Spoilers ahead…
Read the full review on Film Companion, here: http://www.filmcompanion.in/article/vikram-vedha-movie-review
The latter half of the title of Pushkar-Gayatri’s Vikram Vedha belongs to the gangster played by Vijay Sethupathi. Even before we set eyes on him – and it’s a while into the movie before he swaggers in – he’s something of a legend. Cops speak in awe of the time he leapt from the first floor of a building, knife in hand, and sliced through a man’s head. And when news gets around that he has surfaced, it feels like Satan himself has emerged from his underground lair.
An ordinary masala movie would pit a god against this demon – and indeed, the first half of the title (R Madhavan) does come across like the scourge of evil, a saviour. He’s an encounter cop, but he’s able to sleep guiltlessly because he’s convinced the men he’s pumping bullets into are bad men who deserve to die. But slowly, the paint starts peeling away. Rather, the colour of his tees undergo a change. During the first meeting of Vikram and Vedha, the former is in white, the latter in black. By their last meeting, Vikram is in grey. He knows now that it isn’t a clear-cut line between good and evil.
The notion that cops and gangsters are but two sides of the same coin isn’t new: Michael Mann’s Heat is a brilliant exploration of how a cop who thinks he is doing good may be more messed up than the gangster. But Pushkar-Gayatri have decided to tell their story through the prism of the Vikram/Vetaal folklore – hence the title. The film opens with an animated stretch with the king Vikram high up in his castle, and soon, in pursuit of the vampire Vetaal, he plunges deep into a lake, a metaphorical hell. The creature latches onto his back and begins to narrate stories that are the old-world answer to a grey T-shirt: there’s a moral conundrum at the end.
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2017 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
jaga_jaga
July 21, 2017
Came back after seeing this superb superb superb movie! Even before reading the review. And commenting even before I read your review!
I have one question. Please answer this. The first time, when Vedha tells his story, Vikram patiently hears. Makes sense. That is part of a confession. But the second time, when Vedha tells his story – that is when Vikram is about to kill Vedha. Why on earth should Vikram listen to Vedha the second time?? He could have just killed him, right?
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jaga_jaga
July 21, 2017
“For I liked the film more when I was thinking back about it than while I was sitting through it. ”
precisely the same feeling I went through. Why Vedha sways Vikram, to the extent he does has not been executed properly! Had that been done, it would have been a flawless movie!
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brangan
July 21, 2017
jaga_jaga: I too wasn’t convinced by this. As I said in my review:
“King Vikram was forced to hear Vetaal out because if he didn’t, his head would shatter into a thousand pieces. This Vikram’s reason simply seems to be “the screenplay told me so.””
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jaga_jaga
July 21, 2017
Very true, and you captured it beautifully in your review. Yet another thing, I am unable to fathom is, Madhavan – when he goes in search of who might have been behind the death of the informer, zeroes in on this tall-lanky dude. Was there any logic behind it? Why go behind that person? Or are we to believe that it was some “Police instinct”??
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Sowmya Natarajan
July 21, 2017
Im watching the movie on Sunday afternoon after much trepidation and thought. Have heard good things so far. Fingers crossed
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Balasubramanian Ramakrishnan
July 21, 2017
It was a mixture of the so-called “Police instinct” plus the story told by Vedha where he mentioned about these Kerala Quotation rowdies. That scene was actually nailed by Maddy with instantly varying expressions powered by his amazing histrionic skills.
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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
July 21, 2017
Glad that you mentioned P. S. Vinod – a school junior used to apprentice under him. He did a splendid job in Aaranya Kaandam. When it comes to “moving the camera continuously through the bars of a window”, he ranks next only to Ashok Kumar and Santosh Sivan.
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Rahul Tyagi
July 21, 2017
Brangan, what’s the title of the “Nee Pona” song you mention? I couldn’t find a song by that name in the tracklist.
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brangan
July 22, 2017
Rahul Tyagi: My bad. It’s actually titled “Pogatha Yennavittu”
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jaga_jaga
July 22, 2017
@ Balasubramanium Ramakrishnan – The “police instinct” part is OK-ish. But that thing about Kerala quotation gang. Why that particular person?? Why not anyone else too from that gang?? Any answers for it?
