Vettaiyan starring Superstar Rajinikanth in the lead is all set to hit theater screens tomorrow i.e. October 10, 2024 in Tamil, and dubbed Telugu, Kannada and Hindi languages as Vettaiyan: The Hunter. The movie is Rajinikanth's 170th film in his 50 year long acting career, and is produced by Lyca Productions. SWOT Analysis of Vettaiyan:

Strengths

• The biggest strength of Vettaiyan is that it is a Rajinikanth movie. Going by Rajini's recent releases alone (Jailer where he played the lead and Lal Salaam where he made a guest appearance), the presence of Rajini in a film is bound to elevate the theatrical experience. And this is irrespective of the story or the movie's overall performance. 

• While Rajinikanth alone brings enough star power to the table, Vettaiyan also has a plethora of strong performers like Amitabh Bachchan, Fahadh Faasil, Manju Warrier, Ritika Singh, Dushara Vijayan, Kishore, Rohini, Rana Daggubati, among others. Vettaiyan's ensemble surely promises of a performance-oriented movie. 

• Vettaiyan is directed by TJ Gnanavel who has given critically acclaimed movies like Kootathil Oruthan (2017) and Jai Bhim (2021). 

• Anirudh Ravichander's music is another major backbone of Vettaiyan. Given the two massively popular hit songs Manasilaayo and Hunter Vantaar, Anirudh comes across as another strength of the film.  

• Not much is known of Vettaiyan's story except that it involves the clash of principles between two senior cops into bringing justice. Besides the mystery element being intact, the Rajinikanth Vs Amitabh Bachchan combo, is one onscreen pair to look forward to for movie buffs. 

Weaknesses

• The last Rajinikanth hit Jailer was a complete commercial outing where the actor played a super-cop to the liking of the masses. In Vettaiyan, Rajinikanth plays a serious police officer in a story that has more social message, than comedy or action. Rajinikanth however has set the expectations right by stating that if he had to do a film like Jailer or Coolie, he would do that with directors Nelson and Lokesh Kanagaraj (respectively), and not TJ Gnanavel.

• Though Vettaiyan is releasing in Telugu, Kannada and Hindi, there has been close to no promotions of Vettaiyan: The Hunter in these markets. Despite a PAN Indian ensemble and the familiarity of Jai Bhim all over the country, Vettaiyan makers for reasons best known to them, have chosen not to bank on those. 

Opportunities

• Vettaiyan is releasing at the very beginning of a Dusshera weekend, a holiday celebrated widely in India. If the film clicks, the initial four days could send the cash registers ringing. 

• Vettaiyan is the first Tamil film to release with audio descriptions and closed captions for theaters. Rajinikanth's film is the first to implement years of efforts by multiplex chains, for audience with disabilities. 

Threats

• Writer, director TJ Gnanavel is known for making story-oriented movies rather than star vehicles. The only film of his which had a major star in it was a direct OTT release as opposed to a theatrical release. So it remains to be seen how the filmmaker has gone from using no big actors, to multiple star actors in a big theatrical release.   

• Vettaiyan meets Jiiva, Priya Bhavani Shankar starrer horror thriller Black at the Dussehra box-office. Black which is a remake of an already proven Hollywood hit Coherence (2013), releases a day after Vettaiyan, which means that the initial word-of-mouth will be extremely crucial for the Rajinikanth film.