended to expose illegal dumping of mediwaste and
electronic waste
Electronic waste (or e-waste) describes discarded electrical or electronics, electronic devices. It is also commonly known as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) or end-of-life (EOL) electronics. Used electronics which are destined ...
, which included recycled tablets being sold to the public and the smoke attack on the school. The garbage is being imported by Vizag Scraps owner Rajeev Krishna in exchange for free metal scrap delivery to steel companies in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. Mallaiya confirms that Reddy, who authorizes this business in India killed Ramakrishna to prevent him from thwarting his operation. Reddy and Rajeev's activities are supervised by wealthy, powerful and corrupt current Commercial Minister of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and businessman Vittal Prasad, who receives full support from his father, Union Minister Ram Prasad.
Meanwhile, Vidya writes an article on Singam claiming that he exported Reddy for personal gain and that he is corrupt, putting Singam's reputation at edge. As a result, Singam has Vidya arrested and fined for discrediting him. Singam begins to eliminate and arrest criminals all over the city, including Selvam whom he guns down. Later, Singam heads to Vizag harbour to obtain evidence from Reddy's containers, but is attacked by his men while Ravi murders the school teacher. Vittal calls Singam anonymously and threatens to use his influence to kill Singam's family if he doesn't stand down. The next day, Singam chases down Ravi and arrests Reddy. He pays a personal visit to Vittal in Australia from looking into Reddy's contacts, and confirms that he is the one behind the illegal dumping.
Singam narrowly escapes Vittal and returns to India, where he finds that Reddy has been bailed by three criminals, who framed the commissioner for supposed assault on one of their wives, and justify the murder as vengeance. Singam is also fired from the CBI for speaking out of turn, but has the Home minister transfers him as an officer in Vizag to continue pursuing Reddy's men. Singam exposes the garbage containers to the public, forcing Vittal to arrive at Vizag. When Vittal warns him again to stay out of his way, Singam responds by having Subbu Rao kill Reddy, whom previously killed his 9-year-old son in a city riot to defend Ram Prasad's position. Singam brings Vittal to his station and gives him another chance to repent. Singam and Kavya later visit Thoothukudi to attend Kavya's grandmother's funeral. They are followed by Rajeev, who is arrested. When Vidya attempts to interview Vittal, she is captured and drugged. With help from Murali, Singam rescues Vidya, but is targeted by Vittal's men who bombs the police station.
Singam decides to finish this once and for all and gets an arrest warrant for Vittal using computer evidence of agreements signed with medical companies, hacked by Murali. The next day, Singam pursues Vittal all the way to Hyderabad Airport in
Telangana
Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...
and has him arrested. Vittal escapes the police custody and runs into a nearby forest, where Singam catches him and fights with him. After a long fight, Vittal dies there encounterd by Singam. Singam regains his post and respect while Ram Prasad is removed from cabinet position for assisting his son. Kavya is revealed to be 6 months pregnant and Vidya severs contact with Singam after getting engaged to a good prospect. Singam receives a call from Home Minister Ramanathan, who calls him for another mission.
Cast
Production
Following the commercial success of '' Singam 2'', Hari was keen to collaborate with Suriya for another action film with a fresh script away from the '' Singam'' franchise, and agreed terms in principle with the actor in October 2014. Hari revealed that as a result of pressure from those around him, he later developed the one-line story from the film into a script for a third part of ''Singam''. While the first film was primarily shot within
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 ...
and the second featured a few scenes in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, Hari stated that the third part would be more "international" and would be set in three countries as the protagonist tackles a global issue.
While most of the cast was retained from the earlier films, Initially Akshara Hasan was considered for the second female lead but she opted out the film then Shruti Haasan was added to the team in July 2015 to portray another leading female role, while Anirudh Ravichander was signed as the music composer replacing Devi Sri Prasad. Anirudh later opted out of the project citing scheduling issues and
Harris Jayaraj
J. Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil cinema, Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, Telugu and two films i ...
was brought in to compose the film's music. Vivek, who portrayed the police officer Erimalai in the first two films, declined to reprise his role in this film as he felt he "did not have a meaty role in it". New actors to the series including Radhika, Soori, Robo Shankar, Krish and Nithin Sathya were added to the cast, while Thakur Anoop Singh was signed on to portray the lead
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.2015 South Indian floods. Production began in
Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...
during January 2016 with scenes featuring Shruti Haasan as a journalist being shot. Following a series of action sequences shot in the city, the team moved to film song sequences in
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
with Anushka joining the team. After a production break, the team restarted the shoot in
Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...