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Balasubramanian Ramakrishnan
July 22, 2017
@jaga_jaga – Vikram gathers his concentration and focuses on what’s happening around him at that point and he hears a Malayalam word thrown at someone. He sees that it was that tall, lanky baldo who spoke that word and the story told by Vedha strikes him immediately. That must’ve probably propelled him to follow that Keralite.
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Anuja Chandramouli
July 22, 2017
Sure there were a couple of minor quibbles for me as well, but still I am overwhelmingly in love with this film and wanna watch it all over again ASAP. I absolutely loved the little details involving the hand a person favours and how it is relevant in a climatic moment. The fact that a heroine asks for a large whiskey or that a character strips because he figures that it is impossible to stay mad at somebody when they are naked….
“For I liked the film more when I was thinking back about it than while I was sitting through it. ” BR and Jaga it was the other way around for me. I was totally swept along by the infectious response from the audience (so glad that the first day show excitement is still something so incredibly special 😀 ) It was as I walked away that some of the niggling issues cropped up. Chandra and Pulli’s story got shortchanged IMO and they could have left our that awful sarakku song and ironed out the kinks in an otherwise awesome film. Still, Maddy (how cute is he?) and the superb Vijay S more than made up for any shortcomings.
PS: Vikram listened to Vedha, the first, second and third times for the same reason Schererazade’s (not sure about the spelling) wife murdering husband listened for one thousand and one sultry Arabian nights.
PPS: A loud audience member cried out that he had watched a super Tamil film after a really long time. I agree with him.
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mrinalnarayan
July 22, 2017
@brangan Agree that they could have made that “ok I will listen to the story” part a bit more convincing. But Vikrama’s head would burst if he kept quite after knowing the answer as per the tale and not if he is not willing to listen to the tell at the first place.. Now does that change anything in the way we see it?
Wiki reference:
“King Vikrama faces many difficulties in bringing the vetala to the tantric. Each time Vikram tries to capture the vetala, it tells a story that ends with a riddle. If Vikrama cannot answer the question correctly, the vampire consents to remain in captivity. If the king knows the answer but still keeps quiet, then his head shall burst into thousand pieces.”
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Uma
July 22, 2017
Watched this superb movie here in Southern California and the audience enthusiastically clapped at the end. Yes, portions of the movie were not convincing yet the movie was extremely engaging and very well made. Throughly enjoyed a Tamil movie after a very long time. And the background music Na Na Na, even though it was so loud orpathbreaking music was very catchy and atleast I would remember it for many many years like the BGMs from Agni. Natchathiram or Nayagan.
It is interesting BR that you noticed Madhavan’s shirts.!Any idea who the costume designer is? Shraddha’s blouses and Sarees were awesome. Wonder if they are from hastavem?
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jaga_jaga
July 22, 2017
@ Ramakrishnan – Thanks man! So effectively, it was based on instinct, and the person he happened to catch seems to be someone of use coincidentally. Else I have a problem with the logic.
The problem I have with Madhavan catching the guy based on the story heard is that, for him (Vikram), he has after all only HEARD the story. We the audience SAW it on screen. So merely based on hearing a story, if he can map the voice of a person (in the story which he just heard, and did not see) to a face is quite unbelievable!
@Anuja – I agree about enjoying every bit of the movie even when I was watching it, given the fantastic ambiance provided by a close-to-frenzy first day crowd. But those were for the “Mass Moments”. Not for the tautness int he screenplay. W.r.t how tight the screenplay was, it wasn’t until I watched the movie fully (and after the climax scene) that I realized, OK there is something here. Until then, I felt the non-linear narration was hazy, and to some extent did interrupt my enjoyment of the movie intellectually. Although, the directors did a fantastic job of keeping me guessing, and I was definitely floored by the end of it all.
In both the Arabian Nights and the Vikram Vetal stories – why someone heard someone else, is because if the listener doesn’t hear, he/she will die! It was definitely compelling.
See my problem was only with the second time Vedha tells the story. Why Vikram listens the (first time as part of a confession), and the third time during the climax (when he knows he can kind-of trust Vedha, and he is really desperate to know who the hell killed Simon), is easily fathomable.
