Venkat Prabhu with Vijay
| Photo Credit: @venkat_prabhu/Instagram
The Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) frenzy gripped the internet this weekend after the makers of Vijay’s upcoming film with Venkat Prabhu unveiled a spectacular trailer on Saturday. While fan theories have been pouring in since the trailer’s release, netizens are equally captivated by director Venkat Prabhu’s witty responses during the film’s trailer launch event.
A filmmaker known for his wit, Venkat’s flippant responses to questions — from Vijay’s political entry and comparisons with Will Smith’s Gemini Man to the use of de-aging and the reference to Ajith Kumar’s Mankatha — have gone viral on social media.
While thanking his producers and the technical team behind the film, Venkat said he’s aware of the mixed responses that Yuvan Shankar Raja’s songs have received. “However, I am certain that after the film’s release, the songs would turn out to be a visual treat for the audiences,” said Venkat.
As it was revealed earlier in a glimpse video, Vijay appears in dual roles in GOAT, one of which is a younger character designed using the de-aging technology; the trailer of the film has amped expectations with a reveal that there might be a third character as well. However, there seems to be some scepticism with the de-aged look of Vijay, especially after the release of the lyrics video of the song ‘Spark.’
While responding to the same, Venkat said, “I wanted to show the second character as a 22 to 23-year-old man. In fact, even Vijay sir wanted me to ensure the character resembles him. His face is such a familiar face, and so it’s difficult to get used to drastic changes. This was a learning curve for us as well; after the responses to the de-aging in the ‘Spark’ video, we realised that we shouldn’t experiment beyond a point and so we reworked it. That’s also a reason for the delay in the trailer release. The de-aged look in the trailer is the closest to the final version that will play in theatres.”
The usage of de-aging and that Vijay plays a father-son duo led to theories that the film is inspired by Will Smith’s 2019 film Gemini Man. Venkat rubbished the same and called the comparison unfair. “Gemini Man was the first film in which the technology was used. And just because we are also de-aging the hero for a younger version, it doesn’t mean it is similar to that film. If that’s the case then the idea in my film Chennai 28 II — that a groom disappears before his wedding — should make it a film similar to Hangover. Was that the case?” responded Venkat.
Earlier this year, while shooting for GOAT, Vijay announced the formation of his political party Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam and declared that his party would enter the electoral fray in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Venkat rebuked the questions on politics, especially when asked if Vijay instructed the director to include political statements in the film. “He never interferes with the storytelling aspect of a film. Vijay sir treats a film as a film. GOAT is a commercial film, unrelated to politics.
Meanwhile, Vijay has also announced that his next film, tentatively called Thalapathy 69 and directed by H Vinoth, will be his last one before his political entry. Venkat said that he wishes the star to continue to act in films but that he didn’t discuss about politics with the actor. “As a fan, I did request him to continue doing films. He just smiled and said, ‘let’s see.’”
With GOAT, Venkat, who helmed Ajith Kumar’s Mankatha, joins the coveted list of a handful of directors who have made films for both Vijay and Ajith Kumar. Interestingly, the trailer of the new film also features a dialogue from Mankatha. The reference, Venkat said, wasn’t to appease any section of fans in particular. “It’s not an Ajith dialogue. It’s a Venkat Prabhu dialogue. I made them both utter the line and that’s it.” The director added that Ajith saw the trailer and congratulated Vijay and the team.
On whether the team has planned an audio launch for the film, the director said that it’s Vijay’s call and that they’ll announce the same in the upcoming days.
GOAT also stars Meenakshi Chaudhary, Sneha, Laila, Ajmal Ameer and Vaibhav among others. Produced by Kalpathi S Aghoram’s AGS Entertainment, the film will be released on September 5, 2024, on the occasion of Vinayaka Chaturthi.