Osthe

Osthe (The Best) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film directed by S. Dharani, a remake of the 2010 Bollywood film Dabangg. It stars Silambarasan, Richa Gangopadhyay, Sonu Sood, Jithan Ramesh, Santhanam, VTV Ganesh, Nassar and Revathi. Osthe tells the story of a fearless police officer, "Osthi" Velan (Silambarasan), and his troubled relationship with his stepfather and half-brother as he embarks on a mission to take down a corrupt politician. Sonu Sood reprised his role from Dabangg.

Produced by Balaji Real Media, Renny Johnson and distributed by Reliance Entertainment, the film was launched at AVM Studios in Chennai in May 2011; principal photography began in Mysore the following month. Its music was composed by Sai Thaman, with cinematography by Gopinath and editing by V. T. Vijayan. The film was released worldwide on 8 December 2011 to mixed reviews from critics. It was a lukewarm box-office hit.

Plot
The film starts off with Velan, a boy who lives with his mother, his stepbrother Balan and stepfather. Velan dislikes both his stepfather and stepbrother.

15 years later, Boxer Daniel is a politician who tries to win the by election by giving money to 14 villages in his constituency. When his goons are about to distribute money to the 14 villages, Velan who is now a police officer, by the name Osthe Velan, fights with Daniel's goons and confiscates the money. It shows that Velan is still hates his stepbrother Balan and stepfather. Balan falls in love with Nirmala but his father disapproves his relationship because he acquired loan to start an oil mill and he can repay it only if Balan marries a rich girl.

Meanwhile, Boxer Daniel is angered because the money has yet to be distributed and tries to contact his goons. Then the goons try to find Osthe Velan's house to retrieve the money but they accidentally go to Kattupakam Police Station and a chase ensues between them and Osthe Velan's police forces.

During the chase Osthe Velan falls in love with a girl named Neduvalli who has a father who is an alcoholic. Daniel's goons then return to him and he becomes angry with them just because they lost the money and when he investigates about the money to them they reveal that an inspector named Osthe Velan took away the money and Daniel tries to retrieve the money by using the collector's support. After then, Osthe Velan and a colleague, Selvam reach the collector's office but Osthe Velan regrets to give the money to the collector and he fools around with him.

The collector then contacts Daniel telling that Osthe Velan is not a normal person. Then Daniel goes to confront Osthe Velan in his check post but Osthe Velan shows off his attitude to Daniel which makes Daniel feel tense. Daniel hires a contract killer to kill Osthe Velan.

Balan steals the money from Velan's to marry Nirmala and after then he gives the money to her dad and her dad accepts their marriage. During the next scene Osthe Velan asks for Neduvalli hand in marriage to which she says no just because she has to take care of her drunkard father.

Then Osthe Velan goes to his house and finds his mother dead. At his mother's funeral he asks his stepfather and brother if he can join him and be happy which they both regret to and say no.

Then the next scene takes place in a train station where Osthe Velan is being attacked by the contract killer's goons he fights and kills the contract killer and lies to the Police Commissioner that the contract killer was hiding in the train station to kill Daniel. Daniel then makes a plan to keep Osthe Velan as his personal bodyguard and that plan also fails.

Then Osthe Velan asks Neduvalli's father that he wants to marry her and her father accepts to get his daughter married. When Velan leaves he kills himself since his daughter would not accept while he is alive. Then Osthe Velan takes Neduvalli to Balan's wedding and he stops his marriage and marries Neduvalli.

Osthe Velan's father is ashamed of him now but Osthe Velan shows his aggression toward his father. Right after then Daniel speaks to the minister about Osthe Velan and he tells the minister to suspend Osthe Velan but the minister tells Daniel that he needs a reason to suspend to Osthe Velan.

Balan then beats up a guy working in his father's factory just because he messed up something in the factory. When this matter is taken to Osthe Velan, a physical altercation between him and Balan ensues. Now, the people of Kattupakam wants Osthe Velan to be suspended as a result of this incident. He then apologizes to Balan.

After then, the minister calls Osthe Velan to his house and tells him that he has been suspended but Velan tells the minister that he will win in the election take the minister job right after then the minister takes away the suspend order from Osthe Velan and join hands with him.

Osthe Velan then poisons people drinking in the bar with Daniel's adulterated alcohol. Then he raids the place where Daniel is at right now and takes the additional money away also. In retaliation, Daniel burns Balan's father's factory and as a result, has a heart attack.

Then Daniel makes Balan his henchman and he tells him to give fruits to the minister's house but after then it explodes and he realises that he did the wrong thing. Daniel then tells Balan to kill Osthe Velan so he goes to Osthe Velan's home but doesn't kill him and Osthe Velan fakes his death. During the next day he pays a visit to his father at the hospital then pays the money for the operation.

Daniel is now proud of Balan but he reveals that he was the one who killed Osthe Velan's mom right after then he holds Balan as a hostage then a chase happens between Daniel and Osthe Velan. Osthe Velan rescues Balan and kills Daniel. In the end Balan marries Nirmala.

