The visuals promise an engrossing cat-and-mouse game between the characters of Arun Vijay and Prasanna,
The ‘Chapter 1’ added to the poster teases the possibility of a franchise to be built around the characters.
Looks like you can't make a Karthick Naren film without a cop character. His debut had Rahman play a senior cop and his yet-to-be-released Naragasooran had Indrajith do the same.
In Mafia, Arun Vijay will reportedly be playing an undercover cop, He was last seen as a police officer in 2017's Kuttram 23)
Though we don't actually see him donning the khaki, we have ample proof from the teaser that the actor is playing a police character.
Prasanna is said to be playing a dreaded, wily, gangster in the film.
Similar to teasers/trailers of Karthick's previous films, Mafia too features a first-person narrative of its pivotal characters looking straight into the camera and talking about what they're up to.
Unlike Karthick Naren's precious films which predominantly featured blue tone visuals, Mafia's teaser screams red all over the one and a half minutes.
The teaser starts with Arun Vijay, sitting stylishly on a couch with the wall behind him carrying a map of Tamil Nadu and the state's police force logo.
A side table next to it also holds a wooden Ashoka pillar and our National flag. The actor, carrying a gun, tells us the tale of a lion who happens to be the king of the forest.
A frame, calling him The Hunter takes over the screen next implying that he's the lion in this story.
And then, we see Arun Vijay's character putting the gun to good use in a series of frames.
Next, we get introduced to Prasanna's character. Smoking a cigar, the actor is seen sporting a salt and pepper hairdo and a black suit with a chain carrying a ring in it shown intentionally.
At the place where the map was in Arun Vijay's frame, we have a contemporary art piece here. We once again have a table here but in this case, it is occupied by a wine bottle and a king chess piece.
Prasanna's character continues the story Arun Vijay's character started and says that the same forest also has fox whose actions are seldom understood by others.
For Prasanna, we get a frame calling him The Beast.
The following shots show how he is a suave and stylish don whose 'business' goes across nations -- thanks to shots of chartered flight, harbour and a yacht.
The rest of the teaser is a collection of both the characters going about what a cop and a gangster would do
Prasanna's gangster character is speculated to be an entitled, smug man, who uses his experience and evil yet brilliant mind, to stay on top of the smuggling business.
Arun VIjay's under-cover cop character is believe to be the one, who uses his brawns to bring the wrong-doers to face the scales of justice.
Priya Bhavani Shankar stars as the female lead in the film, bankrolled by Lyca Productions.
The film's music has been composed by Jakes Bejoy.
Monster-cinematographer Gokul Benoy has handled the camera for Mafia.
There are also reports that Mafia is about a crackdown on the drug-trafficking business.
Mafia was shot in a single 35-day schedule in Thailand.
The teaser ends with the question of what would happen when the two animals come face to face -- will the lion's brute strength strike the final blow or will the wily fox have a trick up its sleeve
