Principal photography for Satyameva Jayate began on 5 March 2018.[4] It was released in global cinemas on 15 August 2018, coinciding with India's Independence Day.[5] Opening on 2500 screens, the film received mixed reviews from critics and clashed with Reema Kagti's sports drama Gold starring Akshay Kumar.[6] Nevertheless, Satyameva Jayate was well received by the audience and broke various opening day records for an A-rated film.[7] The film was successful at the box office, and emerged as one of the highest-grossing Bollywood film of the year, grossing ₹1.10 billion (US$14 million) worldwide.[2] A sequel titled Satyameva Jayate 2 was released in 2021.
Premise
The story follows vigilante Virendra "Vir" Rathore, who kills corrupt police officers. Shivansh Rathod, an honest police officer is called to hunt Veer down after the body count begins to rise.
Plot
Vir is a painter and a vigilante who kills corrupt cops by setting them on fire. Without his identity revealed, he wins public support for wiping out the corrupt, and also forms a close relationship with a vet named Shikha. Worried by the rising body count and seeing other cops terrified, Commissioner Manish Shukla summons Shivansh, an honest officer, to hunt down the killer. Using a voice altering application, Vir calls Shivansh and threatens to kill a corrupt officer. Shivansh is tricked into believing a police station would be targeted, while Vir fights off and kills the targeted corrupt cop at a petrol pump. Realizing his mistake, Shivansh begins investigating further and discovers the killing pattern to be as per the acronym "Satyameva Jayate" and the next target to be from a station beginning with the letter Y. Shivansh and his team locate the station and begin surveillance as they wait for the killer. Disguised as a cop, Vir enters the police station and thrashes a corrupt cop torturing an innocent suspect.
After he sets him on fire, Shivansh hears the screams and rushes to the station to find the cop burning. Vir manages to flee and later greets Shivansh at his home, where they both are revealed to be brothers. Vir and Shivansh visit a hospital where the burnt officer is found to be alive. Vir excuses himself to go to the bathroom and secretly enters the room, setting the officer on fire once again. Hearing the sirens go off, Shivansh rushes to the room and gets hit by an explosion as he opens the door. Vir returns to the bathroom, injures himself and pretends being attacked by the killer from behind. Later, Shivansh gathers all the corrupt policemen at a safe house, but Vir manages to burn it down and proceeds to take Shikha on a date, which gives him an alibi for a day. Later, Vir covers himself in blood and thrashes a corrupt officer during Ashura. He publicly kills him, following which Shivansh chases after him but finds himself held on gunpoint by Vir. Shivansh then explains how Vir's paintings of terrorized men, that resembled the murdered officers, revealed Vir to be the killer. Shivansh then asks Vir to turn himself in, but he declines and manages to flee.
Along with Commissioner Shukla, Shivansh is called by Vir at the same spot where their father died. Shikha, revealed to be Shukla's daughter, is in Vir's custody. Shivansh is shocked after Vir makes Shukla pour kerosene on himself and reveal he framed their father as he didn't allow anyone in the police force to bribe. Vir decides to turn himself in, before Shukla summons his army of cops to eliminate the brothers. In the ensuing fight, Vir leaves many cops dead, and Shukla cornered. After multiple requests to stop, a reluctant Shivansh ends up shooting Vir before he can kill Shukla. However, realizing the kerosene poured on Shukla's body is still fresh and finding a match lying near his father's medal that reads "Satyameva Jayate", a dying Vir lights it and kills Shukla by setting him on fire. Shivansh and Shikha then approach Vir, who asks Shivansh to recite with him the oath their father taught them. They recite it together, but in the middle, Vir dies in Shivansh's arms.
The film was released on 15 August 2018 to coincide with Indian Independence Day. The film was released along with Akshay Kumar's Gold. It was released on 2500 screens in India.[6]
Upon release the songs "Paniyon Sa" and "Tajdar E Haram" both became hits, whereas "Dilbar" became the blockbuster song of the year.
The first song of the film, "Dilbar" from the 1999 film Sirf Tum originally sung by Alka Yagnik and composed by Nadeem-Shravan has been recreated for this film by Tanishk Bagchi in the voices of Neha Kakkar, Dhvani Bhanushali and Ikka. It was released on 4 July 2018.[9][10] Reinvisioned with Middle-Eastern musical influences, and with its music video featuring Nora Fatehi performing belly dancing, the song became popular with all versions of the song (including an Arabic-language version) having received more than 1billion views on YouTube.[11]
The second song of the film titled as "Paniyon Sa," which is sung by Atif Aslam and Tulsi Kumar was released on 12 July 2018. The third song of the film to be released was "Tajdar-e-Haram", a Qawwali which was originally composed and sung by Sabri Brothers, is re – created and sung by Wajid Khan, on 26 July 2018. The fourth and the last song, "Tere Jaisa," sung by Arko Pravo Mukherjee and Tulsi Kumar, was released on 1 August 2018. The soundtrack was released by T-Series on 1 August 2018.
Satyameva Jayate earned ₹205.2 million net in India on its opening day, thus setting the records of the highest opening day collection for John Abraham and the fifth highest opener film of 2018 after Sanju, Race 3, Gold and Baaghi 2. In the next four days,[12] it collected ₹79.2 million, ₹90.3 million, ₹9.18 crore and ₹10.26 crore net in India respectively, taking total opening extended weekend gross collection at ₹569.1 million.
The lifetime collection of the film in India gross is ₹1,082.1 million including a nett total collection of ₹887.2 million. It grossed ₹146.9 million at the overseas box office in its full run.
Satyameva Jayate's worldwide gross stands at ₹1.08 billion
A sequel Satyameva Jayate 2 was made with John Abraham and Divya Khosla Kumar playing lead roles, directed by Milap Milan Zaveri, and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani and Nikkhil Advani. It was scheduled to be released in May 2021,[13][14] but was postponed due to rise in COVID-19 cases, and released on 25 November 2021.
Unlike the original, it was a major commercial failure.[15]
Zaveri also announced the third part Satyameva Jayate 3 before the second was released.[16][17]
