Lingaa

Lingaa is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar and produced by Rockline Venkatesh under Rockline Entertainments. It stars Rajinikanth in a dual role alongside, Anushka Shetty, Sonakshi Sinha and Jagapathi Babu, while Santhanam and Karunakaran play supporting roles. The music was composed by A. R. Rahman, while cinematography and editing were handled by R. Rathnavelu and Samjith Mohammed. In the film, Lingaa, a petty thief, arrives at Solaiyur to save the village's dam and temple, which was built by his grandfather Raja Lingeswaran. Lingaa marks the reunion of Rajinikanth and K. S. Ravikumar since Padayappa (1999). Principal photography commenced on 1 May 2014 in Mysore. The majority of the filming took place in Ramoji Film City and Annapurna Studios, with a few scenes in Chennai. The film's flashback portions were shot at various locations in Karnataka and the climax portions were filmed at Linganamakki Dam and Jog Falls in Shimoga. The film's shooting was completed within six months. Made on a budget of ₹100 crore, Lingaa was released on 12 December 2014, coinciding with Rajinikanth's birthday. The film was dubbed and released in Telugu and Hindi languages with the same name. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for Rajinikanth's performances, cinematography, action sequences and music, but criticism for its script, climax and length. The film was the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2014, highest-grossing South Indian film of 2014 and one of the highest grossing Indian films of 2014; despite this, the film suffered major losses due to high production and distribution costs, causing protests by distributors.