Theri

Theri is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action-thriller film written and directed by Atlee and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu. The film stars Vijay, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, and Amy Jackson. Featuring music composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar and cinematography handled by George C. Williams. The story revolves around a baker who holds a secret identity as former Deputy commissioner of police and he is on a secret Ghost Protocol mission organised by the Commissioner of police.

The film began production in Chennai during early July 2015. Action scenes were filmed throughout November, though the shoot was disrupted by the heavy flooding in Chennai. In addition, poor climatic conditions in China meant that the team had to abandon their idea of filming sequences there and instead opted to shoot in Bangkok.

The film had a worldwide release on 14 April 2016. The film was also dubbed into Telugu and was released as Policeodu on 15 April 2016. By the end of its first 6 days in theaters, Theri had grossed ₹1 billion (US$14 million). In the United Kingdom, it broke Enthiran's (2010) box office collection for the first weekend. Vijay won the Best Entertainer of the Year award for his performance in the film at the 6th South Indian International Movie Awards in 2017. The film was adapted into Assamese as Ratnakar

Plot

Joseph Kuruvilla (Vijay) leads a happy life in Kerala with his daughter Niveditha alias Nivi (Baby Nainika), and runs a bakery with Rajendran (Rajendran). He meets Annie (Amy Jackson), Nivi's class teacher, and they both become good friends. After a series of mishaps and run-ins with local gangsters, Annie finds out that Joseph is none other, but, the "late" Vijay Kumar. Joseph reveals his past as Vijay Kumar to Annie but warns her not to tell Nivi about it.

Five years ago, Vijay Kumar was an honest and upright DCP in Chennai. He takes up a case involving the rape and subsequent death of an IT employee named Raji. He finds out that the rapist is Ashwin, the son of Labor Minister Vanamaamalai (J. Mahendran). Vijay kills Ashwin and reveals himself as the murderer to Vanamaamalai, who swears to take revenge on him for killing his son. Meanwhile, Vijay falls in love with a medical student named Mithra (Samantha Ruth Prabhu), and both eventually get married and lead a happy life. Unfortunately, Vijay's happiness is short-lived as Vanamaamalai, his younger brother Ratnam (Azhagam Perumal), and their henchmen barge into his house one night and kill Mithra and Vijay's mother (Raadhika). They brutally assault Vijay and attempt to drown his baby daughter, Nivi, in the bathtub. A dying Mithra manages to rescue Nivi and asks Vijay to take care of her, but not before making him promise that he will quit the police force and become a peaceful and loving father to Nivi, before dying in Vijay's arms. Vijay fakes his death, changes his name to Joseph Kuruvilla and maintains a low profile by moving to Kerala with Nivi and his constable friend Rajendran to protect Nivi from Vanamaamalai and his gang.

One day, while Nivi is on an excursion, the brakes of the school bus in which Nivi is traveling fails, and the bus plunges into the backwater. Vijay, with the help of Annie, Rajendran, and the local people, manages to rescue Nivi and the other children. He finds out that Vanamaamalai, who has realized that he and Nivi are still alive, was responsible for the bus plunging into the backwater in order to kill Nivi. Enraged, he decides to abandon his nonviolent principles and destroy Vanamaamalai and his gang once and for all.

Vijay, posing himself as the "ghost" of Vijay Kumar, starts eliminating Vanamaamalai's henchmen one-by-one. He first kills Inspector Karikalan (Stun Siva), who is one of Vanamaamalai's henchmen and was present at the night when Mithra was killed. The police are baffled at the murder as it was done within the police station and refuse to believe that Vijay committed the murder since they think that he is dead. The "mysterious deaths" continue, with Vijay pushing Ratnam to his death from a high-story building being constructed by him. Vanamaamalai is accused of killing Ratnam since both had fallen out, forcing him to go into hiding. Finally, Vijay allows himself to be captured by Vanamaamalai's henchmen in order to enter his hideout. After eliminating Vanamaamalai's henchmen, Vijay kills him. The police soon arrive at Vanamaamalai's hideout, only to see his dead body hanging from the ceiling, and with nobody else around, his murder also gets sensationalized in the media as a mysterious murder. It is soon revealed that the Chennai commissioner of police Sibi Chakravarthi (Prabhu) is aware that Vijay is alive and secretly re-employs him in the police to reduce crime in Chennai in his "ghost" form, taking advantage of the fear the negative elements of the society have for Vijay, while publicly denying that he is still alive.

A few years later, Vijay, an older Nivi (Divya Saasha), Annie and Rajendran have moved to Ladakh, with Vijay having changed his name to Dharmeshwar. But he continues to work secretly for the Chennai Police, eliminating crime in his "ghost" form.