ACP Vikram is a ruthless special officer posted in North Chennai, incharge of a city wide manhunt for North Chennai’s most dreaded criminal; Vedha. All goes well according to the plan until Vedha decides to walk casually into the police station and surrender. What are his real intentions? How will Vikram put an end to Vedha forms the crux of the story.
Actors:
R.Madhavan delivers his career best performance. Madhavan, who plays Vikram, dominates the movie with his terrific screen presence until Vedha(marvellously portrayed by Vijay Sethupathi) casually walks into the police station in one hell of an intro scene. It is next to impossible to judge whose performance you enjoy more. The kindest word I can find for Varalaxmi Sarathkumar’s acting is overaction. The actor who plays Vedha’s brother and the actress who plays Vikram’s wife in the movie make their mark.
Technical Aspects:
Cinematography by P.S. Vinod is top notch. All the locations used to shoot this movie are natural and form a perfect setting for the story. Music by Sam C.S is perfect for the movie. Especially the song “Karuppu Vellai” was very well composed and was perfectly used by the directing duo. The movie was very well directed and extremely well written by the directing duo Pushkar-Gayatri. This is my first movie directed by them and it definitely won't be the last. Editing is a slight letdown. If not for the weak editing, this movie would have been near perfect.
About “Vikram Vedha”:
As a person who grew up reading Indian folk stories, “Vikram Vedha” was a pleasant surprise. It helped me reflect on how beautiful and impactful those stories are. In this case the one story I am referring to is Vikram Bethal. The very essence of the Vikram Bethal stories were captured and was beautifully crafted into “Vikram Vedha”; one of the best movie adaptations I have ever watched.
Vikram, an idealistic police officer, is a man of clarity and has neither doubts nor hesitation about what his job requires him to do. However, his morality and ethics are questioned by an unexpected source; Vedha, one of the most ruthless gangsters in all of Chennai.
“The way I see it, both of us are one and the same, sir”. These are one of the first things Vedha says to Vikram, who takes this as a taunt and ignores it.
Vedha goes on to narrate Vikram a few instances of his life where he had to make choices, choices which changed his life forever. Before completing his story, Vedha asks Vikram what he would have done if he were in Vedha’s place. Vikram answers all his questions correctly, grudgingly admitting to what Vedha told him earlier. However, for Vedha, these are not manipulations. These instances from his life are his way of justifying his mistakes and convincing Vikram that life is not black and white, but grey and its shades. No more spoilers for now!
For some reason, Vikram’s character reminds me of Tywin Lannister from Game Of Thrones. For the sake of those who haven't watched it yet, I will explain it from Vikram's perspective. Both of these characters have certain priorities in life. For Tywin, it’s legacy. For Vikram, it’s being the good guy in the story. Both these characters have some ethical limitations but their definition of right and wrong is quite different from the others. In the movie, Vikram goes through a lot of mental agony that will change his ideas towards life forever.( Like I said, no spoilers!). At one point in the movie, even the audience face this dilemma. How Vikram chooses to react to these sudden shocks is what makes this story beautiful.
Coming to Vedha's character let me begin by saying this. Vijay Sethupathi is gem of an actor. His mannerisms, dialogue delivery and absolutely stunning control over facial expressions have made me his fan. Now, coming to the character, Vedha is ruthless man with a simple idea about life: people should do jobs they are good at. A ruthless criminal, he has always followed his one golden rule; defending his brother from his criminal life. He loves his brother and at one point of the story, throws away everything he has achieved just to protect his brother.The long and short of it is that Vedha is neither bad nor good. He faces problems head-on and will do everything in his power to protect what is his.
On a whole, there is nothing much to criticize about this movie. The very essence of Vikram and Bethal stories were beautifully converted into this modern day classic. I have deliberately not gone deep into the story because any attempt to do so will spoil the movie for the audience. I would gladly recommend anybody to watch Vikram Vedha.
Conclusion:
On a whole, VV was one of the few recent Indian movies that kept me hooked to the screen from the very first scene till the last scene of the movie. Excellent production values and an immaculate screenwriting make this movie an absolute joy to watch. A must-watch for movie lovers.
No comments:
Post a Comment