Sivaji: The Boss
Sivaji: The Boss is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by S. Shankar and produced by AVM Productions. The film stars Rajinikanth and Shriya Saran in the lead roles, with Vivek, Suman, Sathyan, Manivannan and Raghuvaran playing pivotal roles. In the film, Sivaji is a software systems architect, who returns to India in order to provide free medical treatment and education, but has to face hurdles from the system and Aathisheshan, an influential political leader. A. R. Rahman composed the soundtrack and background score (in his 100th milestone composition), while Thota Tharani and K. V. Anand were the film's art director and cinematographer respectively. With a budget of , the film was the most expensive Indian film at the time of its release. Rajinikanth also became the highest-paid Indian actor with this film, earning a fees of around . Principal photography of the film commenced in November 2005 and lasted till February 2007. Filming took place in various locations across Hyderabad, Spain, Italy, New York City, Pune and Chennai and also became the first Indian film to use Dolby Atmos surround sound technology. Released on 15 June 2007, Sivaji: The Boss received positive reviews from critics and became a commercial success by grossing ₹100—160 crore worldwide. It emerged as the highest-grossing Tamil film at the time of its release and went on to win a National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards and two Vijay Awards. The film was converted into 3D and released on 12 December 2012 as Sivaji 3D. The runtime of the 3D version was shorter than the original, cut to 155 minutes. It marked the final film of K. V. Anand as a cinematographer. Plot 

Sivaji Arumugam is an Indian software engineer, who returns to India after working for 10 years in the United States. He aims to establish a non-profit trust called Sivaji Foundation, which is meant to include a network of quality hospitals and educational institutions that serve the poor free of charge. A highly influential politician and industrialist, Aathiseshan, who runs profit-making educational institutions and hospitals sees Sivaji as a deadly competitor. In the process of establishing the Sivaji Foundation, Sivaji is forced by Aathiseshan to pay bribes to several government officials and ministers to get basic approvals and sanctions done, and, having run out of money, is eventually forced to mortgage his property and sell his belongings when the bribes demanded become very high. Meanwhile, Sivaji falls in love with Tamizhselvi, a demure and traditional girl who works as a saleswoman at a music instruments shop. Initially, Tamizhselvi and her family are scared of Sivaji's advances, but Sivaji soon manages to win Tamizhselvi's heart and her family's approval. However, when an astrologer checks Sivaji's and Tamizhselvi's horoscopes, he warns that their engagement will result in heavy financial ruin and further, their union will result in Sivaji's death. Tamizhselvi initially refuses the proposal due to her concern for Sivaji, but he calms her fears and convinces her to marry him. Sivaji is dragged by the State Government under the political influence of Aathiseshan to the court when he starts sabotaging the Sivaji Foundation through his political influence, and at the court, he is forced to admit that he paid numerous bribes. The judge declares the verdict in favour of Aathiseshan and shuts down Sivaji Foundation. Sivaji, reduced to utter poverty, decides to play the game his own way. With the help of his uncle Arivu, Sivaji acquires evidence of 2 billion worth of illegal earnings in Aathiseshan's possession and uses the documents to blackmail Aathiseshan into giving him half the money. Aathiseshan traps Sivaji with 50 goons, but Sivaji thrashes them and leaves with both the money and documents. Using the amount, Sivaji further obtains similar details on people who have illegal earnings across Tamil Nadu and blackmails them to give him half of their illegal wealth, including the officers whom he bribed. He then transfers the money to New York, where he has it transferred to the bank accounts of his friends around the world by hawala forgery. They then deposit the money as donations to the Sivaji Foundation, making the money usable and legitimate. Sivaji informs the Income Tax Investigation and Vigilance Department about the details of the illegal money held by the tax evaders (including Aathiseshan) and gets them arrested on the same day. Sivaji blackmails the chief minister (who was under Aathiseshan's payroll), and legally reopens the foundation and soon is able to provide free services -  good quality education, infrastructure, and employment to people in every district of Tamil Nadu. Led by Aathiseshan, the blackmailed officials exploit Tamizhselvi's innocence to silence him. Fearing for Sivaji's life, she hands over Sivaji's laptop to the CBI and Income Tax officers hired by Aathiseshan with all the information regarding the illegal money transactions. With presentable evidence, Sivaji is arrested. Aathiseshan and the police order Sivaji to unlock his laptop through the voice-detection program, which only opens on a particular command spoken in Sivaji's voice. When Sivaji refuses, Aathiseshan tortures him so badly that he is almost killed. To cover this up, Aathiseshan and the police organise for mercenaries to shoot at the police van that carries Sivaji's body, making it look like a murder by a third party. However, Sivaji fakes his death as he was informed of the plans to kill him by a sympathetic police constable prior to the interrogation. Left alone in the room, he electrifies himself and loses consciousness. Sivaji's friend Dr Chezhian, Tamizhselvi and Arivu intercept the police van after being informed by Sivaji through a MMS and replace Sivaji's body with a dummy before the mercenaries open fire. While everyone thinks that Sivaji is dead, Chezhian revives him using a defibrillator. Following Sivaji's "death", Aathiseshan and the CBI still try to open Sivaji's laptop by trying to fool the voice-detection program; they fail and all the data in the laptop is erased. A few days later, while everyone wonders about the future of the Sivaji Foundation, the revived Sivaji returns to take control of the foundation in the guise of an NRI friend, M.G. Ravichandran. Though Aathiseshan immediately realises that Ravichandran is actually Sivaji, he is unable to prove this to the police due to the proof of Sivaji's "death" and Ravichandran's identity. Later, Sivaji confronts Aathiseshan and the two fight atop the terrace of Adhiseshan's medical college. During the fight, Aathiseshan inadvertently strikes the campus's terrace roof causing money hidden in it to fly around the campus. The students spot the money and go after it, causing a stampede in which Aathiseshan is trampled to death. Sivaji Foundation soon becomes a frontier for India's economic and industrial rise. The end credits state that Sivaji serves a short jail sentence for money laundering and that India becomes a superpower by 2030. 