Sivaji: The Boss

A Tamil film set in India. Sivaji is a software engineer who worked in America. He saves his money and returns to his country. He has a plan. He will build free hospitals and schools; he sets up a trust and puts all his savings into it. He cannot get permission. A bribe is demanded at every desk and the file moves from one place to another. Adiseshan is the most powerful businessman in the region. He owns private schools and hospitals and does not want a free institution opening. Sivaji starts paying bribes. He tries to work through the system and loses all his money. A tax investigation follows. His accounts are frozen and he is reduced to nothing. From there the film becomes a story of revenge. Sivaji goes after unrecorded money; he finds hidden fortunes across the country and moves them into his own trust. The method is elaborate. The narrative proceeds through a series of tricks, false identities and financial games. What the narrative is interested in is not crime but the untaxed economy: the film puts the question of black money in India at its centre and states its argument openly. Rajinikanth's presence is the film's real subject. The narrative prepares entrances, dance numbers and fights for him, and the structure is built around that. The scale is large. The production was spoken of at the time as India's most expensive film; the sets, crowds and musical numbers follow from that. The running time is long. The film is close to three hours and the second half is much faster than the first. Rajinikanth, Shriya Saran, Vivek and Suman are in the cast. Shankar wrote and directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes Tamil commercial cinema and star-centred productions. Who it is not for: anyone looking for realism; the plot is entirely exaggerated and none of the financial tricks stands up to thought.