Vetayadu Vilayadu (VV) is the second movie with police officers as the central characters directed by Gautam Menon. I have been a big fan of police movies in my younger days and after seeing 'Kakka kakka', I began to like movies in that genre (if you can call it so) yet again. The title roughly mean 'hunt, play' which could actually be meaning the cat and mouse that the police are upto with criminals.
Story
The movie opens in typical North Madras style if you are familiar with this territory. This is the land of Manali Ghajja, Royapuram Mani, Kasimedu Siva, Ennore Chidambaram. The movie opens like a typical tamil underworld movie with Royapuram Mani hurling abuses about a cop on the phone and asking for his eye. Within minutes the protaganist enters the scene which is heroic, forceful and right over the top.Raghavan a.k.a DCP (Deputy Commissioner of Police) Raghavan is a duty conscious police officer who gives two hoots about the spirit of the law when it comes to tackling anti social elements. He's straight and he's fearless and walks into any situation with elan and poise which only a honest and gutsy cop can have. The audience is treated to a melange of visuals as the titles flow in with 'Karka karka' playing alongside. This is Chennai, it's hip, it's happenning and it's sleek and well cut.
In Madurai, DCP Arockiaraj and Chitra are concerned about her daughter Rani's whereabouts since she went missing a day ago on her way back home from college. To add to the fear, Rani's finger is strung alongwith lemon and green chilles and hung over the entrance Arockiaraj's house. DCP Raghavan is summonned from Chennai to crack Arockiaraj's daughter's disappearance and for Raghavan it's simply a case of helping his mentor and associate in a time of need. The case is cracked in a day when Raghavan retrieves the disfigured corpse of Rani from a way side abandoned field. The news shatters Arockiaraj and Chitra and the fact that she was raped and sheared into two pieces adds to the agony the characters go through.
Arockiaraj and Chitra leave for the US for some rest and to disconnect from the memories of the local land while Raghavan get's on with his duties in Chennai when a call from the uS shakes him up. Arockiaraj and Rani are butchered in the US and the cops in the US suspect an execution. Raghavan persuades his boss (the DGP) to send him overseas to investigate this alongwith the cops in the US. During the flight to the US, we are introduced to Kayalvizhi who was Raghavan's wife and was killed by goons in Tirunelveli. It's here that we see that Raghavan also engages in encounters to wipe out anti social elements from the face of the earth. There is a beautiful song which is neatly shot and shows the intimacy that the couple share.
Anderson is the US contact for Raghavan and together they make a fine company. Anderson and Raghavan hit upon vital clue which links the murder of Rani to a string of murders in the US and one of them had a finger cut and strung along with lemon and green chillies like Raghavan has seen back in Madurai in Arockiaraj's house. Raghavan's stay in New York leads him to get friendly with Aradhana who appears to have a sordid past. Deserted by her husband for another woman, Aradhana tries to commit suicide but Raghavan's intervention saves her. Glances turn into interests and Aradhana starts sharing her sorrow with Raghavan while Raghavan develops a liking for Aradhana.
Raghavan's gut feeling leads them to a deserted fort which has four corpses buried under sand. All corpses have been butchered, mutilated and raped before being killed. They lay a trap and wait till the suspects walk into it. The second half of the movie is all about how they find the killers and do they manage to eliminate them and most importantly at what personal loss. Since this movie has released today, I wouldn't want to give away the suspense and as a gesture of encouraging people to watch this movie in the cinema halls, I will leave the story here and get into other areas.
The production
The first thing that hits me hard is the superlative production values this film has. It's a wholesome product technically with excellent camerawork, taut editing (it's not too tight at all), good music and awesome sound. I saw this movie in a dts theater and I should add that the sound mix for this movie is anything but one among the best from South India in recent times. The next thing that is instantly noticeable is the stalwart called Kamal Hassan, as DCP Raghavan, Kamal Hassan oozes charm, pumps in the required elan and poise that is required of a upright police officer. The scene where he hugs his dead wife and cries takes acting to a higher sphere altogether.
This movie has top class action sequences. They are well choreographed and neatly edited out to look as authentic as possible and not overtly relying on the matrix like sequences which our filmmakers have clinged onto in recent times. Balaji as Amudhan has done a classic performance. Telling you what he does in this movie would mean that I will have to give part of the story out and hence I refrain from that. Kamalinee as Kayalvizhi drifts in the part of Kamal's first wife like a dream. She's very beautiful and deserved more footage but in a cop movie we can't expect more. Jyothika as Aradhana for once in her life looks better than her Kushi looks and has atleast attempted to emote. Prakash Raj as Arockiaraj plays his role to perfection, he's got his own share of crying to do which he does with little effort.
Harris Jeyaraj has given good songs to this movie and his background score for this movie is a lot better than the run of the mill soundtracks that one hears. The background score is simply awesome in parts, I wish it was more continuous and symphonic. The title bit before the song in a way signalled and tuned the audiences to what was in store. Full credits to Harris and his sound engineering/recording/mixing team for coming up trumps in this venture. Ravi Varman's camera does full justice to New York, Manhattan and Brooklyn. There are crane shots, sunset shots, shots on the river and one song shot in Kerala (Kuttanad to be precise). Cinematography is top class, that's the verdict in short.
