Beast

 

Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Nelson
Written by	Nelson
Produced by	Kalanithi Maran
Starring	Vijay Pooja Hegde
Cinematography	Manoj Paramahamsa
Edited by	R. Nirmal
Music by	Anirudh
Production company	Sun Pictures
Distributed by	Red Giant Movies
Release date	13 April 2022
Running time	162 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹150 crore[2]
Box office	₹70−75crore (1st Day)[3][4]

Beast is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film^[5] written and directed by Nelson and produced by Sun Pictures. The film stars Vijay and Pooja Hegde, while Shine Tom Chacko,Selvaraghavan, Yogi Babu and Redin Kingsley play supporting roles. It revolves around an ex-RAW agent's crusade to rescue people held hostage in a shopping mall by terrorists.

The production rights of Vijay's 65th film as lead actor, which was tentatively titled Thalapathy 65, were acquired by Sun Pictures in early January 2020, and the film was set to be written and directed by AR Murugadoss. However, the producers ousted Murugadoss from the film in October 2020, after he refused to cut his renumeration. Nelson was later hired, and wrote a new script for the film.

With an official announcement during December 2020, the film began principal photography in April 2021, and wrapped that December. It was shot across various locations in Chennai, including a specially designed set resembling that of a shopping mall where most of the film was shot, whilst sporadic schedules took place in Delhi and Georgia. The music was composed by Anirudh, cinematography was handled by Manoj Paramahamsa, editing by R. Nirmal and production design supervised by D. R. K. Kiran, respectively.

Beast was released in theaters on 13 April 2022. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and audience, criticising film’s story & screenplay, dark humour & comedy sequences, illogical action sequences, Hegde’s role & direction, but praised Vijay’s performances & Anirudh’s music & score.