Vivegam

Vivegam is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language military science fiction action film directed by Siva and produced by Sathya Jyothi Films. It stars Ajith Kumar in the lead role, alongside Vivek Oberoi, Kajal Aggarwal, Akshara Haasan, Karunakaran, Aarav Chowdhary, Bharath Reddy and Sharat Saxena. In the film, A celebrated covert operation specialist Ajay Kumar (AK) is assigned a high risk mission to retrieve the detonation codes for deadly plutonium weapons stolen by terrorists to upset the world order. After putting his unparalleled skills to use he finds himself on the verge of successfully completing the mission, only to be shocked by treasonous acts which he wouldn't have even dreamt of. He is then left to deal with overwhelming odds stacked against him in order to survive.

The film marks the Tamil debuts of Vivek Oberoi and Akshara Haasan. The music was composed by Anirudh Ravichander, while the cinematography and editing were done by Vetri and Ruben.

Vivegam was released worldwide on 24 August 2017 to mixed reviews from critics and audiences.

Plot
An arms deal takes place between the General Secretary of Europol police and the head of the Russian mafia gang in a dense Serbian forest, secured with multiple layers of military personnel. Ajay Kumar "AK", a former CTS officer, arrives and intercepts the deal, where he secures the weapons drive and escapes. The CTS agency learns that AK is alive after being presumed dead, where they assign AK's best friends and colleagues Michael, Rachael, Shawn and Aryan to track down AK.

Past: AK lives happily with his wife Yazhini, who owns and manages an Indian restaurant. Their life is interrupted by a mission to trace an outlaw hacker Natasha from Bulgaria, who was responsible for cracking the security codes of the plutonium weapons. There has already been three man-made seismic activities caused by the explosion of plutonium bombs. Natasha is wanted by the Interpol, CIA and various other terrorist groups around the world for her hacking skills.

AK's mission is to secure Natasha, thereby preventing two future seismic quakes targeted in India. AK heads back to Serbia in search of Natasha and is guided by a local translator Arumai "APS" Prakasm. AK interrogates the hospital doctors in the city and finds that Natasha had undergone plastic surgery. An Albanian gang captures Natasha's boyfriend and tortures him to death. With the help of the pacemaker found in her boyfriend's body, AK traces Natasha and moves her to a safe house.

Natasha was unaware that the code she decrypted was that of a nuclear weapon. She felt guilty and proposed to defuse the remaining weapons from a neutrino site. On their way to the site, Natasha gets killed by a group of terrorists, while Aryan, Michael, Rachael and Shawn ambushes AK. However, AK survives the ambush and recovers in the forest, where he retrieves the weapons drive during the arms exchange deal in the Serbian forest.

Present: Aryan hires a group of assassins to kill Yazhini, but AK neutralizes the assassins and saves her. AK traps Rachael and Michael in a network of subway train tunnels, where he manages to kill them. Later, AK learns that Aryan and his teammates belong to a shadow government, which controls the economy of the world by war manipulation. With Yazhini's help, AK infiltrates into the CTS headquarters where he meets Shawn and tortures him regarding about the coordinates of buried weapon's location. Shawn gets killed by a time-bomb watch, while AK gets saved by Yazhini.

Aryan, as a CTS officer and shadow government agent, forces AK and Yazhini into hiding by blaming AK as the wanted terrorist. AK releases a video challenging Aryan and CTS officers to save Aryan from being assassinated. Aryan is provided security and is not allowed to move out of the building till the next 24 hours. Aryan escapes from the security by secretly killing his own guards. AK tries to stop the nuclear weapon from blasting by turning off the satellites by powerhub.

To prevent AK from continuing his job, Aryan kidnaps Yazhini and keeps her in a secret place. Aryan asks AK whether he will save Yazhini or stop the bomb. AK seeks proof for her kidnapping and Yazhini provides him with her location using morse code. AK arrives at the place, where he prevents the plutonium weapon from exploding and kills Aryan. AK, Yazhini and their baby girl Natasha goes for a long drive, where a mission is assigned for AK.