Anthony has always had his own place in editing and in this movie he's given a slick and glossy product. Kudos to him. All songs are well shot and are surely going to make business in song DVDs and VCDs. The murder scenes depicted in the movie are gory and tough to watch so be warned of them before hand. One rape scene shown in the movie is very depressing to see despite the absence of skin show. Tight close ups of the lead actors are shot brilliantly. Gautam Menon has excelled and matured as a director with this movie and the fact that all departments have played their part is a big testimony to the work of the director. Come on Gautam, make a cop movie with Rajini, I can't wait to see that. Now for some trivia which I noticed or am adding to here. If anything is wrong, feel free to email me.
Trivia
# Post mortem is shown as 08:30 PM, since when government hospitals started doing this after 06:00 PM.
# This is an example of art direction and good production, check out the photos of Christ in Arockiaraj's house when he is shown first and the picture of St.George in the entrance. I liked the metaphor it was when the severed finger and St.George who is believed to be the destroyer of evil.
# I don't know why the priest shown in Rani's funeral is not Catholic given the fact that we are exposed to he above ymbols. I assume he is orthodox but Arockiaraj doesn't appear to be one.
# Jyothika refers to a Ben Kingsley movie where the main character attempts suicide by tying his face up in a polythene bag, this movie is 'House of sand and fog'.
# I liked the way Kamal responds 'Hardware' to a question by Jyothika asking if he was working in 'software'.
# There is a scene towards the end of the movie where Kamal Hasan is shown wearing a Ray Ban aviator model glass and in more than one occasion the camera directly shoots the cooling glass showing a reflection of Jyothika in it. What's interesting is that we don't see the camera man nor the reflectors in Kamal's coolers which is sure shot good work
# Jyothika calling her daughter Maya (Jyothika's name in Kaakka Kaakka) and Balaji calling his buddy Ilamaran (Balaji's name in Kaakka Kaaka) is bound to draw attention to Gautam's previous movie.
# Kamal's motocycle has a registration plate with number as white instead of black in the Tirunelveli flashback sequences. That's authentic given the fact that the white number plates came into force from the 20th of Feb 2002. This is surely attention to detail.
# In the same period that as above, the OMNI van that is used to abduct Kayalvizhi has a white number plate and so does the minivan which Kamal and Prakashraj drive to reach the goon's den to rescue Kayalvizhi is also appropriate since tourist/commercial vehicles had a white number plate.
The movie opens in typical North Madras style if you are familiar with this territory. This is the land of Manali Ghajja, Royapuram Mani, Kasimedu Siva, Ennore Chidambaram. The movie opens like a typical tamil underworld movie with Royapuram Mani hurling abuses about a cop on the phone and asking for his eye. Within minutes the protaganist enters the scene which is heroic, forceful and right over the top.Raghavan a.k.a DCP (Deputy Commissioner of Police) Raghavan is a duty conscious police officer who gives two hoots about the spirit of the law when it comes to tackling anti social elements. He's straight and he's fearless and walks into any situation with elan and poise which only a honest and gutsy cop can have. The audience is treated to a melange of visuals as the titles flow in with 'Karka karka' playing alongside. This is Chennai, it's hip, it's happenning and it's sleek and well cut.
In Madurai, DCP Arockiaraj and Chitra are concerned about her daughter Rani's whereabouts since she went missing a day ago on her way back home from college. To add to the fear, Rani's finger is strung alongwith lemon and green chilles and hung over the entrance Arockiaraj's house. DCP Raghavan is summonned from Chennai to crack Arockiaraj's daughter's disappearance and for Raghavan it's simply a case of helping his mentor and associate in a time of need. The case is cracked in a day when Raghavan retrieves the disfigured corpse of Rani from a way side abandoned field. The news shatters Arockiaraj and Chitra and the fact that she was raped and sheared into two pieces adds to the agony the characters go through.
Arockiaraj and Chitra leave for the US for some rest and to disconnect from the memories of the local land while Raghavan get's on with his duties in Chennai when a call from the uS shakes him up. Arockiaraj and Rani are butchered in the US and the cops in the US suspect an execution. Raghavan persuades his boss (the DGP) to send him overseas to investigate this alongwith the cops in the US. During the flight to the US, we are introduced to Kayalvizhi who was Raghavan's wife and was killed by goons in Tirunelveli. It's here that we see that Raghavan also engages in encounters to wipe out anti social elements from the face of the earth. There is a beautiful song which is neatly shot and shows the intimacy that the couple share.
