Spyder (film)


Spyder is a 2017 Indian action thriller film written and directed by A. R. Murugadoss and produced by N. V. Prasad. Filmed simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil, it stars Mahesh Babu, Rakul Preet Singh, and S. J. Surya in lead roles. The music is composed by Harris Jayaraj, while Santosh Sivan handled the cinematography and A. Sreekar Prasad took care of editing the film. This film marks the Tamil debut of Mahesh Babu.
The film follows Shiva, an Intelligence Bureau officer, who sets out to save the people of Hyderabad when he realises that a psychopath is on the loose. The production of the film and the film's principal photography commenced in July 2016. The film's title was revealed on 18 March 2017, while the first look of the film was released on 12 April 2017.
Spyder was theatrically released worldwide in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam on 27 September 2017.

Plot

Shiva, an officer in the Intelligence Bureau office, spies on people's calls and messages to help them if needed. He developed a software to listen to the needing ones by tracking their phones. On the night of 16 March, he listens to Charlie/Shalini talking about her wish on getting 98% in her exams from 96% to get a USA scholarship with her friend. In order to do that, she decides to get concentration by dating with a guy. Shiva follows her, and both starts to fall in love, but he does not concentrate on his love.
On the night of 28 April, Shiva listens in on a young girl asking her friend for help as she is alone in her house and scared because there is no electricity in her house, whilst everyone else on her street has it. Shiva sends his friend, new police constable Renuka, to help the girl. However the next day, a news channel declares that the two women had been killed. They were undressed, chopped into different pieces, and were mixed together. Shiva goes to the crime scene and finds it has been a brutal murder. He resigned from his job stating, "I didn't help them, and I should've never sent out Renuka," but his father encourages him to find the murderer. To find out who murdered them, he sets out to "spy" the girl's chats and whereabouts.
Shiva finds that a guy followed her at a cafe. Through technology, he finds someone who knows the guy. He then travels to the village where the guy grew up, through the person who knew the guy. From an elderly villager, he learns the past about the guy, Bhairavudu/Sudalai. He suffers from sadistic personality disorder and has an unusual desire to kill people and see the victims' families grieving. One day, a village kid sees him killing a person and tells the other villagers. They decide to burn Bhairavudu/Sudalai's house, which his parents died from. Angry, he left the village to continue his killing spree with his younger brother. Shiva manages to catch him, but instead he reveals to be his brother. Bhairavudu/Sudalai reveals he killed 23 people and hid their bodies in 23 pillars of a metro bridge and threatens the citizens to leave his brother unscathed. He also reveals that he plans to destroy a hospital. Shiva kills Bharaivadu’s/Sudalai’s brother in front of the 40 people's families, including an angry Bhairavudu/Sudalai.
Bhairavudu/Sudalai plans to kill Shiva's family. Shiva finds out when his mother calls him and tells him she is scared because there is no current in their house whilst everyone else on the street does, exactly the same as what the girl had said earlier. Shiva manages to save his family through his workmates. After failing to kill the family, Bhairavudu/Sudalai tries to kill Shiva on his way home, and Shiva gets impaled on a truck. He slowly recovers and gets back on getting Bhairavadu/Sudalai. Because Shiva had shot him before he fell unconscious, he thinks Bhairavudu/Sudalai has hidden himself in a house where he can heal, but he has imprisoned the owners. Through the use of technology and local ladies, he finds Bhairavudu/Sudalai and arrests him, but Bhairavudu/Sudalai tells him that he had already planned a big rock fall in the city. Shiva manages to stop the big rock whilst Bhairavudu/Sudalai escapes from police and continues with his plan on destroying a hospital. Charlie/Shalini finds out which hospital but refuses to tell Shiva due to misunderstanding. Shiva tracks down her taxi and she tells him which hospital it is. He rushes to the hospital and starts evacuating everyone. He saved as many as he could but could not save some patients, which he feels heartbroken over. Bhairavudu/Sudalai sees Shiva's grief and gets very happy. Shiva finally kills Bhairavudu/Sudalai and tells the media, "We have only killed the patient but not the disease. Helping people you don’t know is the greatest happiness in the world. We shouldn’t use technology all the time because we don’t have time to spend with others." He also tells them that there are other people who may have the same exact disease. The movie ends with Shiva walking with Charlie/Shalini out of the crowd.

