Doctor | |
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Directed by | Nelson Dilipkumar |
Written by | Nelson Dilipkumar |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Vijay Kartik Kannan |
Edited by | R. Nirmal |
Music by | Anirudh Ravichander |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | KJR Studios |
Release date |
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Running time | 151 minutes [1] |
Country | India |
Language | Tamil |
Budget | ₹40 crore [2] |
Box office | est.₹100 crore [3] |
Doctor is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film [4] written and directed by Nelson Dilipkumar. It is produced by Sivakarthikeyan under Sivakarthikeyan Productions, in the company of KJR Studios. The film stars Sivakarthikeyan in the titular role, alongside Vinay Rai, Priyanka Arul Mohan (in her Tamil debut), Archana Chandhoke, Yogi Babu, Milind Soman, Redin Kingsley, Deepa Shankar, Sunil Reddy and Shiva Aravind. It follows Varun, a millitary doctor, who seeks to rescue his fiancée's niece from Terry, a child trafficker.
The film was officially announced in December 2019 under the tentative title SK18, as it is Sivakarthikeyan's 18th film as the lead actor, and the official title was announced a few days later. Principal photography commenced the same month in Chennai along with a sporadic schedule in Goa, which was again followed with a schedule in the former location, and wrapped by early-January 2021. The film has music composed by Anirudh Ravichander, cinematography handled by Vijay Kartik Kannan and editing by R. Nirmal.
Doctor was released in theatres on 9 October 2021, following multiple delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It received positive reviews from critics, grossed over ₹100 crore and became a commercial success at the box office. A sequel was announced in 2023.
Varun, a military doctor working in the Indian Army Medical Corps, is a strict and practical person. While returning home from an operation, he receives a voicemail from his fiancée, Padmini, who urges him to call off their upcoming wedding. While enquiring about her sudden change-of-heart with her family, Padmini belittles him for being emotionally distant and apathetic. While leaving, Varun and Padmini's family learn that Chinnu, Padmini's niece, has gone missing. The family lodges a complaint with the police – which in turn appoints Bhagat, a low-ranking police officer, to monitor the family's communications.
Disillusioned with the police's sluggish progress, Varun plots to kidnap the ACP's daughter, believing that the resulting investigation will be more competent. His plan works, and the police nab almost every major criminal related to child-kidnapping. Varun singles out three criminals (Kamala Kannan, Kamesh, and Prathap), noticing that they were present around Chinnu's school at the time of her disappearance. Varun sedates them, and interrogates them by blackmailing them with the kidneys that he had apparently removed. Kamala Kannan confesses to kidnapping Chinnu and handing her over to a child-trafficking network. Varun recruits Pratap and two other gangsters, Mahaali and Killi, to assist in his investigation.
Varun's search leads him to twins Alvin and Melvin, both of whom are responsible for child trafficking and prostitution. Varun and Padmini's family confront the duo inside a Chennai Metro train, and succeed in separating the duo and abducting Alvin. Desperate to save Alvin, Melvin concedes to releasing only one girl from his group of kidnapped girls. Although Chinnu is among them, Varun demands Melvin release all the girls, despite Padmini's objections. Melvin refuses, but hints that the girls are being taken to Goa. Varun, Pratap, Mahaali, Killi, and Padmini's family follow Melvin to Goa, where they discover that the true mastermind behind the recent kidnappings is Terry, the owner of a high-end resort.
Varun orchestrates a drama, in which he has Mahaali, Killi, and Padmini act as if the duo were kidnapping her and simultaneously has Padmini's family urge Terry to find her. As per his plan, Terry traces Padmini's kidnapping down to Varun, who poses as a child trafficker masquerading as the owner of an ice-cream parlour. Varun demands Terry to give him a girl, as compensation for saving Padmini. Unknown to Terry, Varun had arranged for his friend, Colonel James Anderson and his team of commandos to apprehend Terry. Terry escorts Varun to his base of operations, located on a remote island. Varun discovers that Terry's victims are primarily underage girls. Realising that any action would endanger the kidnapped victims' and Chinnu's lives, Varun calls off the operation despite James' protests.
