Seemaraja Trailer Sees Comparisons To Baahubali, Mersal

After a grand audio launch in Madurai, the Seemaraja team met the press in Chennai on Saturday to launch the film's trailer. The story's central conflicts revolve around the status that comes with being a king and issues of land ownership. The film seems to be a commercial rural mass entertainer in director Ponram's trademark style. He and Siva are aiming for their third consecutive success after Varuthapadatha Vaalibar Sangam (2013) and Rajini Murugan (2016).

The final shot of Sivakarthikeyan as a Tamil warrior king (Tamil Mannar) was the highlight of the trailer, with it even being likened to Baahubali on social media. Siva addressed this at the launch event, saying that the team saw such comparisons as a credit to their hard work. The shot of Siva standing between two rearing horses, however, has created an uproar of sorts among  Thalapathy Vijay's fans due to its similarity to a shot in Mersal. The star's fans have seemingly not accepted Siva in this scene.

A lot has been spent on Seemaraja's period segment, in which Keerthy Suresh also makes a cameo appearance. Siva said this segment saw the team at the peak of their efforts, unhampered by the industry strike. The actor also said that he was proud to have played a Tamil king and gotten to voice some powerful dialogues about the land.

In the film's current timeline, Siva is his usual youthful self, using a horse-drawn chariot to commute as a nod to his royal lineage. His character's place of residence, costumes and accessories reflect his high economic status. The star seems to have had his share of fun doing the action scenes, doling out punch lines ('Rajathiraja') and being the quintessential Tamil mass hero.

His romance track with Samantha (playing a 'Silambam' teacher) seems to be along the lines of the one with Keerthy Suresh in Rajini Murugan. At the event, Samantha said that she didn't have even an ounce of doubt regarding the success of the film and that she didn't feel any pre-release tension.

Simran and Lal are positioned as the aggressive lead antagonists, while Napoleon plays Siva's father. Soori is back as the hero's sidekick in yet another film. He seems to have gone the extra mile, sporting a six-pack for Seemaraja. The comedian said that he had "slogged to death" to acquire the physical traits required for this role.

Seemaraja has been certified with a U rating and will be released on September 13, giving it a four-day opening weekend.