But the second time, had the screen-play been better. Instead of Vedha saying “naa oru kadha solren. onakku daan kadha kekka pidikum, enakku solla pidikum blah blah”. Had there been a dialogue of the kind, “Vikram anyways you’re going to kill me. But you should be desperate about your friend’s death right. Now hear a story and see if you can understand why your friend was killed”. Maybe that would have made it better?
Else I am perfectly fine with this story. A very good movie. Made me very happy to have spent the time to watch it!
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MANK
July 22, 2017
Brangan, did you notice the influences from Fincher’s Seven?
Right from VJS introduction scene which is very similar to Kevin spacey’s surrender scene from seven, the character of vedha seems to be an extension of spacey’s John doe. All that philosophy about good and evil and the biblical deadly sins.even that plot point about the moral dilemma that he instigates in the cop’s marriage which is not fully explored,as you mentioned.
This also seem to be influenced by another spacey starrer The usual suspects, where spacey tells one tale after another in front of a cop.
Having said that, it takes great imagination to dig out the Vikram vetaal concept out of those influences. It was a very engaging film without any dull moments Agree about PS Vinod. His framing and lighting Is brilliant. I was riveted throughout. I Agree with Anuja there. I never felt any issues while watching the film. Now when looking back I find quite a few flaws
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MANK
July 22, 2017
Jagajaga, Madhavan zeroes in on a malayalam abuse spoken by the tall goon and nails him. Madhavan’s performance in the film is brilliant and one of his best
Btw Is it the first time in Tamil Cinema where hero and heroine bond while ordering an exact measure of whiskey?. Or even the first instance where we have a middle class wife sharing a drink with her husband unapologetically . That’s the effect of having a husband and wife director duo at the helm , I guess. There is a refreshingly new dimension to man and wife relationships portrayed in the film that one doesn’t get to see often in mainstream Tamil film.
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Rahul
July 23, 2017
I saw this movie in Woodside cinemas in Toronto, and good news for non tamil speakers that it is adequately subtitled. Had not read this review and I saw it only because not enough tamil releases are subtitled and wanted to watch it on the big screen.
There are little things about it , mostly technical , that made me enjoy this so much. The camera man probably could not frame a scene in an uninteresting way if he tried. One of the many examples is the scene between the brothers Vedha and Pulli when Vedha gives him a toy gun and they play with it. That scene foreshadows that Pulli would involve himself with his brothers affairs in some way. Also, that the happiness and camaraderie that the brothers are sharing is not going to last long just like the bubbles blown by the toy gun…
Then, the way Vikram traces his line of thought from the burn on his wife’s hand to the mark on Pullis hand and then understands the real meaning behind Vedha’s story. This is not overtly clever but paced perfectly and organically. I think there is also enough reason here for Vikram to hear Vedha’s story the second time. The first time he did, he comes to know of Pulli’s back story and doubt is created in his mind about his methods. He also sees , what Vedha also later claims, that his stories are not that simple, it was not just for fun but based on his answer Vedha does something. In short, Vedha has succeeded in getting inside Vikram’s mind (or on his back) after he tells him the first story.
Another thing I liked about the movie is the perfect balance between different themes. None of the themes or motifs come in the way of the story and entertainment value. Vikram and Vetaal story is a brilliant framing device, but it was not overused, and the movie would have been entertaining even without it. There was a little bit of political subtext (Vedha saying that both of us bleed in a similar way), but it was not necessary to do a crash course in the politics of the region to get the movie as was in Kabali. Vijay Sethupathi is probably a huge star, and though he gets his massy scenes. but he was not shown doing impossible stuff here just for the peanut gallery. In fact, some scenes are quite subversive, like the one with the glasses, he is shown to mock the star aura – as in , he is thinking of where to pee but because of the glasses people think he is up to something cool. In another scene Vedha mocks mass movie conventions when he says about the factories – if they are made just for fighting.
I sense that there are , probably , other subversive elements in the movie, that would come to me after a second viewing and/or after some time.
The female characters are strong but the movie takes its feminism very matter of factly. When Chandra hits back it is not just because she has been hit , it’s also because she has pent up feelings..