Determined to save the girls' lives, Varun initiates his backup plan. He negotiates a deal with Terry and Terry's father to ship a consignment of 40 girls to Don Pablo El-Fino, a Brazilian child-trafficking boss (actually Varun's father in disguise). Concurrently, Terry organises a meeting with his associates to discuss the upcoming deal; Melvin is among those in attendance. Varun discreetly orders Melvin to kill Terry; the latter's attempt to do so is surprisingly thwarted by Varun himself (in order to gain Terry's trust). Terry interrogates Melvin, learning about Alvin's abduction and that Melvin's actions were purely out of desperation. Unwilling to reveal the identity of Alvin's abductor, Melvin is killed by Terry. Later, while going through the family profiles of the twins's latest kidnaps, Terry discovers Padmini's family is among them and deduces Varun's plan.
Terry later has Varun and the family apprehended and takes them to his island, intending to kill them. However, Alvin appears, seeking revenge for Melvin's death. Alvin reveals he had abducted Terry's father and agrees to spare him, in return for letting Varun and the family, along with all the other girls, leave. After they leave, Alvin kills Terry's father to avenge Melvin's death, and Terry kills him in retribution. Elsewhere, Varun realises that he has left a girl behind and returns to the island alone. Terry apprehends Varun and plans to kill the lone girl in front of him, but is thwarted by James's team and Bhagat, who had infiltrated his base. Varun escorts the girl to safety while James's team kills Terry and his henchmen. Three months later, Padmini reconciles with Varun, and they marry in the presence of their family and friends.
On 20 August 2019, sources claimed that Sivakarthikeyan had signed a new project, with his close friend Nelson Dilipkumar, after directing Kolamaavu Kokila (2018). It was initially slated to be produced by the Indian branch of Sony Pictures in their maiden production in Tamil, [5] along with Vishnu Vardhan Induri's production banner, Vibri Media and Entertainment. [6] Anirudh Ravichander was roped in to score music for the film, marking his sixth collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan, [7] and the project was reported to be kickstarted in late 2019, only after the completion of Sivakarthikeyan's commitments in other projects. [7] In a turn of events, both the producers opted out of the project, and Sivakarthikeyan was reported to be producing the film under his own banner Sivakarthikeyan Productions, whilst KJR Studios was being roped in as the co-producers. [8] On 2 December 2019, Sivakarthikeyan unveiled the title of the film as Doctor. [9] [10] The first look which released on 17 February 2020 (Sivakarthikeyan's birthday) was noted for its resemblance to a poster of Dhanush's shelved project Doctors. [11]
In November 2019, Kavin was reported to be a part of the film's cast, [12] but no official confirmation being revealed from the producer's side. [13] In December 2019, sources claimed that Priyanka Arul Mohan will be seen opposite Sivakarthikeyan, in a leading role, marking her debut in Tamil cinema. [14] Vinay Rai and Yogi Babu also joined the cast within the same month, [15] [16] with the former playing the antagonist. [17] Archana Chandhoke was reported to a be part of the film. Vineet and Ilavarasu. [18] Sivakarthikeyan was reported to have shed some kilos for his role in the film. [19] Bollywood actors and brothers Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman were also roped in for antagonistic roles, making their Tamil debut. [20]
The film was launched on 29 November 2019, [21] with a puja ceremony in Chennai, followed by principal photography. [22] On 6 January 2020, the makers wrapped the first schedule of the film, and kickstarted the second schedule of the film. [19] As reports stated, the makers planned to shoot one half of the film in Chennai, and the other half in Goa. [19] On 12 February 2020, Sivakarthikeyan and Nelson went for a recce in Goa, to scout the locations for shoot. [23] The second schedule commenced in Goa, officially on 14 February 2020, and was shot for 14 days, before completing it on 28 February 2020. [23] [24] The film's shoot got halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India and nationwide lockdown, with 80% of the film's shoot been completed, as of May 2020.[ citation needed ]
On 15 September, it was reported that the makers planned to resume the shoot later this month in Chennai, with a final schedule and few talkie portions were expected to be wrapped up within a single stretch of 12 days.[ citation needed ] The shoot was later resumed in 26 September, with minimal crew adhering to government rules and regulations. [25] A special team was designated to observe the film crew, including the director and actor, were abiding the COVID-19 protocol. [26] The final portions of the film, including one song was expected to be completed as of November 2020. [27] Principal photography wrapped on 3 January 2021. [28] [29]
