Vettaiyan

 T J Gnanavel directs the Superstar in his latest release “Vettaiyan” that is different from the regular Rajni potboilers for 3 reasons – It has a strong, relevant, relatable social message; For the first time in many years, the character played by Rajni makes a mistake and admits it; For the first time ever, the character played by Rajni changes his ideology that he has been following all these years to a thunderous applause from the audience. 

T J Gnanavel (also credited as cowriter with B Kiruthika) has thus done the unthinkable. He cleverly marries the standard Rajni potboiler template f with a storyline that is plausible thereby making his politics very clear. At 163 minutes, “Vettaiyan” is entertaining and does not feel overlong. Most importantly, despite thematically being very similar to Prithviraj Sukumaran’s 2022 outing – “Jana Gana Mana” – there is absolutely no sermonizing or cringe inducing courtroom dialogue baazi here like that one!

The movie starts with retired justice Satyadev (Amitabh Bachchan) addressing a batch of fresh IPS officers explaining why encounter killing and cop vigilantism should not be encouraged, and why justice can be served only through the proper channel. Cut to Kanniyakumari district, and we see SP Athiyan (Rajanikanth) killing Kumaresan (Sabumon Abdusamad) in an encounter for supplying narcotics to school children and using government schools as godowns for storing the same. School teacher Saranya (Dushara Vijayan) is his informer here and he gets most of the evidence collection done through Patrick aka Battery (Fahadh Faazil) who is a thief turned police informer. Saranya gets transferred to Chennai as per her wishes and within a few days, she is brutally raped and murdered in the school itself. The investigation is being handled by SP Harish Kumar (Kishore) and his assistant, Roopa Kiran IPS (Ritika Singh) but when they are unable to track the culprit, they call Athiyan for help who shoots down the culprit in an encounter. 

The sensational matter is discussed by the media and judiciary and Satyadev steps in to check if any human rights violation has taken place. Satyadev finds out something that the investigation team had missed and Athiyan realizes that he was being played by his own department. Is Athiyan able to identify the real culprit? Why did Saranya have to die? Is justice finally delivered? You have to watch “Vettaiyan” in theaters to obtain answers to these questions. 

“Vettaiyan” has a brisk first half (though I must admit, the “Manassilaayo” song was unnecessary, out of place and out of character) with the lead characters being introduced firmly, Rajni being given a mass introduction scene, a couple of excellent fight sequences and Anirudh’s throbbing background score to top it all. The narrative slows down a little post interval but picks up steam with the introduction of Natraj Shanmugham (Rana Daggubati). The last half hour is a celebration of Rajni, the superstar and a typical culmination as is expected from the superstar movie with logic flying out of the window and Rajni appearing anywhere as he pleases. 

Despite all of that, I was thoroughly entertained and never lost track of the narrative – largely because of the perfect casting and an ensemble cast that delivers – Fahadh helps in keeping the narrative light and takes you back to his “Njan Prakashan” days with his cool, casual performance; Rana Daggubati is menacing enough and has a sparkling screen presence in spite of playing an underwritten character; Ritika Singh looks her part and plays it well; Rohini is dignity personified; Abhirami Gopakumar is deliciously evil; Kishore is adequate; Dushara Vijayan is impressive and Manju Warrier (playing another underwritten character) gets one mass moment she makes a meal out of. 

Anirudh Ravichander proves that he is the best of the current lot when it comes to composing the OST for crowd pullers – After Jawan, Jailer and Leo, this is another winner from the talented composer. Kathir’s cinematography is good and Philomin Raj keeps the narrative racy enough. Though this is in a completely different zone from his last outing “Jai Bhim”, T J Gnanavel keeps a firm grip on the narrative and delivers a product that is worth celebrating in spite of giving enough to think about and take home. 

What works the most for the film though is the coming together of the 2 legendary superstars after three decades and half – Amitabh Bachchan at 83 and Rajinikanth at 73 can still give all the 30/40/50 somethings in the country a run for their collective money and the applause they generate from the audience is proof enough. The legends have a good time playing off each other and the fun they are having on screen translates to the movie watching audience. “Vettaiyan” is worth your time and money just for the pleasure of watching the 2 of them on the big screen – I am going with 3.5 stars out of 5.

P.S. why take the effort to rewrite,  when we have the copy paste option and you find a review as exact as your thoughts written by you ex-colleague Sreeram. A great reviewer that he is.