I have couple of questions –
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Jaana Tom
July 23, 2017
This is an utterly captivating movie. A few flaws aside (i.e. the particularly egregious placement of the water-beating song), the film made a convincing delve into the complexities associated with what is considered ‘good’ versus what is considered ‘bad’. What a welcome change from the usual cop glorification and/or criminal glorification centric mass movies! The buddy-cop dynamic (hehe, for a lack of a better word) among the male leads, really sells the underlying tension and inherent wariness between them. It is this consistent build up of these two characters that really sells the ending.
It’s also a testament to Vijay Sethupathi’s acting chops, that Vedha is effectively shown to be quirky, personable and untrustworthy at the same time. Madhavan too, nailed the understandably frustrated, descending into self-doubt cop (particularly in the latter half). This film definitely warrants a re-watching for the two’s interactions alone.
Now if only some of the other stars in Kollywood would consider playing characters other than misogynistic, paragons of virtue – who also double as a Bruce Lee-Superman hybrid on the fighting end. There are only so many predictable movies that one can see, please actors…consider spicing up your CV.
P.S. Mr. Tom thinks that the ending is an excellent set up for a sequel or two. Who wouldn’t want to hear another one of Vedha’s stories (okay, except for poor Vikram)?
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hari ohm
July 23, 2017
What a splendid movie. Loved it from the get go. I liked both the earlier movies of the director duo. So was expecting a good movie from them, but this one exceeded all expectations. Leaving the hall I had a good laugh, the one which comes after watching a movie which has given me a good time
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Jayram Sataluri
July 23, 2017
I saw this on the first show in Atlanta on Friday and I enjoyed it. There were no movie trailers prior; it started on time (1:10 pm) by immediately displaying the smoking and drinking warning (Madhavan in English, Vijay Sethupathi in Tamil). And as Rahul mentions, there are subtitles (although some were not grammatically correct).
Pushkar-Gayathri skillfully retell Vikram-Vetaal into an engaging and entertaining movie which doesn’t insult the audience’s intelligence, but makes them part of the journey. The plot wasn’t complicated, but was gripping. Cinematography was great.
There were some quibbles as the others have pointed, but the presence and acting prowess of Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi more than make up for them. When these two combine together, they create fireworks both for the masses and the classes. Madhavan’s gruff voice along with his frustration, weariness, pensiveness and ultimate realization that good and evil may not be as black and white as he was conditioned to believe is remarkable. Vijay Sethupathi literally becomes Vedha on screen. His line delivery, his swagger, his multitude of facial appearances and expressions captivate the audience thoroughly. He provides excellent comic relief and his flashback scenes are great.
I felt Vikram’s obsession with Vedha along with his self-doubt about right and wrong after the first time made him listen to Vedha the second time. He wanted to break Vedha the first time, but ended up damaging his personal and professional life. The more he thought about Vedha’s tale, the more he began to realize the line between good and evil was blurring. If he had killed Vedha, he wouldn’t have figured out what was the motive behind Simon’s death. And Vedha was the missing piece of the puzzle he needed to solve the problem. Therefore the second time sequence made sense to me as he needed Vedha alive and I don’t think any additional dialogue would have improved it.
Did anyone like the second time when Vedha jumped on Vikram and choked him with the handcuffs as if it was an ode to Vetaal on Vikram’s shoulders?
I wouldn’t mind watching a sequel if it comes to fruition.
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jaga_jaga
July 24, 2017
Hey Rahul and all the folks out here who say he (Vikram) wanted to hear Vedha the second time – that wasn’t at all clear to me. Remember Vikram wanted to kill Vedha, right in that container shipyard. With the working assumption that he (Vedha) he had killed Simon, Vikram wanted to prolong Vedha’s death, so he inflicted a few blows. By the time he (Vikram) wanted to kill him (Vedha), sufficient crowd had gathered, so he took him away to only kill him. Not listen to his stories! Even when in the car, Vikram didn’t seem interested in the stories. Same is the case when Vedha was on his knees, and awaiting a bullet to pierce through his skull. Suddenly this story business at this stage did dilute the awesomeness of this otherwise impeccable movie!
Am I missing something here? Please do feel free to correct me!
@Mank and Ramakrishnan – Thanks for clarifying how Vikram nailed that guy. Part of the problem for me was, I didn’t even know that Vikram hears a Malayalam expletive during that scene. For me, it was some random noise! Maybe the directors could have made that clearer for those who don’t know Malayalam? Now I get the full thought process here.
