Singam (film series)

Durai Singam, a fearless and honest inspector in Thoothukudi district gets transferred to Chennai and takes on Mayil Vaaganam, a dreaded gangster with political connections.

Durai Singam goes on a undercover mission as an NCC teacher in a school, where he must tackle two crime bosses Bhai and Thangaraj, who are in cahoots with Danny, an international drug lord in South Africa.

Durai Singam is assigned to investigate the death of Vizag city commissioner Ramakrishna, where he finds that Ramakrishna's death is connected with the illegal dumping of mediwaste and electronic waste orchestrated by Vittal Prasad, a business magnate in Australia.

Shortly after the release of Si3, Suriya confirmed that he and Hari would return for a fourth film in the series in future.[3]

Singam was the first installment of the series, where it was released on 28 May 2010 (worldwide) and received positive reviews from critics. It earned ₹90 crore worldwide [4] against a budget of ₹15 crore,[2] thus becoming the 5th highest grossing film in 2010.

Singam 2 was the second installment of this series, which was released in about 1500 screens worldwide. The film received positive reviews from critics where it grossed approximately ₹1.22 billion (US$15 million) worldwide from Tamil and Telugu versions with a lifetime distributor's share of ₹670 million (US$8.4 million).[5][6] However, Forbes stated that the film made ₹1.36 billion in its lifetime.

Si3 was the third installment of the series where it received mixed reviews from critics and became a commercial success, thus becoming another profitable addition by grossing ₹110 crore[7] worldwide from a budget of ₹65 crore and becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of 2017.[8]

Shortly after the release of Si3, Suriya confirmed that he and Hari would return for a fourth film in the series in future.[3]

The franchise has been notable for its profit, with Singam[9] and its follow-up having earned a combined profit of ₹336 crore, according to IBtimes.[10]

Sify described the film Singam as a "predictable entertainer that follows the age old formula", while Suriya "carries the film to the winning post. His passion and the way he brings an ordinary regular larger-than-life hero character alive on screen is lesson for other commercial heroes".[15] Rediff felt it was an "unapologetic... entertainer and has Suriya in every frame. Lovers of commercial potpourri will definitely get their money's worth."[16]

Rediff felt "the film has a lot of power-packed action sequences and the story races along with a tremendous pace keeping you engaged throughout... The only negative would be the length – the movie runs for almost three hours. A slightly shorter version would have created a greater impact".[17] Deccan Chronicle gave it the verdict: "Even if you are not a Suriya fan, Singam 2 is worth a watch. The film roars rather well."[18] In contrast, Zee News felt, "Suriya is the only character that makes you feel satisfied in the entire movie".[19]

The Times of India lauded Suriya and Hari, writing,"[His] consistency in handling cop stories convincingly and entertainingly needs to be commended as he has been proving his expertise repeatedly".[20] The New Indian Express similarly praised Suriya, but found "as a commercial film director, [Hari's] storytelling methods also suffer from following a set of rules, which include frequent yawn-inducing songs".[21] In contrast,The Hindu felt it was "loud, fast, and without a single memorable moment".[22] Sify called the film "a cocktail of harebrained predictable plot, exhausting action scenes and slapstick comedy".[23]