Settai

Plot

Journalist J.K. Boss (Arya), photographer Nagaraj (N. Santhanam) and Cheenu (Premgi Amaren) are roommates leading an unkempt and debt-ridden life in a shoddy apartment. J.K.'s ditsy fiancée, Madhumita (Hansika Motwani), is an air hostess who agrees to deliver a package for Richard (Ashwin Mushran) to Somayajulu (Nassar), without realizing its contents or that Somayajulu is a gangster. Madhumita asks J.K. to deliver the package. J.K., in turn, asks Nagaraj to do so. But Nagaraj is unable to do so as he is experiencing diarrhoea after eating Ileana Chicken from a roadside eatery. Nagaraj hands Madhumita's package to Cheenu for delivery to Somayajulu, along with a package containing his stool sample for delivery to Nagaraj's doctor. Cheenu mixes up the two packages which makes Somayajulu furious and he starts the investigation by interrogating Vladimir.

Meanwhile, Nagaraj photographs his landlord with a prostitute. He sends an envelope with the photographs to his landlord to blackmail him. J.K. is with Madhumita, and his colleague Shakthi (Anjali) calls him on the pretext of work. When he reaches the place he realizes that it is just a party and Shakthi called him just to have fun. Rajeev, who was supposed to be Shakthi's husband, sees them together and gives J.K. a black-eye in a fit of jealousy. J.K. retaliates and knocks Rajeev out. As J.K. and Shakthi leave, they are chased by a furious Rajeev and his friends who shoot at them. The duo barely manages to escape.

Richard informs Somayajulu that the mix-up must have been caused by Madhumita as she didn't know what she was carrying in the package. Somayajulu calls Madhumita, informs her about the mix-up and asks her to give him the address of the person who had delivered the package. When J.K. arrives into his apartment, he walks into Somayajulu who has Cheenu standing on a stool with a noose around his neck. On hard interrogation, Somayajulu discovers the mix-up and realizes that the package must be with Nagaraj's doctor.

Nagaraj gets the package from his doctor's office, wherein Somayajulu finds his thirty diamonds hidden inside. Upon recovering his booty, he orders his henchmen to kill the three roommates. One of them is about to shoot J.K., when another kicks the stool on which cheenu was standing to hang him. Luckily for the roommates, the ceiling of the apartment caves in, since it can't take Cheenu's weight. The cave-in injures and knocks-out Somayajulu and his men. J.K., Cheenu and Nagaraj escape along with the diamonds and spend the night at Shakthi's place. The next day they sell the diamonds to a local jewellery store.

As the roommates prepare to get out of town with the money, they get a call from Somayajulu who has kidnapped Madhumita. He threatens to kill her if they don't return the diamonds. The trio, try to buy back the diamonds from the jewelry store, who demands double the sale amount.

Without the money, J.K. comes up with a plan. Nagaraj, Cheenu, J.K. and Shakthi disguise themselves in burqa and go back to the jewelry store. They con the owner, gag him and forcefully take back their diamonds and return his money. They make their get-away in J.K.'s car with the police on their tail and make their way to the hotel where Somayajulu is holding Madhumita. As they are about to make the exchange with Somayajulu, the police arrive at the hotel room. There is a shoot-out between the police and Somayajulu's gang.

Nagaraj, Cheenu, J.K and Madhumitha, who had hit the floor during gunfight,are left as the only survivors. Shakthi is upset to learn about J.K.'s engagement and walks away from him. J.K. breaks off his engagement to Madhumitha. Later, it is revealed that Nagaraj did not return the cash to the jewellery store owner, and had kept the money for himself. The film ends when Shakthi comes to the roommates' apartment to return J.K.'s car's hubcap lost while escaping from Rajeev. J.K. jumps into her car through the open window and kisses her passionately.

Cast

Casting

After UTV Motion Pictures announced that the studio will be remaking the Hindi film Delhi Belly in Tamil, R. Kannan, who had earlier directed Jayam Kondaan and Kanden Kadhalai, was selected as the director. G. Dhananjayan, South Business chief of UTV, stated that, unlike the original version, which received an adult rating, the remake would be made for a family audience, making clear that the core plot would be retained, while the dialogue would be changed and "risque jokes" be avoided. Dhananjayan further added that he, Kannan and John Mahendran (director of Sachein and son of award-winning director Mahendran) would be creditted for additional screenplay and adaption, while the latter would write the new dialogues as well. Varuthapadaatha Vaalibar Sangam and Vai Raja Vai were amongst the suggested titles for the film, with the team eventually zeroing in on Settai. Arya, Santhanam and Premji Amaren were selected to play the three lead roles. Vijay Raaz, who portrayed the main antagonist in Delhi Belly, was approached to reprise his role. His role later went to Nasser. Suja Varunee was cast to appear in a cameo role which was played by Anusha Dandekar in the original. Telugu comedian Ali joined the cast, making his Tamil film debut.

Filming

The film was launched on 7 May 2012 in Chennai. Two huge sets resembling a hotel and a bachelor's room were reportedly constructed for the shoot. The first schedule got over after 20 days of shoot in three differently constructed sets. Arya, Hansika and Anjali along with the crew will be leaving for Switzerland on 23 September to shoot two songs over there. According to Kannan, 75% of the film has been shot and the film is gearing up for a December release.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album comprises six tracks composed by S. Thaman uniting with director Kannan for second time after Vanthaan Vendraan and with Arya for the first time. The album was released on 30 January 2013.

Critical reception

S Saraswathi of Rediff gave the film 2 stars out of 5 and said: "Settai is, sadly, a great disappointment ... The director has ruined a perfectly good script and has given an absolutely boring version of the exciting and racy Delhi Belly. From beginning to end, the film follows the same pace and all the scenes are so boring and slow, you could actually sleep through the entire movie." NewsTrackIndia gave 2.5 out of 5 stars and issued the verdict, "Settai misses the soul of the original". in.com rated it 2.5 out of 5 and stated "Settai is watered down version of Delhi Belly and lacks the punch of the original". Oneindia gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and delivered a verdict, "The film works only in parts. The adult comedy which made the original film 'Delhi Belly' a blockbuster has been completely toned down in this version". Behindwoods also gave 2.5 out of 5 saying "The first half is slow and the Agalathey number although good in looks and presentation, impedes the proceedings in second half. The scenes evoke smile but not laughter. Santhanam has become repetitive". Shailesh K Nadar of CinemaSpice.in rated Settai as 3/5 mentioning in his review that "It’s not bad, but would have been a better entertainer by following the essence of the original more faithfully. In short, Settai is a joyride – but only if you haven’t seen Delhi Belly."

Box office

In Malaysia, the film grossed $280,086 in four weeks.

Controversy

RJ Balaji who reviewed the movie on SoundCloud tweeted he got threatening calls from UTV employee.