User Reviews

Somewhere down the line especially after viewing the Theri trailer, I knew that even though this Vijay film had a very sensible director like Atlee of Raja Rani fame, that Theri would still be a fan pleasing masala affair. However that is not such a bad thing because after the disastrous Puli, Superstar Vijay probably just wanted to be attached to a safe, but prosperous project. Knowing all this beforehand however did not make me have low expectations for Theri, because when a formula film is done right, with some added new content and is presented in a fresh way, then entertainment is 100% guaranteed. Theri in short is popcorn entertainment at its best, but what makes this film above the average is director's Atlee's sensibilities (he added the right amount of family and class thinking scenes), and Vijay's killer performance.

Story wise Vijay is leading a happy life in Kerala with Nivi, who is his daughter that studies in kindergarten, and he is running a bakery with Rajendra his friend.He meets Annie, Nivi's class teacher, and both become good friends. Annie soon finds out about that Joseph is none other than the "late" Vijay Kumar after seeing him beat up some local goons who tried to kill Nivi, but Vijay warns her not to tell Nivi about his past. What is Joseph's past, and who is Vijay Kumar, is what forms the crux of the plot.

Acting wise Vijay is exceptional playing dual characters in Theri. He is at his best playing Joseph, because he underplays the father role perfectly. The scenes with his daughter, and the play on the word,"Baby" melts ones heart. The father daughter chemistry is heartwarming, and the highlight of the film. As police officer Vijay Kumar, Vijay is at home portraying a massy hero, however there is a Jilla hangover to this character at times. But as Vijay his action scenes are first rate, the post interval action scene at the coffee house was awesome. I'd also like to highlight the scene when in the climax Vijay is explaining to the villain that one has to raise to kids properly, and that if one doesn't and they go one wrong path of crime and its then the parents fault for the wrong guidance.That speech was awe inspiring, and it was by the far the films best scene. Mahendran as the villain is menacing to the core, his confrontation scenes with Vijay are great to watch on screen, as they exchange some good dialogue. Samantha and Amy Jackson add good glamor , but do nothing in the acting department. Baby Nainika is adorable on screen, and acts like a pro as Vijay's daughter. Her dialogues on screen will leave a smile on your face.

Like I mentioned before Theri does adhere to a regular revenge drama formula but why the film works is because of director Atlee's sensibilities. He makes sure the film speaks of real world problems plaguing India today, and peppers them perfectly in the film to get a huge impact on the viewer. Rape, corruption, lack of education, poverty are all highlighted in Theri, and the director speaks of improving the system too, which is through proper guidance of India's youth, which starts at home (with the parents), and in the climax speech that is main topic of discussion. Atlee also makes sure that Theri has a great mix of family sentiment in the film, and the scenes between Vijay and his daughter are the films ace, together they are just to cute, on screen. Hats off to director Atlee for encompassing so much in a mass film properly. The films action is another highlight the massy stunts are combined well with a sleek/ stylish look. The films music is bad as the title track is the only good track. The songs production value is also very tacky. In general the production values are just okay. The films pace is great in the 1st half but the second half lags until the climax, the film could have been trimmed by 15 min. I did not like the whole ghost Vijay Kumar track, something more creative needed to be thought for that episode. These mentioned above and the formula story are the minor blemishes in the film.

Overall Theri is a good mass entertainer, that encompasses some good class, and family sensibilities. The film is something that not only Vijay fans will lap but so will the regular going audience. Its a hit guaranteed.

3.5/5* Grade 75% B

Theri- The movie begins with a happy life of vijay and his daughter. For one hour the movie shows only the daily routine of their lives. In between these scenes we get to see flashbacks of vijay's past life. The flashbacks scenes are a bit racy and entertaining though some are predictable. The whole movie is shown in a flashback- present kind of fashion. For about first 40 Minutes the story is bland and doesn't even start in fact. Near the interval we see the story begin and it does promise to take off. However, in the second half the movie seems like a mix of few already seen scenes and a lot of clichés and predictability. The second has is somewhat better than the first in the fact that it is faster and has a story. In few scenes u may feel like the movie is slowing down. The love scenes where nothing new or interesting, and not much of comedy to laugh at. The movie has some real life incidents the society is facing now. Vijay seems like he is out of expressions. The songs could have been better, only enjoyable once where Jithu Jilladi with Deva sir's voice and Eena Meena. The BGM however scores well. The dialogue delivery and modulation is something vijay should work at. Baby Nainika's dialogue are almost not understandable. Amy Jackson has no scope in the movie, her sudden attraction towards vijay for no reason is a bit worrying. Samantha has done her role well nothing much more to say on the lead actresses. Cinematography is on spot and the cinematographer has scored well, even the scenes are good and contrasting well colored. Costume designer too should get a special mention most dresses where too good. The songs could have been reduced. Hope the upcoming directors focus on stories more than songs,as young generation doesn't want much songs at least not more than 2. However, Vijay is choosing different scripts to try and work at that is commendable and hope he comes out with better projects in the future. Director Atlee should not have jumped to a big actor's action movie all of a sudden. However, i hope he sticks to his romantic movies at least for now. To sum it up, it is a treat for vijay fans and can be enjoyed once.