The post-production process of the film officially began on 11 May 2020, after the government granted permission to resume post-production works of Tamil films. [30] The editing works of the film have been resumed during the process. [31] On 17 September, the makers started the dubbing of the film, with a traditional puja ceremony. [32] Archana Chandhoke started dubbing for the film, during the process. [33] Sivakarthikeyan completed the dubbing portions of the film on 1 February 2021, thus post-production works were completed. [34] [35] [36]
The film's soundtrack album is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, in his sixth collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan, and second collaboration with Nelson Dilipkumar. In February 2020, Sony Music India secured the film's audio rights. [37] The film's first single "Chellamma" was composed during the lockdown. [38] The song was penned by Sivakarthikeyan himself, which had lines about TikTok being banned in India, [39] and was sung by Anirudh and Jonita Gandhi. [40] It was released on 16 July 2020, [41] and the song went viral upon its release, crossing 130 million views as of November 2021. [42]
The second single "Nenjame" was released on 28 August 2020. [43] [44] It features a promotional video, directed by Nelson himself, featuring Sivakarthikeyan and Priyanka Arul Mohan, shot in monochrome by cinematographer Vijay Kartik Kannan. [45] It was reported that the song will be featured as a montage in the film. [45] The third single "So Baby" was released on 26 February 2021, and is a "classical-western" fusion song. [46] The last single "Soul Of Doctor" was released on 28 September 2021 and sung by Niranjana Ramanan. [47]
The film was released theatrically on 9 October 2021, worldwide. [48] Apart from Tamil, the film was dubbed and released in Telugu under the title Varun Doctor. [49] Initially scheduled for a theatrical release in late 2020, the film was postponed as shooting and post-production processes came to halt due to the lockdown. [50] In November 2020, the makers announced for a theatrical release during April 2021, refuting rumours of a digital release. [51]
The makers announced that the film would be released on 26 March 2021, [52] [53] but later postponed due to the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election taking place in April. [54] Later the makers announced that the film will be scheduled to release in Eid on 13 May 2021. [55] As of June 2021, the release date of the film had been postponed indefinitely due to rise in COVID-19 cases and state lockdown in Tamil Nadu. [56]
The satellite rights of this film was sold to Sun TV Network and streaming rights were sold to Netflix and Sun NXT. [57] The film began streaming from 4 November 2021. [58]
The film is the third highest grossing Tamil film of 2021 behind Master and Annaatthe along with Maanaadu . [59] It collected ₹100 crores in 25 days, becoming the first film of Sivakarthikeyan to achieve the feat. [60] [61] [62] The film had a phenomenal run in the United States, where it surpassed the collections of Master. [63]
Doctor received positive reviews from critics. [64]
M Suganth of The Times of India gave 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "And all along, the writing remains solid, giving us situations that might have felt implausible in a serious film but work brilliantly because of the black comedy." [65] Srinivas Ramanujam of The Hindu wrote "With his earlier film Kolamavu Kokila, the filmmaker proved that he could captivate audiences with the story of an ordinary family doing extraordinary things. He repeats the same trope in this outing, and the result: an intriguing tale of a family going to great lengths, to save a loved one." [66] Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times wrote, "Sivakarthikeyan's new film is unlike any you've seen him in before. With dark humour, Nelson adds spice to a mundane script". [67] J. Jagannath Business Standard wrote "Like Lokesh Kanagaraj, Nelson too promises a bright future for Tamil cinema. The Tarantino-esque absurdity that he brings to the table sans pareil in Indian cinema at the moment." [68]
In August 2023, Nelson announced that the film would have a sequel titled Doctor 2. [69]
Sivakarthikeyan, also known by the initialism SK, is an Indian actor, singer, film producer, lyricist, and television presenter, who works predominantly in Tamil films. He is a recipient of a Tamil Nadu State Film Award, four Edison Awards, four SIIMA Awards, and two other Vijay Awards.
