Doctor

<p>Varun, a working in the , is a strict and practical person. While returning from a mission, he receives a voicemail from his fiancée, Padmini, who urges him to cancel their wedding. While inquiring about her 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 complains to the police– who in turn appoint Bhagat, a low-ranking police officer, to monitor the family’s communications. Disillusioned with the police’s progress, Varun plots to kidnap the daughter, believing that the resulting investigation will be more competent. His plan works, and the police nab almost every major criminal related to . Varun singles out three criminals – Kamala Kannan, Kamesh, and Pratap – who he noticed were around Chinnu’s school at the time of her disappearance. Varun interrogates them by blackmailing them with kidneys that he had removed from them. Kamala Kannan confesses to kidnapping Chinnu and handing her over to a network. Varun then recruits Pratap and two gangsters, Mahaali and Killi, to assist in his investigation. Varun’s search leads him to twins Alvin and Melvin, who are responsible for child trafficking and prostitution. Varun and Padmini’s family confront the duo inside a train and succeed in separating them and abducting Alvin. Desperate to save Alvin, Melvin agrees to release 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 lets it slip that the girls are being taken to . Varun, Pratap, Mahaali, Killi, and Padmini’s family follow Melvin to Goa, where they discover that the mastermind behind the recent kidnappings is Terry, a hotel owner. He is using his high-end resort as a for his illegal child trafficking syndicate. Varun orchestrates a scenario where Mahaali and Killi act like they are kidnapping Padmini. Simultaneously, Padmini’s family urge Terry to find her. Terry traces Padmini’s kidnapping to Varun, who is posing as a child trafficker masquerading as the owner of an . Varun demands Terry to hand over a girl as compensation for saving Padmini. Varun had arranged for his friend, Colonel James Anderson and his commandos to apprehend Terry. Terry escorts Varun to his base of operations on a remote island. Varun discovers that Terry’s victims are primarily underage girls. Realising that any action would endanger the kidnapped victims’ 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 (in reality, 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; but the attempt is thwarted by Varun himself surprisingly so he can gain Terry’s trust. Terry interrogates Melvin, learning about Alvin’s abduction and that Melvin’s actions were out of desperation. Melvin is unwilling to reveal the identity of Alvin’s abductor so Terry kills him. Later, while going through the family profiles of the twins’s latest kidnapping victims, Terry discovers Padmini’s family and deduces Varun’s plan. Terry 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 he has left a girl behind and returns to the island alone. Terry apprehends Varun and plans to murder the lone girl in front of him but James’s team and Bhagat thwart them, 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 with their family and friends present. In July 2019, contacted about starring in the director’s second film after (2018) when he released a casting call. After a series of , both agreed to finalise the dates soon. Though it was reported that the potential film would be produced by the Indian branch of in their maiden production in Tamil, this proved untrue. On 1 December, Sivakarthikeyan announced he would be producing the film, titled , under his own banner Sivakarthikeyan Productions, whilst KJR Studios were announced as the co-producers. served as cinematographer, R. Nirmal as editor, D. R. K. Kiran as art director and the duo as stunt choreographers. plays the leading actress, marking her debut in . and joined the cast in December, with Rai playing the antagonist. ‘s daughter Zaara Vineet made her feature film debut as the kidnapped girl. Bollywood actors and brothers and were signed on for antagonistic roles, marking their Tamil debut. Principal photography began in on 6 December 2019. On 6 January 2020, the makers completed the first schedule, and started the second schedule. As reports stated, the makers planned to shoot half of the film in Chennai, and the other half in . In February 2020, Sivakarthikeyan and Nelson went to scout locations in Goa. Shooting in Goa was completed by the end of that month. Shortly thereafter, filming was suspended due to the and , with 80% of the film’s shoot completed as of May 2020. Filming resumed on 25 September, with minimal crew adhering to government rules and regulations. A special team was designated to observe that the film crew including the director and actors were abiding by the COVID-19 protocols. The final portions of the film, including one song were expected to be completed in November 2020. Principal photography on 3 January 2021. 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. On 17 September, the makers started the dubbing with a traditional ceremony. Sivakarthikeyan completed his dubbing portions on 1 February 2021, completing the post-production work. The film’s soundtrack album was composed by , in his sixth collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan, and second collaboration with . In February 2020, secured the film’s audio rights. The film’s first single “Chellamma” was composed during the lockdown. The song was penned by Sivakarthikeyan and had lines about being banned in India. It was sung by Anirudh and . It was released on 16 July 2020, and the song went viral on its release reaching 139 million views as of April 2025. The second single “Nenjame” was released on 28 August 2020. It features a promotional video, directed by Nelson, featuring Sivakarthikeyan and Priyanka Mohan, shot in monochrome by cinematographer Vijay Kartik Kannan. It was reported that the song will be featured as a montage in the film. The third single “So Baby” was released on 26 February 2021, and is a “classical-western” fusion song. The last single “Soul Of Doctor” was released on 28 September 2021 and is sung by Niranjana Ramanan. The film was released theatrically on 9 October 2021, worldwide. Apart from , the film was dubbed and released in Telugu under the title . In February 2021, the makers announced that the film would be released on 26 March 2021, but this was postponed due to the taking place in April. Later the makers announced that the film was scheduled to release on on 13 May 2021. The release date of the film was postponed indefinitely due to the and a new lockdown in Tamil Nadu until it was released in October 2021. The film began streaming on and in early November 2021, and had its television premiere on in the same timeframe. became the third highest grossing Tamil film of 2021 behind and along with . It collected ₹100 crores in 25 days, becoming the first Sivakarthikeyan film to achieve the feat. The film had a phenomenal run in the United States, where it surpassed the collections of . received positive reviews from critics. M Suganth of gave 4 out of 5 stars and wrote “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.” Srinivas Ramanujam of wrote “With his earlier film , 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.” Haricharan Pudipeddi of wrote, “Sivakarthikeyan’s new film is unlike any you’ve seen him in before. With dark humour, Nelson adds spice to a mundane script”. J. Jagannath wrote “Like , Nelson too promises a bright future for Tamil cinema. The -esque absurdity that he brings to the table sans pareil in Indian cinema at the moment.” At the Osaka Tamil International Film Festival 2021, Redin Kingsley won the award for Best Comedian and Zaara Vineet won for Best Child Artist. At the 4th JFW Movie Awards, Priyanka Mohan won the award for Best Debutante, and Zaara won for Best Child Artist. In August 2023, Nelson announced his plans to make a sequel.</p>