After the resounding success of Jailer, Rajinikanth will be back on screen with Vettaiyan. The Superstar’s 178th film will be directed by TJ Gananvel of Jai Bhim fame. On the occasion of Rajini’s birthday on December 12, Lyca Productions, who are bankrolling the film, released a title teaser that shows Rajni, armed with a gun and lathi, on the hunt for mysterious enemies. Similar to his appearance in Jailer, the star seems to be playing a character his age. 

The title teaser opens to Rajini sitting at a table with his feet up, reading a book. The teaser then cuts to scenes of him performing his trademark saunter, sunglasses trick, and firing at his unknown opponents. Vettaiyan, again like Jailer, boasts an impressive line up of pan-India stars including Amitabh Bachchan, Rana Daggubati, Fahadh Faassil and Manju Warrier. Dushera Vijayan who was previously seen in director Pa Ranjith’s Natchathiram Nagargiradhu and Sarpatta Parambarai is also set to star in Vettaiyan. 

From what can be gathered from the  teaser, it seems as if Rajini will play a cop again. If the Superstar is indeed donning the role of a police officer, it will be interesting to see how TJ Gananvel chooses to write such a character. In his directorial debut Jai Bhim that won critical acclaim and starred Suriya, Gnanavel explored the problem of police brutality against Adivasi communities. The film, based on true life events, traced the legal battle fought by an Irular couple Rajakannu and Sengeni and now retired Madras High Court Justice Chandru during his years as an advocate. 

 Vettaiyan, meanwhile, has Anirudh Ravichandran as the music director. And Philomin Raj leading the editing  department. The film is expected to release sometime in 2024, but a date has not been announced yet.