Cast

 * Ajith Kumar as Ajay Kumar alias "AK"
 * Vivek Oberoi as Aryan Singhania
 * Kajal Aggarwal as Yazhini Ajay Kumar
 * Akshara Haasan as Natasha
 * Karunakaran as Arumai Prakasam alias "APS"
 * Aarav Chowdhary as Shawn
 * Amila Terzimehic as Rachael
 * Serge Crozon-Cazin as Michael
 * Bharath Reddy as Bharath
 * Sharat Saxena as Maximus
 * Swaminathan as Waiter
 * Billy Murali as CTS Officer
 * Milan in a special appearance

Development
Anirudh Ravichander was the music composer for the film, while Vetri and Ruben were signed to handle the cinematography and editing respectively. Anu Vardhan designed Ajith's costumes in the film, while Kaloyan Vodenicharov and K. Ganesh Kumar were hired as action choreographers for the film. The film's title Vivegam was announced in February 2017 and the official first-look poster was released, along with the title on 2 February 2017.

Filming
Principal photography commenced in Slovenia on 1 August 2016 and it was reported that at least 70% percent of this action thriller was to be shot in Europe. The first schedule was successfully completed in Europe and the second schedule in Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad in October 2017. The team informed that nearly 75% of the film shot was complete and the rest of the production was ongoing in Chennai. It was reported that the film was filmed on a restricted military base in Eastern Europe. The team completed their final shoot schedule in Serbia on such locations like Belgrade city centre, Belgrade Museum of Aviation and Bor lake. Principal photography wrapped in July 2017.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack and score were composed by Anirudh Ravichander in his second collaboration with Siva and Ajith Kumar after Vedalam. The soundtrack album features seven songs, with a theme music and a western number. The lyrics for the film was written by Kabilan Vairamuthu, Yogi B, Siva and Raja Kumari.

The first single track "Surviva" was released on 19 June 2017, which is a western-based EDM number, performed by Yogi B. The second single track "Thalai Viduthalai" was released on 10 July 2017, followed by the third single track "Kadhalaada" released on 20 July 2017. The soundtrack album in its entirety was released through the digital streaming platform JioSaavn and Sony Music India on 7 August 2017, where it received positive reviews from critics.

Production
The song "Surviva", a western-based EDM number, was performed by Malaysian rapper Yogi B. The song contains lyrics about survival. With a tagline Believe in Yourself, this new track is believed to be along similar lines of never giving up and surviving.

The second song "Thalai Viduthalai" is in the death metal rock genre, which is based on a punchline – 'Never, ever GIVE UP!' that became a rage after fans saw Ajith saying in a high-pitched tone in the teaser earlier. The song was written by Siva and is a highly motivating song to wake up in the morning and start your day with a new passion. The philosophy of the song is, irrespective of the number of times you have been knocked down, as long as you are willing to stand up again and fight back, you are not a failure. The heavy metal track and adrenaline pumping lyrics match the larger-than-life onscreen and off-screen image of Ajith. Besides composing tunes, Anirudh has also lent his voice to the song along with Harish Swaminathan. Anirudh quoted that, this song is a tribute and dedication to Ajith for his 25 years of grit, determination and hardwork in Tamil cinema."

The third song "Kaadhalada" is a classic number. In one of the recent interviews with a leading daily, Kabilan, who has penned the lyrics for the song, revealed how he got this opportunity. Kabilan said "I was initially called in to work on the script; I ve co-written the screenplay. That was my first job in Vivegam, and during a discussion, this opportunity to write the lyrics for a song came up." The lyricist did not reveal much about the song before its release, but opened up about the film and further added "Vivegam has come out in a very stylish manner. I'm sure it will be enjoyed by people of all ages."

The audio rights of the film were acquired by Sony Music India, for a whooping amount of ₹2 crore. Sridhar Subramanian, the CEO of Sony Music South, confirmed it on Twitter on 14 June 2017.

Release
The song teaser for the first single "Surviva" was released on 15 June 2017 at midnight. The full song was released on 19 June 2017 directly on JioSaavn, instead of YouTube, and was played over 400,000 times in just over 12 hours, according to a statement from Sony Music India, thus becoming the most played song in Saavn. The second single track "Thalai Viduthalai" was released on 10 July 2017 at midnight. The third single "Kadhalaada" was released on 20 July 2017.

Tamil version
Sony Music India launched the album preview on 3 August 2017 on YouTube, in which the album consists of seven songs with lyrics written by Kabilan Vairamuthu, Yogi B, Siva and Raja Kumari. The album was released on 7 August 2017 at 5:00 p.m. on Saavn and later on other digital platforms.

