Gone are the days when films were made with shoestring budgets. This is the era of the magnum opuses and Sivaji- The Boss (2007) is a perfect example of this. It is a Tamil film that has been directed by S Shankar. The star cast in Sivaji- The Boss includes Rajinikanth, Shriya Saran, Suman, Vivek, Raghuvaran and others. The music for the film has been composed by the music maestro A.R. Rahman.

The film revolves around Sivaji (Rajinikanth), a Software System Architect. He returns to India and attempts to materialise his dream of providing free medical treatment and education for the people. However his endeavors are put a standstill by a wealthy and highly influential businessman (Suman). Sivaji- The Boss opens with a masked person who is taken to the Central Jail in Chennai. As a fellow inmate asks the reason for his imprisonment the man replies that he has been imprisoned for his desire to do good for the people. Gradually the masked person is revealed to be Sivaji (Rajinikanth). The story is then narrated in the flashback mode to the audiences.

Sivaji- The Boss then shows the protagonist returning from the USA as a software personnel who brings an earning of 250 crores so that he can fulfill his dreams of building hospitals and educational institutions for the Indian masses where the downtrodden would be avail services free of cost. However as he goes ahead with his plans he faces a number of impediments. He is compelled to bribe the corrupt officials at every stage. This leads to an added burden as he is forced to mortgage his property to meet the cost. But the biggest threat to his aspirations is posed by Adiseshan (Suman), an affluent and influential entrepreneur. To Adiseshan the Sivaji Foundation would be a competition as he too runs hospitals and educational institutions. But these centers are profit making establishments for him. As Sivaji plans to provide all kinds of facilities cost free he is opposed to the idea of building Sivaji Foundation. By making use of his political influence he repeals the permits that are to be issued by the government for the Sivaji foundation.

Sivaji, in turn, approaches a lawyer to fight his case. In court, however, he admits of bribing the officials and as a result his case loses its ground and the judge passes a stay order on the construction of the Sivaji Foundation. On the other hand Sivaji falls in love with Tamizhselvi (Shriya). Tamizhselvi`s family agrees to their marriage after an initial hesitation and asks for his horoscope. The astrologer predicts ill by saying that if the two are married then Sivaji death is inevitable. Tamizhselvi, concerned about Sivaji, refuses to the marriage. He, eventually, convinces her to marry him.

In the meantime Sivaji comes across Adiseshan and the latter mocks him by giving him a one-rupee coin and asks him to survive with it. Sivai, using the very coin, turns the tables around. Sivaji, now has a plan. He guesses that there is around two thousand million rupees in India that are untaxed and illegal. He finds out such people who have untaxed property and threaten them with legal consequences unless they donate half their property. His plan works out and after the wealth is transferred to the bank accounts around the world, Sivaji informs the Income Tax Vigilance Department about such people and the property held by them.

Sivaji`s associates donate the transferred money to his foundation so that it can be used legitimately. Hence Sivaji once again sets out to build his dream project in order to provide quality education, free services and employment to people in each and every district of Tamil Nadu. His enemies are dumbfounded. Enraged they try to find out the secret behind his success. They take advantage of Tamizhselvi`s innocence and threaten to kill Sivaji if she does not bring all the information. In order to save his life Tamizhselvi gives away all the information on the illicit money transfers and Sivaji is arrested with proof. At this moment the scene returns to the jail where Sivaji has been imprisoned.

The next part of the film is full of action. Starting from Adiseshan`a pestering of Sivaji for more information and his subsequent assault on the man when he refuses to do as being told; his assault with a metal rod in the cell kills Sivaji. Adiseshan had not planned to kill Sivaji but in a fir of rage he loses control. To cover up this crime he arranges for ruffians to shoot at the police van that will carry Sivaji`s dead body. Thus the entire episode will look like an accident rather than a murder. But what he does not know is that Sivaji is alive. He was faking his death all along. A compassionate police officer had informed him of the strategies of his antagonist. To hoodwink his adversaries he electrocutes himself. Dr. Chezhian (Raghuvaran) and Tamizhselvi manage to replace the body of Sivaji with a dummy in the police van. Hence when the van meets with the accident Sivaji is not in it at all. Everyone believes that Sivaji is dead but Dr. Chezhian helps him to recuperate by using a defibrillator.

To counter his enemies and fulfill his dreams Sivaji returns once again but with a different identity. He introduces himself as M.G. Ravichandran, Sivaji`s friend. Although Adhiseshan is convinced that the new man is Sivaji in disguise he is unable to prove this. Ravichandran promises to avenge Sivaji`s death and throws a challenge at Adhiseshan. In the penultimate scenes the hero and the villain fight and Adiseshan is killed in a stampede. In the final scenes the audiences are informed of the subsequent fulfillment of Sivaji`s dreams.

Sivaji- The Boss was a runaway hit. Though the story has nothing new to offer but the treatment was definitely unique. In a song from the film Rajnikath plays NT Rama Rao, ANR and Chiranjeevi. Amongst the recent films Sivaji- The Boss is one of the costliest films made in India. Rajnikanth was as usual impressive in the Tamil. For him too it is the one of the costliest Tamil films in which he has ever acted.

Sivaji- The Boss bagged several awards in 2007. These are

National Film Award for Best Art Direction- Thotta Tharani

Vijay TV Best Music Award-A.R. Rahman

Filmfare Award for Best Music Director - A.R. Rahman