Vettaiyan Movie Review: Rajnikanth's Swag & Fahad Fasil's Aura Make This Film A Must-Watch Thriller

Image Source- Koimoi

Vettaiyan has always been creating buzz from the announcement to its release date in theatres. Even though I am not a hardcore Rajni fan there is honestly something about his movies that keeps on pulling me to theatres. With filmmaker TJ Gnanavel and an extraordinary star cast this movie was surely on my bucket list. With an increase in hype and a buzzing trailer let's see if it did really live up to the expectations.

'Justice delayed is justice denied and justice hurried is justice buried' is a powerful dialogue of  DGP Satyadev (Amitabh Bachchan) while taking a class to a set of police officers while suggesting that an encounter is not always the best solution. Also, this one argument can sum up this entire Rajnikanth thriller. On the other hand, SP Athiyan (Rajnikanth) who is known as an encounter specialist believes that if justice is delayed it does injustice to all the victims who have suffered. With this mindset, both of them often have conflicts all the time.

Saranya (Dushara Vijayan) who is a school teacher writes a letter to Athiyan on finding that drugs are being sold in school. Upon getting the letter he takes strict action by pulling an encounter with the help of Patrick (Fahad Fasil) who is a thief but often helps solve cases. On finally getting a transfer to Tamil Nadu to pursue her dreams Saranya leaves the school. But little did she know about all the trouble she was going to embroil herself into. 

Soon in a tragic incident, it is found that she is murdered and raped brutally with her body found in the same school she was a teacher. Before the moment she was going to be killed she did call Athiyan but to no avail her call never was received by him. On discovering her body the next day all the teachers call for a protest until the case gets solved and refuse to conduct any exams. With extreme pressure from all ends the case gets handed over to SP Harish's (Kishore) team along with ASP Roopa (Ritika Singh) and finds out that Guna (Asal Kolaar) has all the motives and is the criminal who was earlier also caught misbehaving. But everything goes in vain when he escapes from the clutches of those officers. 

With the news of Guna getting out in public things started to go out of control DGP Srinivas (Rao Ramesh) called Athiyan to settle the matter. With the guilt of not being able to help Saranya deep in his soul so when he gets an opportunity to get justice for her Athiyan decides to join the team at once. Within 48 hours he helps the team find Guna and takes a shot at time. But fate had different plans for him as a revelation by Satyadev that Guna might not be the real criminal. Unable to understand what went wrong he begins to start analyzing each and every detail. The fact that he has made a mistake and killed someone innocent brings him to Satyadev again. Shocked by the fact that he never thought to find the truth himself makes him sad. The hunt for what went wrong and who the real culprit is is something you need to watch on the big screen.

After Gnanavel's last outing, Jai Bhim Vettaiyan seems to be an impressive mass thriller with a good storyline and gripping narrative. This film is a treat for all Rajnikanth fans. The entry of Rajnikanth unlike his earlier films seems to be a little diluted but it seems like the director himself cannot escape from the fame of the superstar.  The camera work seems to be impressive as you can see the superstar shining in each scene. With Anirudh as the music director, it is not, a surprise that songs like Manasilayoo and Hunter Vantaar became massive hits but other than that the others did not make an impression. With Jailer as his last hit with Rajnikanth the BGM of Vettaiyan seems to be a little less impressive but yes it still has its own charm.

Although the movie is entertaining you will soon realize that the plot seems to be a predictable one. The plot is the one you can anticipate where the characters seem to be going but it still tackles bigger issues like why encounter is not a solution for every crime that takes place and the loopholes in the education system. Another quite disturbing thing is the moment when Saranya was not only murdered but raped. It is really astonishing as to why rape was needed to make the narrative intriguing. Well, it's fine if the scene was shown only once but to repeat it more than once feels a little alarming.

With Rajnikanth in the film, you know that he sure is going to steal the thunder. With his charm, swag and onscreen presence he does rule the screens. Amitabh Bachchan as Satyadev creates an impact with his magnetic persona and his chemistry with Rajnikanth is still unmatchable even after 33 years. But it could have been better with some more profound scenes. Fahad Fasil is a delight to watch as usual no matter what roles he plays he once again wins millions of hearts. Even with a small part but a bang-on scene in the end Manju Warrier as Thara Athiyan is a pleasure to watch. Ritika Singh, Abhirami and Rana Daggubati have all played their part well. 

Overall even if it feels like a repetitive tale if you are a Thailavar fan you are definitely going to blow whistles on a whole. If you are a fan of massy thrillers with such a fantabulous cast then Vettaiyan is surely your cup of tea. So, guys catch Vettaiyan as soon as you can.