In the trailer for his 50th film Maharaja, a seemingly battered Vijay Sethupathi is at the police station to file a complaint for a missing ‘Lakshmi’. The trailer, however, does not reveal who or what Lakshmi is. Sethupathi, who plays a hairdresser, also struggles to describe it/them, and witnesses people around him speculating who or what Lakshmi is. While the police refuse to help him, the trailer takes a sinister turn and the police suspect Sethupathi’s character is hiding something.

The one and a half minute trailer was released on Thursday, May 30. The film is written and directed by Nithilan Saminathan of Kurangu Bommai fame. Maharaja is bankrolled by Sudhan Sundaram and Jagdish Palanisamy and features big names like Anurag Kashyap, Bharathiraja, and Mamta Mohandas, among others. The trailer also hints that Anurag Kashyap is cast in a negative role. 

Vijay Sethupathi was last seen in Merry Christmas, directed by Sriram Raghavan, which came out in January 2024. He starred alongside Katrina Kaif and the slow-burn thriller won praise for its craft. Before that, he was seen in Atlee’s Jawan (2023) where he portrayed a villain against Shah Rukh Khan. The Bollywood film received mixed reviews from the audience and critics alike. 

Watch the trailer of Maharaja here: