If there was an urban dictionary equivalent for Tamil speakers, ‘Theri‘ would show up as “Whatever Mass meant 2 years ago” (Let’s hope no one checks the equivalent Malayalam version). But for people who’ve been living under a rock, ‘Theri’ is short for “Therikkardhu”, as in, explosion. It’s MASSive. And the feeling is usually accompanied by an adrenaline rush that makes people want to scream their lungs out and pour various beverages over cutouts of their favorite stars.
So when Vijay, in his 59th movie, and first outing with Director Atlee, picked this for a title, it left no doubt on what to expect of the movie, slated for release on Tamil New Years Day (Apr 14, 2016). The trailer was but a cursory walk through of the characters we could expect to see on screen.
There is Nainika (actress Meena’s daughter) who announces outright at the beginning of the trailer that her world is ‘Joseph’ (Joseph also being Vijay’s real real-life name). Cute. We also see Vijay in one of his many ‘looks’ for the movie – a mop of hair with a ponytail for the paternal scenes, while the crew-cut is the hairstyle of choice for the cop avatar. There might have been a few more in the trailer. We think.
‘Veeejayykumarr’ snarls the cop at a faceless villain, and we have entered the Theriness portion of the trailer. A lot of goonda bashing in smoke/dust filled settings – Vijay style. Let’s admit it, he could do this in his sleep now. The mean look, the beating up of henchmen with flair. Suave moves. Vijay has this down pat. The fans are going to love this. Even the nod to Jackie Chan’s chewing gum pop that we see at the end.
The heroines come and go in the trailer – Amy Jackson in a matching mop wig, hands out advice to one of the Vijays, while Samantha, looking lovely here, is being courted by the cop. At no risk of a spoiler alert, we are going to guess Samantha’s screen-time is limited; likely cause being the villain played by director Mahendran. He looks menacing, as most villains are required to be. An interesting career choice, at age 76, for the ace director.
The ‘Theri’ trailer doesn’t shatter any preconceived notions. It is exactly what we expected, and if anything, the editing and camerawork looked on point in these two minutes. Here’s to another rowdy-revenge-cop Vijay masala with a dash of cute.