Cast

Production

The film's principal photography commenced in 29 July 2016, without announcing the title of the film.S. J. Surya was cast as antagonist for the film. This film marks second collaboration between S. J. Surya, who directed Naani starring Mahesh Babu as the lead actor, marks his second collaboration. AR Murugadoss was a former assistant of S. J. Surya in the films Vaali and Kushi. Parineeti Chopra was approached for the film, which she declined citing dates issue. Later, the role went to Rakul Preet Singh. Bharath was signed on to play a negative role.
On 18 March 2017, the film's title was revealed to be Spyder. It is also revealed that 98% of the film was mainly shot in Chennai itself, with the backdrop being changed as Hyderabad through computer graphics for the Telugu version. Mahesh has done the film's stunts by himself. The second schedule was kickstarted on 20 April 2017 and final stage of filming started in Chennai on 16 May 2017. In June 2017, it was reported that, all the talkie portions has been filmed and only two songs were pending. Shooting mainly took place in Chennai, with some portions in and around Hyderabad and Vizag, while the songs were filmed overseas.
The entire filming was about to be completed within 2 June 2017. But, the final schedule was helmed on 13 June 2017. The post-production works were commenced within July 2017. Before the release of the film, Mahesh Babu revealed that the robotic spider featured in the film's teaser, will not feature in the film as it has no role for it. Mahesh announced it, that he doesn't want his fans to be disappointed.

Soundtrack

The music is composed by Harris Jayaraj, marking his fourth collaboration with AR Murugadoss after Ghajini, 7aum Arivu and Thuppakki. The lyrics for the Telugu version of the songs were written by Ramajogayya Sastry, while the Tamil version of the songs were written by Madhan Karky. The latter also penned one Telugu song for the film, marking his Telugu debut. The album of the Telugu version features six tracks, whereas the Tamil version features only five tracks. The song "Akkada Vunnavadu" is not featured in the Tamil version.
The song teaser of the first single track titled "Boom Boom" was released on 30 July 2017, and the full song was released on 2 August 2017 in Tamil and Telugu. The second single track "Aali Aali" was released on 4 September 2017. The full soundtrack album was launched on 9 September 2017, at Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai. The album was also released in Telugu the same day.

Track listing

Reception

Behindwoods rated the album 2.5 out of 5, stating that "Though there is nativity missing for Tamil listeners, the album has Harris' usual western style music with superior sounding." Indiaglitz rated the album 3 out of 5, and summarised that "There is a strong Tamil flavour in all of the songs, with even traces of Harris' past works eminently noticeable. A middling performer of an album, this. The vocals sound new with exceptions." Sharanya CR from The Times of India reviewed that "Except for two songs, Harris doesn’t really up the magic quotient for SPYder." Siddharth Srinivas from OnlyKollywood rated the album 2.75 out of 5. Top10Cinema reviewed that "Harris’ ‘Sound’ knowledge is awesome, but musically disappoints."
123Telugu gave a positive verdict stating that "Fans and music lovers expect a good music album from star heroes films. As it’s a Mahesh Babu film, the expectations were quite high on Spyder’s audio album. Harris Jayaraj, who is back to Tollywood after a short gap, has tried to live up to the sky high expectations. Spyder’s songs have a good quality of music. While the first, second and the fourth song in the album are a treat for class audiences, the third song is a pucca folk song. Overall, Spyder’s audio album will attract the class audience and stands as a different album in Mahesh’s career." Moviecrow rated the album 3 out of 5 stating that "Harris Jayaraj delivers an engaging album filled with the composer’s signature sounds throughout the soundtrack."

Release

During the film's pre-production phase, it was announced that the film releases on 23 June 2017. But the release was pushed to 10 August 2017, due to production delays. The film was postponed to mid-September and again to Dusherra, due to delay in the film's shooting. And, the makers finally announced that the film would release on 27 September 2017. Following , Spyder was also planned to have a simultaneous release in both Telugu and Tamil and also with a Malayalam dubbed version with the same name. The film is dubbed in Arabic, and released in the Gulf countries, and also scheduled to release 400 screens in the US alone. As per estimates by trade sources the film is expected to collect $10 million.
The film was sent to the Central Board of Film Certification for censor formalities on 19 September 2017, where the film received a "U/A" certification and with a runtime of 145 minutes.