Cast

 * Silambarasan as Inspector Osthe Velan
 * Richa Gangopadhyay as Neduvaali Velan
 * Sonu Sood as Boxer Daniel
 * Jithan Ramesh as Balan, Velan's stepbrother
 * Saranya Mohan as Nirmala, Balan's love interest
 * Santhanam as Constable Selvam
 * Nassar as Subbaiah Pillai, Velan's adopted father and Balan's father
 * Revathi as Velan and Balan's mother
 * VTV Ganesh as Neduvaali's father
 * Nizhalgal Ravi as Thangaperumal,Nirmala's father
 * Vijayakumar as Minister Kalaipandian
 * Thambi Ramaiah as Constable Maasaana Moorthi
 * Mayilsamy as Constable Sennamadan
 * Vaiyapuri as Constable Seethapathi
 * Naren as Police Commissioner Alexander
 * Azhagam Perumal as Shankaralingam
 * Bava Lakshmanan as Veeralingam, Selvam's sidekick
 * Karate Raja as Boxer Daniel's henchman
 * Bala Singh as District Collector
 * Senthi Kumari as Masana Moorthy's wife
 * John Kokken as Local Don
 * Rithu Mangal as Journalist
 * Nagesh Krishnamoorthy as Astrologer
 * Bonda Mani
 * Kottachi
 * J. Ram as Boxer Daniel's henchman, who asked Selvam to tell him the directions to Velan's house.
 * Chaplin Balu
 * Robert (in the song "Neduvaali")
 * S. Dharani as himself (in the song "Osthe Maamey")
 * Mallika Sherawat as herself (in the song "Kalasala")

Casting
After considering Bollywood actresses Sonakshi Sinha and Sonam Kapoor, Bengali actress Richa Gangopadhyay (who had starred in a number of Telugu films) was cast as Osthe's love interest. Jithan Ramesh was cast as Balan, and Sonu Sood reprised his role in the original film. Reports that Madhu Shalini had been signed to play Balan's girlfriend were dismissed by Silambarasan, who said that Saranya Mohan was cast in the role. Producer-turned-actor VTV Ganesh, after collaborations with Silambarasan in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and Vaanam was signed to play Nirmala's father (played by Mahesh Manjrekar in the original film). The production team took some time to finalise the actress for the film's item number. Nayantara, Shriya Saran, Zarine Khan, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Deepika Padukone, Mallika Sherawat and Vidya Balan were reportedly considered, and Sherawat was eventually cast.

Filming
The project was launched with a pooja at AVM Productions in Chennai on 10 May 2011, and filming began on 26 June in Mysore. Nearly all of the film was shot in and around Mysore in a single shooting schedule, which was finished by mid-August. Silambarasan began a fitness regime with workouts at the gym, unlike Salman Khan (who went on a special diet to lose his six-pack abs). The film's final shooting schedule was a song filmed in Dubai. Mallika Sherawat shot the item number "Kalasala" in late September and the first week of October in Chennai.

Music
The soundtrack was initially planned to be released on 6 October 2011 (coinciding with Vijayadashami), but the release ceremony was held on 28 October in Chennai. The event was attended by the film's cast and crew, and other celebrities. Vijay, who had worked with Dharani in Ghilli (2004) and Kuruvi (2008), was the guest of honour and unveiled the film's soundtrack CD.

The soundtrack album contains five songs, with lyrics by Vaali and Yugabharathi; Silambarasan wrote the lyrics for "Pondaati". About the song, Silambarasan said that it revolves around a "husband's praise for his wife." "Pondaati" and "Neduvaali" (sung by Rahul Nambiar and Mahathi) are reminiscent of Thaman's compositions for the Telugu film Mirapakaay (2011), and "Kalasala" resembles the song "Munni Badnaam Hui" from Dabangg. Although Shruti Haasan was rumoured to have sung "Kalasala", veteran singer L. R. Eswari provided the vocal. Elements of "Kalasala Kalasala" were sampled in "Don't Sell Out" by rapper Tinie Tempah.

Release
The film's satellite rights were secured by Sun TV for inr 45000000. Osthe was released on 8 December 2011, which coincided with Karthikai Deepam. The film, released on over 110 screens overseas, was the largest-ever overseas release in Silambarasan's career; the actor called it the "biggest action film that he has done so far". A Telugu-dubbed version was planned to be released in April 2015 but was cancelled due to remake plans.

Critical reception
Osthe opened to mixed reviews. A New Indian Express reviewer said, "Unfortunately it's unable to recreate the same magic of the earlier version, the film a passable routine masala entertainer" and the film lacked the punch in original. A Deccan Chronicle reviewer gave the film three stars and said, "Osthe is worth watching once." Malathi Rangarajan of thehindu.com said, "If Dabangg could make it, Osthe should! And if Salman could do it, so can STR." Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff rated the film two out of five: "Osthe lacks the magic that made Dabangg work." According to an IndiaGlitz.com reviewer, "Osthe ends up as an entertainer." Behindwoods rated the film 2.5 out of five, calling it entertaining; Sify also called it a "time-pass entertainer." Rohit Ramachandran of Nowrunning.com rated the film two out of five, calling it "a snoozefest."

Box office
Osthi earned ₹ 3 crore worldwide on its opening day, and was reported as having a "flying start at the box office".