Superstar Rajinikanth's 173rd film was announced on Saturday, and the film marks his debut collaboration with writer-director Cibi Chakaravarthi, and producer Kamal Haasan. Thalaivar 173 (tentative title) has been hinted to be an action movie, and other hints related to the movie's plot have been given using motifs related to tailoring, and the HUD / surveillance aesthetic.

The Thalaivar 173 announcement poster was tailoring symbols galore, and symbolically, it could mean wither Rajinikanth's central character is old-world with precision, and skill, or that the hero has a day-profession that lets him blend into the society unnoticed. 

✄┈┈ #Thalaivar173 announcement poster hints of tailoring elements like the blades of fabric scissors which make the star logo, threads that spell out 'Thalaivar 173', buttons, & stitching needle & thread 𓍯𓂃 laid out on denim material.

Passports, guns & bullets also make an… pic.twitter.com/R6jW9q5ZGf

— MovieCrow (@MovieCrow) January 3, 2026

Thalaivar 173's announcement video on the other hand, came with a globe-frame with Africa-Asia focus, in a surveillance aesthetic, and a timestamp that read December 30, 3000. Filmmakers often use absurdly futuristic timestamps to signal cyclical history as a theme, generally power, violence, and identity repeating across eras. 

Every HERO has a FAMILY#Arambikalama #Thalaivar173 #SuperStarPongal2027 @rajinikanth @ikamalhaasan @Dir_Cibi @anirudhofficial #Mahendran @APIfilms @homescreenent@RKFI @turmericmediaTM @magizhmandram

Promo music : in-house pic.twitter.com/8s954ZIHUM

— Turmeric Media (@turmericmediaTM) January 3, 2026

Africa, Middle East, and South Asia on the globe indicate international smuggling routes, and combined with the passports on Thalaivar 173 announcement poster, and the recurring guns and bullets imagery in both the poster and announcement video, it is safe to say that the movie is most likely an action thriller with Rajinikanth as a global force shaped by violence, craft, and reinvention.

Thalaivar 173 is scheduled to release next January for Pongal, 2027. The movie has Anirudh Ravichander for music and is a production venture of Raaj Kamal Films International. Thalaivar 173 is director Cibi Chakravarthi's second film after the coming-of-age comedy drama, Don (2022).