Review

SP Athiyan (Rajinikanth) is a police officer based out of Kanyakumari. He is however known all over India as a renowned “encounter specialist”, often resorting to extrajudicial killings to deliver no-nonsense, speedy justice. Observing his deeds from close quarters and criticizing them is prominent lawyer and human rights activist Sathyaraj (Amitabh Bachchan), who believes that delivering instant justice through encounter killings is just as bad as delaying cases in courts for years, and that the former must not be used as an alternative for the latter. When one of Athiyan’s encounters go wrong, he is forced to reconsider his ways and bring justice. How he does that with the help of his colleagues in law enforcement forms the rest of Vettaiyan.

Performances

Rajinikanth is his usual stylish and suave self in the film, despite playing a 58-year-old man. However, he plays a character who admits doing a major mistake, and this is something our heroes rarely do onscreen. He does not appear on the screen every single second, as characters actors get their own moments onscreen. Amitabh Bachchan’s Sathyaraj is a steely, strong counterpart to Rajinikanth’s Athiyan. Amitabh Bachchan plays the conscience of Vettaiyan. It is a treat to see him and Rajinikanth together onscreen. 

Fahadh Faasil plays Patrick, a Horlicks-loving, thief-turned-police informer/tech expert in Vettaiyan. For an actor of Fahadh’s calibre and superstardom, the role might be a downgrade but Fahadh plays the role with an ease and lightness that immediately puts our minds at ease as well. Veteran Malayalam actress Manju Warrier does not have much to do after the Manasilayo song gets over. Ritika Singh, playing a rookie IPS officer, gets more screentime but all she does is trail Rajinikanth and Fahadh Faasil. Rana embodies the role of Nataraja Shanmugham alias Nat, a billionaire supervillain, with his tight muscular frame as much as he does with his intense gaze. Abhirami, Dushara Vijayan and Rohini shine in brief parts. TFI character actors Supreeth Reddy and Krishnudu get brief roles as a Telugu gangster and cop respectively, when the story of Vettaiyan moves to Kadapa briefly, providing a familiar & comforting presence to Telugu audience.

Technicalities

There is nothing memorable to Anirudh’s soundtrack apart from the Manasilayo song and Hunter Choodu ra soundtrack. The BGM of the film is pretty much unmemorable. 

Another disappointment in the film came from the dubbing of the film. While there was already enough debate on why Vettaiyan’s title was not changed in its Telugu version, the entire movie paints a worse picture of this very situation. Rajinikanth is named Athiyan in the film. While Athiyan might be a normal Tamil name, “athi” in Telugu carries a whole other meaning. They should have changed the name of Rajinikanth’s character to something that sounds less funny in Telugu. A few characters in the film are shown speaking in the Telangana dialect, while everybody else speaks Telugu in a neutral Andhra accent.

What is problematic about this is the fact that the characters speaking in Telangana accent are men from the slums, who are also suspected criminals. In the context of the language and statehood politics of Telugu states and what the Telangana people fought for before 2014, this is an insensitive and tone-deaf creative choice. Most of the signboards in the film are also in Tamil, further alienating Telugu viewers with incomplete cultural translation. Weeks after the release of Sathyam Sundaram, which beautifully translated the film to its Telugu audience through appropriate and creative dubbing/dialogues/signboards, Vettaiyan’s Telugu dub is a let-down.

Positive

First half
Rajini screen presence
Social messaging

Negative

Flat narrative
No high points
Analysis

There is a certain mismatch in Vettaiyan between what the audience expects the what the film delivers. When a common audience walks into the theatre with a large star cast, they hope to see an out-and-out entertainer.

But Vettaiyan is largely a social drama narrated in the form of an investigative thriller. The investigative portions of the film are not the strongest as it becomes predictable after a point. We get to know easily what comes next and what doesn’t.

But the social drama parts of the film are strong. There is commentary on rape culture and safety of women, which feels all too similar after what the country has seen happen this year. The issue of coaching institutes harassing parents and not teaching students well is also very similar to what happened recently with online teaching platforms. Joining the representation of these two social issues is the film’s overarching commentary against extrajudicial killings.

The film does not just highlight the importance of a thorough investigation, but also shows how encounter killings and other forms of police brutality disproportionately affect poorer communities. People expecting high mass moments, which is what people usually expect from a Rajinikanth film, will be disappointed but for the more patient and discerning viewer can give a try.