Distribution

The Tamilnadu theatrical rights for the film were acquired by Lyca Productions for 18 crore. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana distribution rights were secured by the production house itself, except the Nizam rights were acquired by Dil Raju. The overseas distribution rights were sold for 15.2 crore.
The Nizam rights were sold for 24 crore, and the Ceded rights were sold for 12 crore. The Vizag rights were sold for 8.1 crore. The film made a business of 6 crore in the East and 4.5 crore in the West, 5.4 crore in Krishna, 7.2 crore in Guntur and 3.2 crore in Nellore. Summing up to a total of 70.4 crore.

Marketing

The film's first look poster was released on 12 April 2017. The poster gives us a glimpse of a rather buff and ripped Mahesh Babu with a gun in his hand. The poster received overwhelming response from fans. The team launched an official Facebook and Twitter page and an official YouTube channel for the film's promotions. Initially, the makers wanted to release the first glimpse of the film on 31 May 2017, coinciding with actor Krishna's birthday, the father of Mahesh. But it was postponed due to the demise of veteran filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao. The teaser was launched on 1 June at midnight and received positive reviews from fans.
On 9 August 2017, the makers released the official teaser of the film coinciding with the actor's birthday. The teaser crossed 8.6 million views within 48 hours of its release. The official trailer of the film was released on 15 September 2017, during the pre-release event held at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad. The trailer received outstanding reviews, and it crossed 2 million views within a few hours.

Home media

The satellite rights of the film were acquired by Zee Network for Telugu and Hindi versions Sun TV for Tamil Version for a record sum of 26.5 crore. The film's television premiere took place on 18 February 2018. The film was also dubbed in Hindi and directly premiered on Zee Cinema on 17 June 2018.

Reception

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Telugu version

Sridhar Adivi from The Times of India rated the film 2.5 out of 5, stating "The conflict between the hero and the villain seems like a safe enough plot for a potboiler or a spy film; however, Murugadoss’ writing doesn’t manage to give you the chills or thrills the promos promised to."
Behindwoods rated the film 2.75 out of 5, and stated that "Beyond a point, the film gets a little too heavy with gore, and one might feel the climax could have been executed better. Apart from these minor issues, Spyder will entertain you if you are an action film lover" and gave a verdict "A high-power action entertainer with an extremely menacing villain to spice up the occasion."
The Hindu stated that "Spyder starts off well but the director’s imagination goes overboard only to turn a purpose ridden plot to a piece of travesty."
In a positive note 123Telugu rated 3.25 out of 5, and summarised that "On the whole, Spyder is a decent action thriller which has some very interesting moments. Mahesh Babu’s rocking performance and Surya’s menacing act will surely impress you. But as the film has a routine and serious storyline, the class audience will lap it up but the mass audience might find it a bit difficult to digest. Also, the climax is weak and hurried up. If you are okay with the above-said things, then Spyder will entertain you this weekend."

Tamil version

M. Suganth of The Times of India rated 2 out of 5, stating that "The writing lets Spyder down entirely after a point and, unlike Thuppakki, what should have been an edge-of-the-seat cat-and-mouse game between good and evil turns into a movie that cannot decide between wanting to be a crackling thriller and an anything-goes masala movie."
India Today rated 2 out of 5, and summarised it as "The core of Spyder seems to have been written for Telugu audience. Even for them, Spyder isn't a satisfying star vehicle. Or Maybe Spyder isn't what Murugadoss imagined on paper. Because, some scenes, even on paper, appear to be pompous. Consider the scene from the second half of 7am Arivu and you'll understand better." and concluded with "Spyder looks to be passionate on many levels. But very little translates on-screen."
Behindwoods rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and stated that "SJ Suryah's performance and AR Murugadoss' touch makes Spyder a decent thriller."
Indiaglitz rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and stated "Watch SPYder for Mahesh's genuine efforts and SJ Surya’s gritty performance. If you are looking for a fitting duel between the hero and villain you might get disappointed for the film shines only on their respective characters and is let down when it comes to their duel."
International Business Times rated 3 out of 5 and stated that "Spyder stands out as an enjoyable entertainer despite its flaws."
Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion called " this film is a pretty decent god-vs-demon tale, with a solid hero and a spectacular villain" in his review.

Box-office

The film grossed 24 crore on the first day of its release, with a share of 15.6 crore in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. On its opening day, the film saw more than 95% occupancy in theatres and managed to collect 51 crore gross on its first day at global box-office and it is said to have collected 1.30 crore in two days in Chennai alone. According to sources the film had crossed 73 crore, in 3 days and it collected 110–124 crore with a share of 72 crore within 5 days. In 12 days it collected 150 crore gross at global box-office.
At US Box office film collected 1.5 million in 7 days.