Anirudh Ravichander, also credited mononymously as Anirudh, is an Indian music composer and playback singer who works primarily in Tamil Cinema. He has also composed music for few Hindi and Telugu films. He has won two Filmfare Awards South, nine SIIMA Awards, six Edison Awards and five Vijay Awards.
Pooja Hegde is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films. She began her career as a model and was crowned as the second runner-up at the 2010 I Am She–Miss Universe India pageant. She made her acting debut with the Tamil film Mugamoodi (2012) and had her first Telugu release in Oka Laila Kosam (2014). Hegde has established herself as one of the leading actresses in Telugu cinema.
Ayalaan ( transl. Alien) is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language science fiction film written and directed by R. Ravikumar, and produced by Kotapadi J. Rajesh under KJR Studios. The film stars Sivakarthikeyan and Rakul Preet Singh, with Sharad Kelkar, Isha Koppikar, Karunakaran, Yogi Babu, David Broughton-Davies, Bhanupriya, and Bala Saravanan in supporting roles while Siddharth has a voice role. It follows a man who teams up with an alien to stop a rogue scientist from making a deadly Nova gas, which would endanger the Earth.
Remo is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Bakkiyaraj Kannan, in his directorial debut and produced by R. D. Raja under 24AM Studios. The film stars Sivakarthikeyan and Keerthy Suresh, while Sathish, Rajendran, Aadukalam Naren, Anson Paul, K. S. Ravikumar, Saranya Ponvannan and Sri Divya portray supporting roles. The cinematography was handled by P. C. Sreeram, and editing work was done by Ruben. Sound designer Resul Pookutty, was also a part of the film. The soundtrack album and background score has been composed by Anirudh Ravichander, and the soundtrack received positive response, upon release. The film follows an aspiring actor who decides to don as a female nurse, to test his acting skills and also to win the hearts of his lady love, who is a doctor by profession.
Arunraja Kamaraj is an Indian singer, lyricist, actor and director in Tamil-language films. He is known for his works as lyricist in films such as Jigarthanda, Theri, Pencil and Kabali. He also debuted as an actor in Raja Rani and appeared as Neruppu Kumar in the film Maan Karate. He has written and sung the songs "Ding Dong" for the movie Jigarthanda and written "Kaavaalaa" for the movie Jailer which were critically acclaimed. He has also written and sung the song "Neruppu Da" in Rajinikanth's film Kabali. His other notable works includes movies such as Demonte Colony and Trisha Illana Nayanthara.
Shaji Chen is an Indian writer and actor. Shaji's main area of writing is music and cinema related. Shaji writes in Tamil, Malayalam, English languages and acts in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films.
Kolamaavu Kokila is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language black comedy crime film written and directed by Nelson Dilipkumar in his directorial debut, and produced by Lyca Productions. The film stars Nayanthara alongside a supporting cast including Yogi Babu, Saranya Ponvannan, VJ Jacqueline, R. S. Shivaji, Charles Vinoth, Hareesh Peradi and others. Anirudh Ravichander composed the film's music.
Kanaa is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language sports drama film starring Sathyaraj, Aishwarya Rajesh, Sivakarthikeyan, and Darshan. The film is written and directed by Arunraja Kamaraj, who is directing for the first time. It was released theatrically on 21 December 2018. The film has music composed by Dhibu Ninan Thomas, cinematography by Dinesh B. Krishnan, edited by Ruben and produced by Sivakarthikeyan in his newly established Sivakarthikeyan Productions banner. It was remade in Telugu as Kousalya Krishnamurthy, with Aishwarya and Sivakarthikeyan reprising their roles.
Nelson Dilipkumar is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He started his carrer with a feature film in 2010 with Vettai Mannan, starring Silambarasan. However, it was shelved due to various reasons. He later directed Kolamaavu Kokila (2018), making his debut in the industry. He directed Doctor (2021) featuring Sivakarthikeyan, which emerged a commercial success during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was followed by Beast (2022), with Vijay in the lead role, which emerged as one of the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2022. He then worked on Jailer (2023), which became his most successful film; it became one of the highest-grossing Indian film, earning over ₹600 crore (US$75 million) worldwide, collaborating with Rajinikanth.
