The Greatest of All Time

Did You Know?

• Actor Vijayakanth appeared as a Nuclear Scientist through artificial intelligence, with voice dubbed by K. Manikandan.
• The film's posters were showcased on the Leicester Square Screen in the UK, the first South Indian film to do so.
• The Singapore Book of Records awarded the Singapore Thalapathy Vijay Fans Club for having the largest human figure standee of Vijay, 5.1 meters tall.

Plot

In 2008, the Special Anti-Terrorism Squad, made up of M. S. Gandhi, Sunil Thiagarajan, Kalyan Sundaram, and Ajay Govindharaj, stopped the terrorist Omar in Kenya to get uranium from him. Their former chief, Rajiv Menon, who had fled after being accused of treason, was on the same train. They took the uranium from Menon and blew up the train, thinking everyone aboard died. Back in Delhi, the team pretended to work for a tourism agency to hide their real jobs. Gandhi lived with his pregnant wife Anuradha and their five-year-old son Jeevan. When assigned a mission in Bangkok, he brought his family to ease his wife’s suspicions of cheating. After the mission, they were attacked; Anu went into labor and Jeevan vanished. Police found a burned body they thought was Jeevan’s. Anu gave birth to a girl but stopped talking to Gandhi. By 2024, Gandhi had left SATS and worked as an immigration officer at Chennai International Airport. He and Anu lived apart; their daughter Jeevitha stayed with Anu. At a former boss’s urging, Gandhi went to Moscow to train new officers at the reopened Indian Embassy. The embassy was attacked; Gandhi fought off the gang and saw a young lookalike, realizing it was Jeevan. They returned to Chennai and reunited, and Anu began speaking again. Nazeer called Gandhi to a secret meeting at a Chennai Metro station but was killed by a masked man, later revealed to be Jeevan. Gandhi vowed revenge. He rejoined SATS to investigate. Nazeer’s phone held details about Jeevan’s Moscow gang. Jeevan’s accomplice Sha had taken the phone, but it went missing. It turned out Jeevan had been working for Menon the whole time.

Production

In late November 2021, Vijay was reported to collaborate again with director Atlee for his 68th film, but in May 2023 Atlee was confirmed not to direct. Vijay had listened to multiple scripts, including from Venkat Prabhu. On 21 May 2023, Vijay announced that his 68th film would be helmed by Prabhu, tentatively titled Thalapathy 68. AGS Entertainment produced the film, with Archana Kalpathi and Aishwarya Kalapathi as creative producers. It is the production house's most expensive and 25th film production, made on a budget of 400 crore. In August 2023, the team left for Los Angeles to use visual effects scanning to create the look of one of Vijay's characters, a technique previously used for Fan (2016). The official title, The Greatest of All Time, was announced on 31 December 2023. Prabhu later revealed he wanted to title the film Gandhi. Prabhu co-wrote the script dialogues with Viji, with additional screenplay by K. Chandru and Ezhilarasu Gunasekaran. A muhurat puja was held on 2 October 2023 at Prasad Labs in Chennai. Principal photography commenced in October 2023 and wrapped by late June 2024, with locations including Chennai, Hyderabad, Pondicherry, Thiruvananthapuram, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Russia and the United States.

Release

The Greatest of All Time hit theatres on 5 September 2024 in both standard and IMAX formats. Alongside its original Tamil version, it was dubbed into Telugu and Hindi. In the UK, it received a 15 rating from the British Board of Film Classification for strong violence, threat, injury details, and disturbing scenes, and was released uncut. The Central Board of Film Certification initially gave it a U/A certificate after muting profanity, resulting in a 179-minute runtime. Days later, the CBFC imposed additional censorship, adding four minutes of footage and bringing the final runtime to 183 minutes while keeping the U/A certificate. This made it Vijay’s second-longest film after Nanban (2012). It was Vijay’s second IMAX release in the UK, following Leo (2023). The film also marked the first time a movie played simultaneously in every theatre across Tamil Nadu. In Kerala, it screened on over 702 screens, the highest for a non-native language film, surpassing Leo. Distribution rights were handled by Romeo Pictures for Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Sree Gokulam Movies for Kerala, Mythri Movie Makers for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Zee Studios for North India, and Ahimsa Entertainment and Hamsini Entertainment for the UK, Europe, and over 40 other countries. Pre-bookings in the UK began on 6 August 2024, with over 1,000 tickets sold within six days. In the US, pre-bookings started on 15 August 2024, and after the trailer, premiere bookings crossed US$32,000. Indian trade sources reported the film was set to become the first Tamil film to achieve a pre-release recovery through satellite, digital, music, and theatrical rights, beating Leo.

Reception

The Greatest of All Time received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Vijay's performance and action sequences while the lack of character development and writing received criticism. Kaushik Ramachandran of DT Next gave 3.5/5 stars, writing that despite minor issues the film is worth watching. Sridevi S of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars, calling it an average watch for film lovers and a celebrated watch for fans. Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com gave 3.5/4 stars, praising the dance numbers, fight scenes, and dramatic build-up. Janani K of India Today gave 2.5/5 stars, noting the film is inconsistent but comes together in the pre-climax and climax. Avinash Ramachandran of The Indian Express gave 2.5/5 stars, calling it a celebration of all things Vijay.