Vettaiyan Review | A Flat Masala Movie Trying to Salvage Itself With the Relevance Card

What was remarkable about the second film of T. J. Gnanavel, Jai Bhim, was the fact that it focused entirely on the cause of the story. The stardom of Suriya was only used to make the story reach more people, and it had no burden of catering to the fans of the actor. In its entirety, even in his latest film, Vettaiyan, T. J. Gnanavel is using the reach of a superstar like Rajinikanth to communicate his views on the problematic glorification of encounter killings. But filled with superstar-worshipping compromises and very on-your-face, flat lecturing about the issues they want to address, Vettaiyan feels more like the anti-tobacco ad we see at the beginning of films. Relevent? Yes. Impactful? No!

So Kanyakumari SP Athiyan IPS is our main man. He is known for his way of killing criminals through staged encounters in order to provide fast-tracked justice. Hence, his equation with the Human Rights Commission is not that great. At one point, a teacher named Saranya, someone who was very dear to Athiyan, gets brutally murdered in her school, and there is a public outcry to find the criminal behind it at the earliest. The actions taken by the police and how the repercussions of that lead to a debate about encounter killings are what we see in T. J. Gnanavel’s Vettaiyan.

Mild Spoilers Ahead! A superstar like Rajinikanth, whose actions are always considered the ideal one to do, apologizing and repenting his decision to encounter killings is actually a great sight. But the issue with Vettaiyan is how that is communicated. The screenplay dilutes the complicated question of delayed justice, which is usually the justification for these kinds of police verdicts, through a very flat storytelling procedure. A large chunk of the first half is dedicated to the fan service of Rajinikanth, and to be honest, it felt like those old films where you can easily chop off the sequences, and it wouldn’t affect the movie at all. The visualization of the entire Manassilayo song was so bland that the guy who sat next to me said the lyrical video visuals they released looked better. In a major dance sequence, one can see Rajinikanth singing something, but there are no vocals. One can easily spot many such sloppy mistakes in a movie of this scale.

In the second half, the movie enters a space where the hero is guilty of his actions, and you would expect the film to address the grey shade of the central debate. But by creating a glorified villain, the film shifts its axis to the typical story of a righteous hero trying to bring down a tycoon who has the support of every powerful person. Most of the events in that tussle have a very generic feel, and you have to be ignorant about what’s happening around you to feel stunned hearing about ed tech companies.

There are bits in the film where the main characters, played by Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth, talk about the judgemental attitude of the public and police toward the underprivileged, and it speaks about the very important reality that the victims of encounter killings are mostly people who belong to the underprivileged category. But the cliches and gallery-pleasing bits in the movie steal a major spotlight, and these details we get to hear just become bullet points rather than impactful details in the central story. The editing in many places lacks the rhythm, and it takes away that mass euphoria element from many sequences. Anirudh’s decision to tease the audience with a different orchestration of the title track actually backfires.

When compared to some of the recent outings of Rajinikanth, I would say the swagger elements are slightly underwhelming in this movie. There is one sequence in the film where Fahadh Faasil’s character talks about Rajinikanth’s speed, and we see this silhouette of the superstar tapping on the foldable phone in the backdrop, which frankly looks very over the top. There is one funeral sequence in the film, and in a frame, we can see Rajinikanth, Manju Warrier, and Fahadh Faasil, and it was literally like a visual representation of the difference in subtlety, with the superstar being the least subtle performer. Since the hero is Rajinikanth, it kind of made sense why they chose Amitabh Bachchan to play the man who is against the idea of encounter killings. But in terms of scope to perform, the movie offered very little to the actor.

Dushara Vijayan, as Saranya, delivered a memorable performance. Most of the “big” casting in the movie feels like bait. Other than dancing her heart out to a totally irrelevant song, which was written irresponsibly, Manju Warrier hardly has 5 minutes in the 163-minute movie. Fahadh Faasil’s character could have easily been given to any of the young ones. It is not a role that demands Fahadh Faasil. But I must say he really grabs the opportunity to show off his flexibility to the Tamil audience. His sequences are quirky and funny, and those were the only moments where I found myself reacting to the movie.

Rana Daggubatti plays the typical corporate bad guy in the same way we have seen other actors play those parts. The delusional arrogance on the face of these characters just shows the audience their horoscope the moment their characters are introduced. Ritika Singh plays this young police officer who accompanies Athiyan in the investigation. The other names in the cast include Kishore, Abhirami, and Rohini.

Vettaiyan is not a bad movie where you will end up facepalming like how most of us did at the end of Indian 2. But the scale of the film is forcing T. J. Gnanavel to replace nuances with broad strokes. It is good to know that Gnanavel’s story ideas have a sensitive political core. But I hope the next time, he won’t have to dilute his vision for the sake of fan service.