A fast-paced flick of the hunter and the hunted

Rating: 3/5

Nearly three years after his much-appreciated ‘Jai Bhim’ released in November 2021, journalist-turned-director T J Gnanavel comes up with ‘ Vettaiyan’ . While the first film was among the most searched film on Google in India in the year it was released, the latter was much anticipated owing to its dream combination of stars – Amitabh Bachchan, FahadhFaasil, Kishore, Daggubati Rana – not to speak of popular actresses - Manju Warrier, DusharaVijayan , Rohini – etc.

‘Vettaiyan’ takes on a few burning social issues which have deeply impacted Indian society in recent times, positions one next to the other, amalgamates various strata of society in the process which end up confronting government machinery.

Using a politico-legal approach, which was how Gnanavel started with the Suriya starrer three years ago, the director efficiently blends in a liberal dose of Rajiniism, mass entry scenes, punch dialogues and the understated, grim approach of the angry old man Amitabh Bachchan, showing them as potential adversaries one against the other at the intermission stage. While one achieves remarkable success with his encounter techniques, the other, a revered human rights proponent, says justice should be delivered quickly not hurriedly.

When a clash of techniques and tactics become inevitable, how does it all get resolved? Especially when a vibrant civil society, hyper social media and political pressure threatens to derail the entire investigation process. Here is where Gnanavel shows he is capable of apportioning screen space to almost all the stars who he has included, to make it a bouquet of crisply edited scenes.

Instead of competing one-upmanship between two top titans of the Indian film industry, the director takes a bold route and enables a participative narrative in the second half, which highlights the histrionic potential of the other lead actors drawn from other film industries.

While FahadhFaasil occupies a vantage spot among the invited stars, justifiably so as a cog in the wheel for the super cop Rajinikanth, Kannada actor Kishore and the late entrant and antagonist Daggubati Rana, who has some of the top confrontation scenes with the Superstar impress. Ritika Singh has a role of an understudy cop which she delivers well.

In many ways, one can see traces of showman Shankar in this film – at least of those – when he started with movies like ‘Gentleman’ – combining a latent social message with huge dollops of entertainment and glamour. Gnanavel has a social conscience and he subtly plugs in for his favourite set of social categories which definitely includes standing up for the dispossessed. For that, he has two powerful stars in his side, who constantly taunt the Establishment about how they are always insensitive to the plight of the poor, openly siding with the rich and the mighty, helping them succeed in their evil designs.

Doing away with too much distractions during the tight paced narration, the director gives some scope for the youthful vibes of music director Anirudh right at the start, making him partner his grim storytelling with some excellent BGM. Manju Warrier has some scenes to show her mettle as the spouse of the Superstar, while he is there doing what he knows best – an arresting screen presence, which has made him survive as a main attraction for close to 50 years since his debut in 1975. The hunter, does he turn a protector…. Watch the movie, a very entertaining and engrossing one, for sure.