, before moving to the Talakona Forest region and then on the AVM Studios 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 ...
during mid-2016. The team moved to Malaysia to finish filming the climax in October 2016, before a further song was shot in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
with Suriya and Shruti Haasan. In January 2017, the film was re-titled from ''S3'' to ''Si3'' (spelt சி3 in Tamil) to exploit the Tamil Nadu Government's rule of entertainment tax exemption for films titled in Tamil.
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack is scored by
Harris Jayaraj
J. Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil cinema, Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, Telugu and two films i ...
7aum Arivu
''7 Aum Arivu'' ( ) is a 2011 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language science fiction action film written and directed by AR Murugadoss and produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin under Red Giant Movies. The film Suriya in dual roles, along with Shruti Ha ...
'' and '' Maattrraan'' (2012). Taking a break after various schedules of shooting, director Hari and Harris Jayaraj completed the song composing in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
,
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
. The audio rights of the film was acquired by Eros Music and the complete album was released on 27 November 2016. Reviewing the album, Srivatsan of
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...
stated "''S3'' might not be Harris' best work, but definitely not bad either. Having said that, it's a ''pucca'' ( really) commercial album from the composer. Be it the songs or the theme music, the album has enough scope to pander to the B and C centers".
Release
''Singam 3'' went through several changes of release date, before being released on 9 February 2017 coinciding with
Thaipusam
Thaipusam or Thaipoosam (Tamil language, Tamil: Taippūcam, ) is a Tamil Hindu festival celebrated on the first Purnima, full moon day of the Tamil calendar, Tamil month of Pausha, Thai coinciding with Pushya, Pusam Nakshatra, star. The festiv ...
. The film was completed in mid-2016 and the team completed post-production work aiming to have a theatrical release in October to coincide either with the Ayudha Puja or
Diwali
Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...
season, but the release was postponed to avoid a box office clash with Suriya's brother, Karthi's film, '' Kaashmora''. The film was then scheduled to release on 16 December. However, due to a request from the makers of '' Dhruva'', the film release date was pushed even later on 23 December to make most of the
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
holiday season, but was delayed after the team chose to allow the public of
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 ...
more time to recuperate from the aftermath of Cyclone Vardah and the demonetisation problems. Prior to the film's revised release date of 26 January, PETA India had remarked that Suriya was trying to garner publicity for ''Si3'' by speaking out against the organisation at the 2017 pro-jallikattu protests. Suriya subsequently filed a legal notice against PETA for the defamatory allegations. The film was pushed back even further following riots 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 ...
at the end of the protests, with the producers finalising a worldwide theatrical release date of 9 February.
Home media
The satellite and digital rights of the film were sold to Sun TV and
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
.
Reception
Critical response
Thinkal Menon of ''
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 ...
'' gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Suriya, who carries the entire film on his shoulders, is in full form. This time, too, his mission ends leaving a hint that the franchise is here to stay." Manoj Kumar. R 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 ...
'' gave 3/5 and wrote "Hari maintains a sense of urgency in his films from the beginning to end, but, as a commercial film director, his storytelling methods also suffer from following a set of rules, which include frequent yawn-inducing songs, but he makes up for that formulaic approach with fast-paced narration in the scenes that follows". Baradwaj Rangan 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 ...
'' gave 2/5 and wrote "Loud, fast and without a single memorable moment. The ''Singam'' series is the last place to be complaining about the villain." ''
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 "''Si3'' is a cocktail of harebrained predictable plot, exhausting action scenes, slapstick comedy and a bunch of characters that are entirely forgettable, while concluding it as "loud and exhausting."
Box office
''Singam 3'' collected in domestic box office on its opening day and in 5 days of release. The film collected at the worldwide box office in its opening four-day weekend. The film collected worldwide in 6 days.