Anderson is the US contact for Raghavan and together they make a fine company. Anderson and Raghavan hit upon vital clue which links the murder of Rani to a string of murders in the US and one of them had a finger cut and strung along with lemon and green chillies like Raghavan has seen back in Madurai in Arockiaraj's house. Raghavan's stay in New York leads him to get friendly with Aradhana who appears to have a sordid past. Deserted by her husband for another woman, Aradhana tries to commit suicide but Raghavan's intervention saves her. Glances turn into interests and Aradhana starts sharing her sorrow with Raghavan while Raghavan develops a liking for Aradhana.
Raghavan's gut feeling leads them to a deserted fort which has four corpses buried under sand. All corpses have been butchered, mutilated and raped before being killed. They lay a trap and wait till the suspects walk into it. The second half of the movie is all about how they find the killers and do they manage to eliminate them and most importantly at what personal loss. Since this movie has released today, I wouldn't want to give away the suspense and as a gesture of encouraging people to watch this movie in the cinema halls, I will leave the story here and get into other areas.
The production
The first thing that hits me hard is the superlative production values this film has. It's a wholesome product technically with excellent camerawork, taut editing (it's not too tight at all), good music and awesome sound. I saw this movie in a dts theater and I should add that the sound mix for this movie is anything but one among the best from South India in recent times. The next thing that is instantly noticeable is the stalwart called Kamal Hassan, as DCP Raghavan, Kamal Hassan oozes charm, pumps in the required elan and poise that is required of a upright police officer. The scene where he hugs his dead wife and cries takes acting to a higher sphere altogether.
This movie has top class action sequences. They are well choreographed and neatly edited out to look as authentic as possible and not overtly relying on the matrix like sequences which our filmmakers have clinged onto in recent times. Balaji as Amudhan has done a classic performance. Telling you what he does in this movie would mean that I will have to give part of the story out and hence I refrain from that. Kamalinee as Kayalvizhi drifts in the part of Kamal's first wife like a dream. She's very beautiful and deserved more footage but in a cop movie we can't expect more. Jyothika as Aradhana for once in her life looks better than her Kushi looks and has atleast attempted to emote. Prakash Raj as Arockiaraj plays his role to perfection, he's got his own share of crying to do which he does with little effort.
Harris Jeyaraj has given good songs to this movie and his background score for this movie is a lot better than the run of the mill soundtracks that one hears. The background score is simply awesome in parts, I wish it was more continuous and symphonic. The title bit before the song in a way signalled and tuned the audiences to what was in store. Full credits to Harris and his sound engineering/recording/mixing team for coming up trumps in this venture. Ravi Varman's camera does full justice to New York, Manhattan and Brooklyn. There are crane shots, sunset shots, shots on the river and one song shot in Kerala (Kuttanad to be precise). Cinematography is top class, that's the verdict in short.
Anthony has always had his own place in editing and in this movie he's given a slick and glossy product. Kudos to him. All songs are well shot and are surely going to make business in song DVDs and VCDs. The murder scenes depicted in the movie are gory and tough to watch so be warned of them before hand. One rape scene shown in the movie is very depressing to see despite the absence of skin show. Tight close ups of the lead actors are shot brilliantly. Gautam Menon has excelled and matured as a director with this movie and the fact that all departments have played their part is a big testimony to the work of the director. Come on Gautam, make a cop movie with Rajini, I can't wait to see that. Now for some trivia which I noticed or am adding to here. If anything is wrong, feel free to email me.
Trivia
# Post mortem is shown as 08:30 PM, since when government hospitals started doing this after 06:00 PM.
# This is an example of art direction and good production, check out the photos of Christ in Arockiaraj's house when he is shown first and the picture of St.George in the entrance. I liked the metaphor it was when the severed finger and St.George who is believed to be the destroyer of evil.
# I don't know why the priest shown in Rani's funeral is not Catholic given the fact that we are exposed to he above ymbols. I assume he is orthodox but Arockiaraj doesn't appear to be one.
# Jyothika refers to a Ben Kingsley movie where the main character attempts suicide by tying his face up in a polythene bag, this movie is 'House of sand and fog'.
# I liked the way Kamal responds 'Hardware' to a question by Jyothika asking if he was working in 'software'.
# There is a scene towards the end of the movie where Kamal Hasan is shown wearing a Ray Ban aviator model glass and in more than one occasion the camera directly shoots the cooling glass showing a reflection of Jyothika in it. What's interesting is that we don't see the camera man nor the reflectors in Kamal's coolers which is sure shot good work
# Jyothika calling her daughter Maya (Jyothika's name in Kaakka Kaakka) and Balaji calling his buddy Ilamaran (Balaji's name in Kaakka Kaaka) is bound to draw attention to Gautam's previous movie.
# Kamal's motocycle has a registration plate with number as white instead of black in the Tirunelveli flashback sequences. That's authentic given the fact that the white number plates came into force from the 20th of Feb 2002. This is surely attention to detail.
# In the same period that as above, the OMNI van that is used to abduct Kayalvizhi has a white number plate and so does the minivan which Kamal and Prakashraj drive to reach the goon's den to rescue Kayalvizhi is also appropriate since tourist/commercial vehicles had a white number plate.
