Viduthalai Review(2023)

There are a no. of ideas and themes that Vetrimaaran, who brilliantly and fantastically and I am running out of wordsly directs and writes this film, touches upon this 150min film, which is still left to be completed as it’s just Part 1 of a chapter of films. And yes this is a film, not a movie, a film which deeply resonates with you primarily with the writing and acting of Kumaresan, played by an absolutely brilliant Soori whose innocence and steadfastness on his ideals and beliefs, even when faced upon punishment, makes us wonder about his own past, with his mother, indicated to us by the voice overs of Kumaresan reading his diary entries. The film, shot brilliantly by Velraj, uses wides constantly as a way to convey how Kumaresan and every member of the police force as well as the people are captured in this zone. An opening climb wherein Kumaresan is introduced to the various checkpoints and stops where he needs to deliver food as the driver, uses an extreme wide to show us how Kumaresan, the only man in colour dress, but also the only man with a heart is going to get lost in the jungle. The famed opening 6-7 min single long take, similar in its nature to Gone With The Wind in terms of what happens inside the frame, moves through a train wreckage panickingly, looking and observing the devastatingly injured citizens, while also capturing the ministers response(which isn’t much by the way).

The problem with opening shot is that it has been hyped up so much that we become more aware of the shot itself and how it must have taken place rather than what is taking place which lessens the impact. Fret not though, because there are a good no of set pieces in the film, not in terms of scale or violence, but in terms of emotion and tension. The writing showcasing the many characteristics of Kumaresan help him back again. He falls in love for the daughter of an old lady while taking the latter to the hospital, and this same incident is used by the police to create some goodwill among the people even though Kumaresan himself is punished severely for the action, as he had disobeyed the order of his senior Raghavendar, played by Chetan who gives a good performance as a selfish and unsympathetic man who is focused more on his own pride, ego and satisfaction. The daughter, Pappa played innocently and bravely by Bavani Sre, has a beautiful romance with Kumaresan. This love story in fact is one of the most beautiful aspects of the film and is the strongest emotional connect the audiences have with the film and provides both of them a comfort amidst the ruthless situations they live in. The 2 songs used for this are neutral in the sense, Onnoda Nadandha is unnecessary whereas Kaatumaali helps you feel the romance. It highlights how despite the evilry, it is in loving or the affection for each other that helps us survive through the tough times.

This idea of affection for each other is the basis of the Makkal Padai, a rebel group who are protesting against the mining project to be done in their homeland.

But this is the very conflict the film thrives upon. Many of the ways in which the Makkal Padai retaliates is mainly by violence as they are forced to. The opening train wreckage is hinted to as being caused by the Makkal Padai. Many constables and the low level people in the police die in the hands of the Makkal padai but the police also commit atrocities in the process of finding Perumal, the leader of Makkal Padai played by Vijay Sethupathi.

The films editing pattern is really great. We see scenes which make us empathise with the police and subsequent scenes show us the brutality of police and make us sympathise with the rebels. This raises an interesting moral quandary in us as we ourselves are unable to take sides though Vetrimaaran himself seems assured on whose side he is in.

The film however never makes feel the plight of the villager who are caught in this struggle. They are beaten, harassed and tortured but we are always at a distance, knowing that they are suffering injustice but not quite feeling it. This maybe due to the explicit torture sequences where women are undressed and humiliated while fingernails of men are plucked and cut out. The extreme violence somehow keeps us at a distance. But this violence is also used brilliantly in a scene which is played back twice each time from different perspectives to make us question our alliance. The police clearly are in the bad. But even the constables die in huge nos. and as one character points out, if they become dead, then their family is essentially done. This is also highlighted by Gautham Menon’ s character Sunil Menon, who initially is sympathetic to the villagers and progressively becomes more ruthless due to the magnitude of loss of men on his side; a beautiful piece of writing and suave performance from the virtuoso director.

Though majorly the film is great, the first half though is pretty flat as Vetrimaaran uses this time to setup the world, and set the various plot points. It is only when Sunil Menon arrives to take charge that the narrative becomes more interesting. The second half, continuing on the momentum set by the interval leads ahead and climaxes with brilliantly designed shootout. But despite this the film never reaches the emotional highs that you feel with Asuran, but this is still a better film because stuff here is not black and white. While the characters are greyer than in Asuran, Vetrimaaran clearly states with whom his feelings lie.

Waiting To See The Conclusion In Part 2.