Tag Archives: Tamil Movie Reviews

Vetrimaran’s Latest Release Sheds Light on India’s Oppressive System

In India, where the colonial hangovers still loom, we need more directors like VetriMaran who create films that shed light on bureaucratic atrocities in our society. Tamil films, such as Visarai, Vilangu, and Writer, are examples of movies that explore such issues. Viduthalai is the recent addition.

The Need for Viduthalai : A Hope

Over 30 Israeli Air Force pilots recently refused to participate in training or reserve duty as a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reforms. If more people acted ethically and humanised rather than blindly following laws on paper, our world could have been better.

Think about Russian soldiers protesting against Putin’s fascist and uncongenial decisions to invade another country.
Think about all our police constables refusing to work like a maid (more like a slave I should say) at IPS officers home.

I hope at least some of you remember how human right activist Father Stan Swamywho died while he was in judicial custody in Taloja jail.

I believe, changes may not happen soon, we need to wait for another generation to eradicate the GOI Act 1935 and its colonial hangovers. But these movies may act as a catalyst for those changes.

Viduthalai’s Gripping Storyline and Setting

Vetrimaran’s latest release, Viduthaalai shed light on India’s bureaucratic system, which is infamous for its hierarchical slavery and political nepotism.

Viduthaali, set in 1987 in a remote forest village, portrays a community of oppressed people, rebels, and a subservient police force conditioned to follow orders led by a treacherous, sadistic, perversive commanding officer (Chethan).

The movie starts with a gory extended single-shot sequence of a train bombing.

Then we follow Kumaraesan (Soori), an innocent man who starts work as a driver and cook in that police camp at the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border.

With Kumaresan as our POV character, we understand the nuances of police operations, atrocities, sufferings of low rank officials.

Then we have the mysterious Perumal (Vijay Sethupathi), who is fighting against a proposed mining project.

Stellar Performances and Unique Casting Choices

When it comes to the performances in Viduthaalai, everyone did an outstanding job. I believe the whole credit should goes to Vetrimaaran’s outside the box casting choices.

Gautham Menon, who glorified cop-killing in his movies, plays a brutal cop.

Soori portrays the central character with a magnificent makeover.

Bhawani Sri, who played a small role in Ka Pae Ranasingam, plays a village girl and love interest for Kumaresan (Soori).

Even Rajeev Menon’s performance as a Principal Secretary is subtle and elegant.

Vijay Sethupathi appears in only a few moments in the film. Still he may give you goosebumps with his classy ‘mass’ performances and that one-liner in the climax was epic.

Soulful Music and Captivating Cinematography

Viduthalai is packed with many raw and hard-hitting moments, but it also sprinkled with some emotional-romantic moments. In both cases, Ilaiyaraaja’s soulful tunes elevate the emotions. His music is not loud but is subtle and prudent enough to leave an impact.

R Velraj’s cinematography effectively take us to the world of Viduthalai, with unshowy visuals of forest terrains, single-shot visuals in the introduction, and documentary-style realism in the frames.

Viduthalai is a great film backed by a talented team on and off-screen.

Why We should clap for Viduthaalai: Relevance in 2023

Although the movie is set in 1987, it remains relevant today. Police atrocities against SC/ST communities remain prevalent in many areas of India.

I hope you are aware of Police atrocities in Wayanad, where Attappadi tribal head claimed that Kerala police were taking revenge as they fought against the land mafia.

If you think Chethan’s portrayal of the film’s commanding officer is unrealistic, consider a real-life incident where a police officer in Wayand subjected a 16-year-old girl to violence.

Shockingly, the punishment given to the officer by the system was just a “Suspension order”. Is that really justice for the young girl?

Live Love Learn liberate!

The  rivalry between a daring cop and a brutal gangster is a cliched one-line, but what makes it thrilling is how the team brings the audience closer to the characters’ world or how the cat & mouse events unfold.

Pathu Thala is crafted using the same one-line, and Pathu Thala, delivers a mixed bag of emotions, drama, and entertainment. Read on to find out if it’s worth the watch.

Plot Overview

Set against the backdrop of Kanyakumari, Pathu Thala revolves around an undercover agent, Guna (Gautham Karthik), who infiltrates a mafia group led by AGR (Silambarasan) to locate a missing Chief Minister (Santhosh Prathap). Though the genre demands tense and fast-paced moments, the movie gets diluted with dramatic rain shots, clichéd romantic sequences, and Thankachi paasam(sister-bro sentiments). Thankfully Director Obeli Krishna didn’t add any mother sentiments.

Comparisons to Mufti

Director Obeli Krishna claims that Pathu Thala is an adaptation, not a remake, of Mufti. However, the resemblance is striking. I believe he should watch the Hong Kong movies ‘Internal Affairs’ and ‘Departed, which will be perfect examples of adaptation. Here, I strongly feel like Pathu Thalla is a remake of The Mufti.

Character Sketch: White Pathu Thala

AGR and his team used to carry a copy of the Kamba Ramayananam, maybe because of the R in AGR, which stands for Ravanan. This is where the script disappointed me more; the script demands a grey or a black character, bad luck; Atman is in spiritual transformation, I guess.

AGR is a white character here, and the melodrama that whitening AGR brought spoiled the mood of the film in the second half. That Black to White character arc was a reminder of the real Ravana from the Ramayana. How Ravana gets the white shades in contemporary literature.

Performances

Silambarasan TR carries the entire film on his shoulders, supported by AR Rahman’s music.

Gautham Karthik does a decent job, but his characterization could have been more powerful in the second half.

Director Krishna has always ensured the female characters in his movies are powerful, be it Sillinu, Kadhal, or Nedunchaalai, but I was curious how he was going to portray Priya Bhavani & Anu Sithara here.

Priya Bhavani Shankar gets a substantial role in the first half but fades away as a mere romantic interest later on. Anu Sithara has nothing to do much, and even she couldn’t deliver the emotional output that a few scenes demand.

Gautham Menon started with a heavy aura, but, in the climax, he just vanished in the shadow of STR’s terrific performances.

Technical Aspects

The film’s technical elements, such as AR Rahman’s music and Farooq’s cinematography, skillfully elevate the flat moments. For instance, the scene where Guna enters AGR’s world, accompanied by Rahman’s background music, is particularly thrilling. Similarly, the interval block is a high octane moment for fans. With A R Rahman music, Farooq’s visuals and STR-Gautam Karthick charismatic performances are just like a blended cocktail.

Audience Appeal & Box office Potential

Pathu Thala has the ingredients for a family entertainer, but it may disappoint those expecting a rampage. Marketed as a “neo-noir action thriller” or an Atman STR Sambhavam (Rampage), the film is actually a semi-action thriller with a significant dose of family drama.

With a budget of ₹50 crore and running at around 400 screens, Pathu Thala has the potential to give a hat-trick to STR. The Satellite Rights (ZEE Tamil) of ₹12.50 crore and OTT rights (Amazon Prime) of ₹13 crore add to its appeal.

Conclusion

During the trailer and audio launch of Ponniyin Selvan 2, where Simbu appeared as the chief guest, he was greeted with enthusiastic cheers of “Pathu Thala” from thousands of fans. It’s quite rare to witness fans attending an audio launch to show support for a movie and cheering for another movie. Simbu enjoys such a loyal fan following; however, it seems he has yet to find the perfect script that can truly harness his star power. 

Pathu Thala offers a decent watch for STR fans & family audiences but falls short of being a gripping action thriller. Thus Obeli Krishna may fail to satisfy STR’s hunger for a heavy blockbuster.

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