All Rajinikanth films have some default settings. It doesn’t matter who directs him, they have to play by these rules or around it. Experimentations by the director are allowed but within the frame of the boilerplate. The success then comes down to how the proverbial ‘director’s touch’ syncs with the template of a superstar film.
With Vettaiyan, TJ Gnanavel has tried his best to weave a realistic social commentary around the quintessential superstar, and the result is a conspicuous mismatch of tone. While Gnanavel gets a lot of moments right, the excess of Superstar isn’t his strong zone. Thus, Rajinikanth’s heroic moments become perfunctory, like most of the things in the film.
In essence, Vettaiyan is about an ethical problem. On one hand, Athiyan, the Superintendent of Police, popularly known as Vettaiyan (Hunter) in the department, is all in for the extrajudicial killing of sinister criminals. On the other, Sathyadev (Amitabh Bachchan), a retired judge, and a humanitarian, is on a crusade against such police encounters. The two finally get a face when Athiyan makes a blunder while investigating a case involving a government school teacher Saranya (Dushara).
The script is a solid playground of TJ Gnanvel, who has pulled off a hard-hitting film like Jai Bhim. Had another hero who doesn’t carry the same gravitas as Rajinikanth played Athiyan, Vettaiyan would have been a different and more efficient film. It is now torn between being the director’s vision and the Superstar’s actioner.
We first meet Athiyan while he is on a hunt to kill an influential criminal, who constantly ducks justice. One has to note the extent Gnanavel is willing to go to hype up Rajinikanth. We see his face through a hole in a cigarette, which is illogical even for a Rajinikanth film. Rajinikanth and his persona will make you buy into the ruse.
However, such an over-the-top scene is part of a film that is too cautious about logic when it comes to the ‘serious’ stuff. That’s the problem with Vettaiyan. It doesn’t want to be a mindless entertainer like Jailer. It wants you to take it seriously but also expects you to cut slack whenever it goes bonkers.
Another example is the climax scene involving helicopters. The appalling silliness and pointlessness of the sequence are the stuff of old-school Rajinikanth movies. The purpose of it all is to provide the theatre moment. Yet, it doesn’t sit well with the rest of the sober story.
TJ Gnanavel wants to cater to Rajinikanth’s fans and also wants to make a strong case against extrajudicial killings. On one hand, Vettaiyan’s hunts are glamorized and hyped up with Anirudh Ravichander’s raging background score, and the next moment the film tells all of that is bad. On top of that, Gnanavel overwrites the film to a point that we don’t bother about the details of the case. The nuances are lost. All we know is that Vettaiyan will finally get the villain because everything becomes predictable beyond a point.
What works in Vettaiyan is the police procedural segment, the most engrossing chunk of the film. TJ Gnanavel is on top of his game here with tight writing. Secondly, the film is saved by Fahadh Faasil, who plays the most interesting and original character, Battery. A former thief, he currently helps Athiyan with all technological stuff–hacking, surveillance, and whatnot. He brings in laughter whenever he is on screen, and all great lines go to him. Or it could be that Fahad turns all the lines great. Amitabh Bachchan, as Sathyadev, is another strong point in the movie, but he is underutilised. While it is gladdening that Rajinikanth has taken up a solid and rooted script, his very presence has watered down the material, which is unfortunate.
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