New Delhi: The trailer for Thug Lifedirected by Mani Ratnam, starring Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan TR and Trisha, with music by A.R. Rahman is finally out. Since the announcement of the film, there has been much anticipation surrounding its release.

The trailer is action packed, intense and showcases a lot of diverse shots in a short period of time. From one watch of the trailer the viewer can discern that the film is made with a lot of labour and the quality shows on the screen. The cast is stellar, one cannot do much better than a Mani Ratnam directorial with AR Rahman’s music and Kamal Hassan as the lead. Nonetheless, there is one question that lingers despite the impressive trailer and the immaculate cast and crew assemblage.

Pushpa, KGF, Thug life?

While there is no debating the fact that the ensemble in Thug Life is exemplary, the product, at least from the trailer, does not really look new. It sure is exciting to see Kamal Hassan in an action role on such a large scale, the question remains, is this not something we have seen. And seen a lot in recent years.

The success of Pushpa and KGF have started the trend of what is referred to as ‘pan-Indian’ films. These are films which are successful all across India. Pushpa 2, whose premier took place in Patna, Bihar, perfectly encapsulated this burgeoning phenomenon.

While films like KGF and Pushpa became successful all across India with a similar syntax of underdog violence interspersed with comic moments and a love story angle to complete the dramatic set piece, this setup is looking stale now. It seems like ‘pan-Indian’ films are now being reverse engineered.

What came to be organic is now being tried to be achieved by following a ‘formula’. A lot of these formulaic elements are clearly visible in Thug Life. If one sees the trailer for KGF, Pushpa and Thug Life in a row, the three can easily look to be as a part of a single cinematic universe. They are not.

While only a certain extent of information can be gauged from a trailer, and with the exceptional cast and crew of Thug Life, expectations are high that it might deliver something new in this genre of film, the trailer though did not do such a good job are placating fears of formulaic filmmaking. Fingers crossed!