Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu happens to be one of those films that have an aura over them – because of the hero, the director, the much talked-about story line and of course, those infamous pre-release controversies. The first impression that the film gave me, some ten minutes into it, was that of a slick, hollywoodish and sophisticated movie. Director Gautham maintains that tempo with great style, at least for the first half. The film has some fantastic camerawork, editing and background score. Kamal Hassan, as DCP Raghavan fits to the role to the core and almost portrays himself as a brainy investigator, much in the lines of Sherlock Holmes. But, hold on. It just stops there at the first half. The 45 minutes or so after the interval produced more yawns than thrills and frills.
Investigating the murder of Police Officer Arogyadas’ (Prakashraj) daughter, Raghavan enters into a mysterious case of rape and murder of young girls. The killing of Arogyadas and his wife brings Raghavan to New York, and here, he unfolds a great mystery that even the NYPD could not solve. That makes TamilNadu Police feel proud. But, Director Gautham, who seems to have a penchant for psychopathic killers and with the help of films like Kiss the Girls, piles up scenes with little logic, one after another, to deviate a long way from the screenplay.
First of all, the two killers, who claim to have started their preying job right from their school days, seem to be in a dilemma whether to be doctors or psychopaths. In the flash back scenes where they are beaten up at the police station, they carry all our sympathy and never an inch look like killers in the past. The doctor who conducts the post mortem of Rani Arogyadas strongly believes that the killer is someone who is a master in incisions. Later, Raghavan learns from Arogyaraj that he had beaten up two boys a few years back for teasing Rani. Linking these two, an astute policeman like Raghavan should have proceeded in that direction, zeroing in on what those two guys are doing now. But, he fails to do so and helps the movie run its full length.
I should mention about a thin romantic chord that runs through the screenplay, between Raghavan and Jyothika. It looks good at the beginning, but towards the end, this seems to occupy more space than the main plot. Some scenes, particularly the one at the Chennai airport check-out, are too lengthy to enjoy and just made me doubt if this is a thriller or a family drama. The director concentrates more on the romantic hero in Kamal, and also makes him express his emotions too freely for a cop who is chasing a serial killer.
I’m sorry to say that some scenes are a little bit ridiculous too. Take, for instance, the scene at Chennai airport when Raghavan and hundreds of other policemen come to catch the two killers. I was taken aback on seeing the two guys ( it should be ‘gays’ in fact) passing away in a cool way, very much under the ‘watchful’ eyes of Raghavan and his team. For someone who has the credit of an instinct named after him (Raghavan himself says it is ‘Raghavan instinct’), it is really absurd. The amateurish make up donned by the two killers would have definitely evoked doubts even in a child’s mind. Even in the earlier scenes, the two guys go on a killing spree, committing murders at will, from Mumbai to Kozhikode, and continue traveling in buses and trains, uncaught. In these days of suspected civilians detained at all international airports, I doubt if the two could have been able to escape from the US.
Director Gautham seems to be still in the ‘Khakha Khakha’ mood as the later scenes that lead to the climax are very much in that mould. The villains targeting the house and family of the hero, the dungeons where the climax takes place, the manner in which the hero kills the villains, the heroine being the focus of attention, all are very much in similar lines. I was expecting some fresh line of thought from Gautham. Of course, he tries to be different in subtitling the chronology of the events, but this too becomes more irritating later on, as this becomes more like a clock or calendar, displaying every other hour and day. Some other different ways could have been thought of (Here I remember a calendar designed my Senthil, a Bangalore based professional photo artist). And what on earth was the need for an item number towards the end? It’s just misjudgement of the audiences.
I understand it is quite easy to criticize a movie, unaware of the countless pressures that act upon a director. But, with a thinking director like Gautham and the most thinking actor like Kamal, I believe there is a lot of scope for a better portrayal, away from the gore the film has. Being a Kamal fan, right from childhood, I just sat in admiration of the performance of the genius, his body language in particular. The costumes too were good. But, somewhere along the line, I was not able to stop comparing this with another supercop movie of Kamal, ‘Kuruthippunal.’ That was a fantastic movie, with a thinner, crisper Kamal in dark coloured half-sleeved shirts, and with a storyline that was more fast, furious and striking than VV. Of course, Gautham will need some time to make movies like Govind Nihlani.
I would like to sum up saying that Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu is a good movie just because it has Kamal and a storyline that deviates from the contemporary ‘goonda’ movies in Tamil. You can watch it for its high quality technical effects, which of course, every other Tamil film has. Eventhough I feel Gautham should have taken up a subject that suits the macho and super hero image of Kamal, something in the lines of International terror and its investigation, I can’t stop myself from congratulating him for giving another super hit. I would love to see someone make such a movie. As an aspiring director, who is yet to learn the ABCD of filming, I wish I make one.