Vettaiyan Movie Review: Vettaiyan means hunter and famous IPS officer Athiyan (Rajinikanth) is called by this name by his colleagues. Athiyan has his own style of delivering justice. He kills criminals in encounters and considers it justice. But Athiyan’s blood-soaked hands tremble when he realises that he has accidentally killed an innocent in an encounter. So will Athiyan mend his ways now? Will his thinking change?
Table of Contents
Movie Review: Vettaiyan
Actor:
Rajinikanth , Amitabh Bachchan , Fahadh Faasil , Rana Daggubati , Manju Warrier , Kishore , Ritika Singh , Rao Ramesh
Director: TJ Gyanvel
Category:
Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Action, Drama
Duration: 2hrs 43min
Story of ‘Vettaiyan’
Encounter specialist SP Athiyan believes, ‘Justice delayed means no justice.’ But he is pitted against Justice Satyadev (Amitabh Bachchan), who is completely committed to protecting human rights. He is against encounters. He believes that ‘hurrying justice means burying justice.’ Both Athiyan and Satyadev have opposite ideologies and are at the pinnacle of their thinking.
The story revolves around a government school teacher Sandhya (Dushara Vijayan) in whose rape and murder case Athiyan wants to deliver hasty justice. Bowing to the pressure of the media, politics and society, Athiyan kills an innocent in an encounter. When Satyadev reveals the truth to him, Athiyan is filled with despair. He sets out to find the real murderer of Sandhya, which opens a Pandora’s Box. New revelations happen one after the other. But will Athiyan use his gun again or will he learn from his mistake? To know this, you will have to watch the film.
‘Vettaiyan’ movie review
In commercial films, police stories are often full of show. The hero of the story can shoot without looking and his aim is right every time. When he gets out of the police car, he looks in a different swag. In these stories, neither science nor any other rules work. Director TJ Gnanavel’s film with Rajinikanth has all this. But along with this, there are many different things too.
‘Vettaiyan’ not only has encounter killings, the film also demands a debate on this. It shows how only the poor are targeted in these encounters. The rich never have to face bullets. This film also raises questions on the flaws in the education system. Gnanavel’s previous film ‘Jai Bhim’ was based on a serious subject. This film shocked everyone. Now in ‘Vettaiyan’, Gnanavel has brought an interesting social drama. But the problem is that the story has been suppressed due to Rajinikanth’s stardom.
The first 30 minutes of the film are devoted to Rajinikanth and his fans. But then it turns into a fast-paced investigative thriller. With an intro fight, a dance number and a fast narration, the story stays tight in the first half. It even reaches a strong point by the time of the interval. But its second half starts to diminish the shine instead of increasing it. Where the thrill should increase further in the film, it starts to become preachy and also starts to seem long.
The climax between Rajinikanth and Rana Daggubati is the same old style. Rajinikanth’s character, which was made to be a man with a moral dilemma in the film, ends up looking like another commercial film with a story of rich vs poor. The fight scenes in the film are such that they are clearly written for whistles. But the choreography of the action is very mediocre.
Despite this, TJ Gnanavel’s film questions the ethics of police encounters. It shows how fake news, doctored videos, media trials, public pressure after a crime can force officers to make wrong decisions. It talks about how the police, who are supposed to be non-judgmental, fall into stereotypes when it comes to investigating people with white-collar jobs and blue-collar ones. ‘Vettaiyan’ also talks about how the rich are exploiting the education system.
Rajinikanth, as usual, is all swag and bulk. Such is his superstardom that all other characters in the film seem like cameos. Despite this, Fahadh Faasil wins hearts as Patrick aka Battery. He is a smart thief who is hired by Athiyan to help him with ‘technical things’. The chattering Horlicks-eating Fahadh brings life to many scenes by adding comedy to them.
Amitabh Bachchan‘s presence in the film is very good. But the scenes where Amitabh and Rajinikanth come face to face are not very strong. The dialogues between them could have been better. Manju Warrier plays Rajinikanth’s wife, who runs a YouTube channel. Her role in the film is limited to Rajinikanth’s support system. But in the final scene, she scores 10/10.
Rana Daggubati appears only at the end in the role of a smart businessman who exploits the education system. Anirudh’s background score takes the film forward. The background music is good, in front of which even the songs fade. The emotional scenes of the film needed a little more depth.
Director TJ Gnanavel has presented another social drama through ‘Vettaiyan’ after ‘Jai Bhim’, but this time it is wrapped in a bundle of glitter. He also had an interesting story, but the bug of stardom stung him. The rest of the film is a treat for Rajinikanth and his fans.
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