Spyder is a 2017 Indian action thriller film[4][5] written and directed by A. R. Murugadoss and produced by N. V. Prasad.

The film was simultaneously shot in Telugu and Tamil languages, and stars Mahesh Babu, S. J. Suryah and Rakul Preet Singh in the lead roles.

The film was edited by A. Sreekar Prasad, with cinematography by Santosh Sivan and music by Harris Jayaraj.

[8] Shooting mainly took place in Chennai, with some portions in and around Hyderabad and Vizag, while the songs were filmed overseas, before wrapping up in August 2017.

On the night of 16 March, Shiva listens to Charlie (Shalini in the Tamil version) talk about her wish of getting 98% in her exams, up from 96%, to get a US scholarship with her friend.

Shiva visits the crime scene and resigns from the IB due to guilt, but his father encourages him to find the killer.

Past: Bhairavudu (Sudalai in the Tamil version) lives with his mother, father and younger brother at a cemetery.

Bhairavudu goes on live television with a mask covering his face and reveals he has killed 23 people and hidden their corpses in 23 pillars of a metro bridge, and threatens the citizens to leave his brother unscathed.

Shiva manages to stop the big rock while Bhairavudu escapes from police custody and continues with his plan to destroy a hospital.

[13] After opining that the script had the potential to be commercially successful in both languages without making many changes, Babu accepted the proposal of a Telugu-Tamil film.

[15] It marks Babu's first direct Tamil debut,[16] as well as Murugadoss' return to the Telugu cinema industry, a decade after his last film Stalin (2006) starring Chiranjeevi.

[22] However, in December 2016 the filmmakers announced the tentative title of the film as Sambhavami, which received a mixed response from fans.

[7] In March 2016, Parineeti Chopra was initially signed to play the lead actress and make her debut in South Indian cinema.

Tamil actor RJ Balaji signed onto the film in January 2017, playing the role of Shiva's friend.

[43] After a brief break, the makers resumed the shoot in Mumbai in January 2017, where the introductory scenes featuring Babu were shot.

[48][49] The final schedule of the film was expected to take place on 20 April 2017 in Hyderabad,[50] although shooting started on 4 May 2017.

[51] Art director Rupin Suchak revealed to a source that 98% of the film was shot in Chennai, with the backdrop being changed to Hyderabad through computer graphics for the Telugu version.

[52] In some of the more intense scenes, he continued to perform his own stunts despite sustaining various injuries, leading to a physiotherapist being posted on set permanently for him, and eventually he "couldn’t get up for a week after the shooting schedule".

[60] The film's soundtrack is composed by Harris Jayaraj,[61] with lyrics for the Tamil version was written by Madhan Karky.

[68][69] Following the huge reception for the Baahubali franchise,[70] Spyder was also planned to have a simultaneous release in Telugu and Tamil, and also with a Malayalam-dubbed version of the same name.

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.

[94] The official trailer of the film was released on 15 September 2017,[95] during the pre-release event held at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad.

[102] Spyder received mixed reviews from critics and audiences, who praised the cast performances (particularly Suryah and Babu), action sequences and direction, but criticised its screenwriting and pace.

[103] M. Suganth of The Times of India gave 2/5 stars and wrote "The writing lets Spyder down entirely after a point and, unlike Thuppakki (which was also about a man trying to save and a man trying to destroy), 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.

"[104] S. Srivatsan of India Today gave 2/5 stars and summarised it as "The core of Spyder seems to have been written for [a] Telugu audience.

"[105] International Business Times gave 3/5 stars and stated that "Spyder stands out as an enjoyable entertainer despite its flaws.

[107] Subhash K. Jha of NDTV gave 4/5 stars and stated "Murugadoss takes a familiar bad-guy-good-guy plot and converts it into a compelling cat-and-mouse game shot in colours and favours that suggest life in times of impending death.

"[108] Sridhar Adivi from The Times of India gave 2.5/5 stars, stating that "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.

"[109] Y. Sunita Chowdary of 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.

"[111] Karthik Keramalu of Hindustan Times gave 2/5 stars and stated: "Spyder is not great but it’s definitely watchable for Mahesh Babu, Suryah and the touching humanistic angle.