Beast is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film written & directed by Nelson Dilipkumar and produced by Kalanithi Maran under Sun Pictures. The film stars Vijay in the lead role, alongside Pooja Hegde, Selvaraghavan, Shaji Chen, VTV Ganesh, Ankur Vikal, Aparna Das, Sathish Krishnan, Shine Tom Chacko, Yogi Babu and Redin Kingsley. In the film, Veera Raghavan, an ex-RAW agent, seeks to rescue the hostages in the shopping mall, which is hijacked by terrorists, whose intentions are to free their leader Umar Farooq, who was previously captured by Veera.
Don is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language coming-of-age comedy drama film written and directed by Cibi Chakaravarthi in his directorial debut. Produced by Lyca Productions and Sivakarthikeyan Productions, it stars Sivakarthikeyan, S. J. Suryah, Samuthirakani, Priyanka Arul Mohan, Soori and debutant Sivaangi Krishnakumar. The film revolves around a reluctant engineering student repeatedly clashing with his college's discipline mentor, while still trying to discover his passion in life and prove his eligibility to his father.
Priyanka Arul Mohan is an Indian actress who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu films. She made her acting debut with the Kannada film Ondh Kathe Hella (2019), and played the leading lady in the Telugu film Gang Leader (2019) and the Tamil films Doctor (2021), Don (2022) and Etharkkum Thunindhavan (2022).
Redin Kingsley is an Indian actor and comedian who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. He is best known for his loud style of speech in films
Doctor is a soundtrack album composed by Anirudh Ravichander for the 2021 film of the same name. The film marks Anirudh's sixth collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan and second collaboration with Nelson Dilipkumar. All the tracks in the film were released as singles, with "Chellamma" being the first song to be released, received viral response crossing more than 100 million views on YouTube. The original soundtrack album which featured four tracks in total was unveiled by Sony Music India on 2 October 2021.
Jailer is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film directed by Nelson Dilipkumar and produced by Kalanithi Maran under Sun Pictures. The film stars Rajinikanth in the lead role, alongside Vinayakan, Ramya Krishnan, Vasanth Ravi, Mirnaa Menon, Yogi Babu, Tamannaah Bhatia and Sunil in supporting roles. Mohanlal, Shiva Rajkumar and Jackie Shroff play guest appearances. It revolves around "Tiger" Muthuvel Pandian, a retired jailer, seeking to apprehend an eccentric idol smuggler Varman.
"Arabic Kuthu" is a 2022 Indian song and the first single in the soundtrack of the Tamil-language film Beast, directed by Nelson. Starring Vijay and Pooja Hegde, the film is produced by Kalanithi Maran under the studio Sun Pictures. The track is composed by Anirudh, who also sang the track alongside Jonita Gandhi, while the lyrics for the track were written by actor Sivakarthikeyan. The first single to be released from the album, being highly expected from fans, was delayed multiple times.
Beast is the soundtrack composed by Anirudh Ravichander for the 2022 Tamil-language film of the same name directed by Nelson; starring Vijay and Pooja Hegde, the film is produced by Kalanithi Maran under the studio Sun Pictures. The film, under the tentative title Thalapathy 65, initially had S. Thaman reported to score for the film. In a turn of events, the makers roped in Anirudh for the production of songs and film score. This film eventually marked Anirudh's third collaboration with Vijay after Kaththi (2014) and Master (2021), and with Nelson after Kolamaavu Kokila (2018) and Doctor (2021).
SK23 is the working title of an upcoming Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by AR Murugadoss, and produced by N. V. Prasad under Sri Lakshmi Movies. The film stars Sivakarthikeyan in the lead role alongside Rukmini Vasanth and Biju Menon.
Kolamaavu Kokila is the soundtrack to the 2018 Tamil-language black comedy film of the same name directed by debutant Nelson Dilipkumar and produced by Lyca Productions, starring Nayanthara. The film's musical score is composed by Anirudh Ravichander whose soundtrack consisted of six songs written by Vivek, Vignesh Shivan, Arunraja Kamaraj and Sivakarthikeyan. After the release of three singles—"Edhuvaraiyo", "Kalyana Vayasu", "Orey Oru"—the soundtrack in its entirety released through Zee Music Company on 1 July 2018.