Naalaiya Theerpu is a 1992 Tamil vigilante action drama film directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar. It stars Vijay with Keerthana, Radha Ravi, Vinu Chakravarthy and Gowtham Sundararajan. Music by Manimekalai (credited as M. M. Srilekha). It was released on 4 December 1992.
Vijay, a college student with a fierce sense of justice who works part-time at a newspaper, has broken away from his wealthy father Arun Metha, a philanderer who mistreats Vijay's mother. After Vijay thrashes Rocky, a rich classmate who harasses his friend Priya, Rocky's influence gets him falsely branded a rowdy, rusticated and arrested. Cleared in court, Vijay launches his own paper, Naalaiya Theerpu ('Tomorrow's Verdict'), with Priya's lawyer brother. When Rocky turns murderous and the paper exposes a scam-and-liquor racket involving Arun and a minister, Vijay must take on his own father's corrupt empire.
Vijay's debut as a leading man, at 18, playing a righteous student-turned-journalist in a film directed by his father and produced by his mother. It launched the career that later made him Tamil cinema's biggest star.
Figures are trade estimates reported at the time and may vary.
Vijay's first film as a lead actor, made when he was 18 (he had earlier appeared as a child artist).
Directed by his father S. A. Chandrasekhar; story and production by his mother Shoba Chandrasekaran under V. V. Creations.
The title translates as 'Tomorrow's Verdict', also the name of the newspaper Vijay's character launches.
Composer Manimekalai (later known as M. M. Srilekha) was just 12 when she scored the film.
Vijay convinced his father of his acting ability by performing a scene from Rajinikanth's Annaamalai (1992).
Kumudam's review infamously asked whether audiences should pay to see this face in theatres.
The film was a box-office bomb; Chandrasekhar said in 2018 that perhaps 'the timing wasn't right'.
Vijay won the Cinema Express Award for Best New Face.
Audio rights were acquired by Pyramid Music and Phoenix Music.
The film opened to mostly negative reviews. The Indian Express noted its tongue-in-cheek political and economic jabs made it 'worth watching', while Kumudam was notoriously harsh about the newcomer's looks.
Remembered chiefly as the launchpad of Vijay's career; its harsh reception is often cited in accounts of his rise from a mocked debutant to superstar.