Theri is a mix of kollywood movies When I was watching the movie I got to remember lots of movies that I watch previously that I was forgotten....the movie is a clear remake of vijaykanths kshatriyan but atlee has done some changes by adding several other movie scenes to cover it....

Vijay has a police arguing with villain mahendran that feels us the villain is therrific than vigays comedy expressions and dialogs.. And then his wife was murdered and blah blah blah old bed time story.

Samantha and Amy Jackson came to the movie and went thats all.

GVP 50th film OK....and Deva's voice is not match for VJ and BGM reminds all pub DJ music.....

Several action sequences that so irritating and not stylish.

Specially baby nainika was cute has theri baby and that is the only a positive mark in the movie and she shows with her cute acting that VJ is her father while VJ fails to perform well has a father

The climax was so lazy without any top standing ending.Totally theri does not reminds any kind of thing when we come out of the theater and this sparks fuse is gone....Disappointed.......

How long will vijay continue this, its pathetic. he is milking it, the same old stereotypes. recently his movie puli was different but his acting was paralled.here in theri it had some scope to the story but did not work out for him.. Been a fan of vijay for a long time, I grew up but he did not. It's the same old dramatic face reveal of the actor and such identical acting, I am tired of it. To be honest the songs in this movie was bad and bgm I thought I heard a cheesy version of inception's half remembered dream somewhere. And what's with the dialogue in the movie some are cringy. I seriously have doubts if vijay can act. There are so many emotions involved but not well timed, there is a sad scene, 2 minutes later there is a joke, this happens throughout the movie. Once again vijay tries to make a commercial movie and fails again. He tries to please everyone from kids to old people out there but that's not how you do it, in fact puli had such potential but in Theri, vijay is touching important and sensitive subject i.e human trafficking like forced child labor and rape and also prominent problem in India, the thugs incorporate all this with songs and fight scene this movie is primordial soup. the climax scene I was baffled to see that vijay is moving faster than batfleck I don't know how he got to the next higher floor without graple gun, maybe he is flash? As expected he kills the villain, boom , happy ending. It's anticlimactic, there is past, there is present but no future i.e no epilogue. Like I said I am a big fan of vijay I would like to see him in biographical movies similar to A Beautiful Mind, Rush or J.Edgar but not like milkha Singh or Mary kom . nobody wants a rock album in biographical movies. Something epic movies like Mel Gibson movies would be great. I know it's a long shot but if he keeps making these theri sort of movies I might give up soon. Verdict:- stereotype acting is enough bro.

Vijay surely haven't let his fans down this time.100% theri from his side.He looked dashing inspite of his age.The best stunt scenes u have seen uptodate in any movies. However the downfall of the movie is too much was revealed in the trailer itself and so v could know the story line.Also the story was too simple that we had seen in many movies previously. The greatest thing is how beautifully they have shown the places,songs and very colourful it was. There were quite a few emotional scenes which will surely move you to tears.Special mention to baby Nainika for her overloaded cuteness. Great treat for Vijay fans and a descent family entertainer.

The only appreciation I can provide for the Theri team is the dialogues between characters which is something different in a vijay movie which usually filled with 'punch' lines and other various 'hero' lines. This is where my 1 star comes from.

Otherwise, this movie is utter rubbish. I have written the main events in this movie below. As you read, you can clearly see how stupid it is. The main character in this movie is a cop shown as both honest and intelligent in the earlier scenes. However, he quickly becomes brash and thick-headed. Hero kills a politician's son and boldy declares that he did it to the politician itself (how clever). As a result, politician attempts to kill him by sending mercenary, but hero beats them up and goes back to the politician asking him to stop. Enemy waits for the right moment and attacks. Hero loses his wife and mother while he barely escapes with his daughter and goes into hiding from his enemy. Expectedly, enemy finds out that he is alive and comes after him. The hero decides that enough is enough and goes after the enemy and destroy the enemy.

I have lost hope in Tamil movies. It is rare to find movies with a good story nowadays. I am dumbfounded by the 7.5/10 rating this is movie.