Telugu version
The songs of the Telugu version of the film was released on 17 August 2017 and the lyrics for the songs were written by Yogi B, Bhaskarabhatla Ravi Kumar and Ramajogayya Sastry.

Reception
Behindwoods gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Anirudh delivers a convincingly International album in his forte for Ajith's Vivegam!" Sharanya CR of The Times of India wrote "With Vivegam, Anirudh manages to give an album with songs that not just suit the mass image of Ajith, but also have an international appeal." Indiaglitz gave 3.25/5 stars and wrote "Vivegam is easily one of the best albums for Ajith as well as Anirudh; the album is plethora of rock and energy." MovieCrow gave 3.25/5 stars and wrote "Anirudh has delivered a stylish and engaging album to match Ajith's persona." Sify gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Anirudh adds an international flavour to a quintessential ‘mass’ album!" BollywoodLife gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Anirudh Ravichander has done it again, composed a winner of an album! He has understood the actioner's theme and the lead star perfectly and composed brilliant, foot tapping tunes. Right form death metal vibes to breezy, romantic tunes, he has given us an impressive variation. All in all, Do NOT miss the Vivegam album." IBT wrote "The album has many songs that win the hearts of the audience and it is easily one of the best albums composed by Anirudh."

Marketing
The first look poster of Vivegam was released on 2 February 2017 at 12:01 AM. Ajith's physical transformation was praised, given that he had to undergo a painful knee operation in November 2015, after the release of his previous film Vedalam (2015).

The teaser trailer was released on 11 May 2017, which shows Ajith running about, flexing his muscles, dodging bullets and shooting bullets. The teaser became the fastest film teaser to reach 5 million views within 12 hours after breaking the record of 5 million views set by the Kabali (2016) teaser in 24 hours. It went on to become the most liked for an Indian film after surpassing the record of 500 thousand and more likes set by the Tubelight (2017) teaser.

The trailer was released on 17 August 2017, which shows elements of friendship, romance, sentiment and action. The trailer, which promises a "Tamil film with an international flavor, is dedicated to showing the attitude of Ajith's character that he will move mountains or die trying. He is beaten again and again, yet he keeps bouncing back.

Theatrical
Vivegam was released on 24 August 2017, alongside the Telugu version titled Vivekam. The film was also released in Kannada as Commando in 2018.

Home media
The satellite rights were purchased by Sun TV for a record price, which was informed through the channel's social media page on 9 August 2017.

Critical response
M. Suganth of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Vivegam is an over-the-top but engaging action thriller with a calculated mix of brawn and brain, action and sentiment, smartly pandering to fans while giving families something to connect with." Manoj Kumar. R of The Indian Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote "The film has good music, good visuals, high-voltage action sequences, picturesque landscapes and beautiful faces. Also add heartwarming moments between the characters of Ajith and Kajal Aggarwal to the list. Ajith and Siva get full marks for their efforts."

Sreedhar Pillai of Firstpost gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Vivegam is largely targeted at Ajith fans, and while it lacks logic it looks super stylish, and is a well-shot action entertainer." Sandeep Acharya of Hindustan Times gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Vivegam has rightfully come up for praise thanks for the difficult stunts that Ajith has pulled off. However, the film falls short of being great as it fares poorly in the writing department."

Sethumadhavan N of Bangalore Mirror gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Vivegam isn’t as entertaining as Veeram, nor is it as low on novelty like Vedalam. It tries to be an impactful spy action-thriller and on that front it scores well at least on the action front." Srivatsan of India Today gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "With Vivegam, one hopes that Siva's trilogy aimed at making Ajith Kumar a larger-than-life character comes to an end."

Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute wrote "Vivegam is like a circus - it has a bunch of talented performers pulling off gravity defying stunts in separate acts that are written to make the crowd clap as soon as each ends." Srinivas Ramanujan of The Hindu wrote "Vivegam is a misfire on many levels. It's an attempt to make an “international” thriller, with the assumption that a star with a huge fan base would be able to pull it off. Ajith's effort is sincere, but Vivegam just doesn't come together."

Box office
The film grossed ₹33.08 crore on its opening day and crossed the ₹100 crore mark on its first weekend.

In popular culture
The line "Varen Maa" uttered by Ajith Kumar and the scene in which Kajal Aggarwal starts singing during the climax fight was parodied in Thamizh Padam 2.