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praneshp
July 24, 2017
Surprised no one had comments on Vijay Sethupathi’s intro scene. One of the massiest for me in recent times.
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Rahul
July 24, 2017
Jaga_Jaga , if you look at who Vikram is, and how the first encounter between Vikram and Vedha went, then I think there is a workable theory on why the events panned out as they did.
Vikram is a guy who sees the world in black and white .(We do not know why, except that his Dad was like that. Perhaps the prequel will have more details) It must be a hard life where in his opinion about half of the world is wrong, criminal etc. Talking in terms of freudian formulations,Vikram works on the basis of his id (https://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html) He mentions at some point too that he takes one look at the person and then goes by his instinct (which Freud calls id)
On the other hand, Vedha has a fairly active superego. His moral conscience is awake and when Pulli’s hand is marked, he does not go after who did the deed , but the mastermind.
Going back to when Vedha poses this question to Vikram as an ethical dilemma , Vikrams response is very interesting. He says, why not go after both ? He still does not want to differentiate between the one who plans and instigates and the one who executes. Vedha’s response is equally interesting. He says, if you kill one, the other will abscond, so he can choose to punish only one. Vedha is leaving the moral decision making to Vikram but he is pushing Vikram towards that choice by a logical constraint. So he is not appealing to Vikrams superego directly but hoping it awakens itself , when given a logical conundrum. This is one of the techniques in cognitive behavioral therapy.
So, its clear that , for one, Vikram is undergoing a conflict between his id and superego. And secondly, the question posed by Vedha to him is like a visit to the therapist. So, when he sees Vedha, his instinct tells him to kill him in any which way he wants , but at the same time a part of him feels that his superego is awakening because of Vedha’s questions which are acting as therapy sessions for him. So , it is understandable that he initially takes Vedha for the purpose of killing but at the last moment he cannot resist the temptation to have him narrate another story and pose another question, as he feels that it has a transformative effect on him.
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pato
July 24, 2017
BR: I remember you commenting on thalapathi’s friendship scene that since we know the original story between Karnan and duryodhan,we are convinced by their instant bond.
Here also, it didn’t bother me that vikram listened to vedha’s story because i was aware that is how it is going to be. If we question structure of narrative here,there are many places in this film where we can raise questions.
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anandgrafiti
July 24, 2017
@jaga_jaga one possible explanation is in Vikram’s belief that he knows a good guy vs a bad one by looking into his eyes (or something like that), but that aside, it does feel like a forced occurance to match the Vikram-Vethala vicious cycle. Going through the comments, I felt everyone loved Madhavan’s work, but to me he wasn’t convincing at all. His was the most complex character, and I felt he was underwhelming throughout. Vijay Sethupathi stole the screen and our mindshare from the first frame he entered itself with his charisma, and we don’t really get to empathise with Vikram’s choices and moral/mental compass unbiased because of that. I really wished for a better actor doing his role. Also i felt the format could have been so much better if it was conceived as a mini series consisting of 3-4, 50 minutes episodes, where we get enough time to study the characters and their moral dilemma even better.
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brangan
July 24, 2017
pato: I am not saying that that is a deal-breaker. Just that it would have made the movie more convincing to have a REASON for Vikram to listen to Vedha’s stories, especially as they are at such polar ends of every spectrum you can imagine.
When you deal with generic concepts like friendship and love, you can do without this REASON. Since you brought up Thalapathy, let me give a couple of Mani Ratnam examples. Why does Arvind Swamy fall for Manisha so quickly? How do Rajini and Mammooty become such thick friends in such a short time?
Would I have liked a little more detailing in these bits? YES. But do they keep gnawing at me while processing the rest of the film? NO.
But when you move out of the generic and get into the specific — or, when you are doing something that’s very different and new — then it helps to convince the audience about the WHY.
Why does VC suddenly begin to think of Leela as his Holy Grail? This is not convincingly presented in the film, and a huge part of his redemption is based on this. Similarly, here. A lot of people are able to suspend their disbelief and say that this is based on the legend and so I don’t need a WHY. But for me, the WHY would have gone a long way towards establishing a more convincing narrative.
Especially as these are not your usual disbelief-suspending masalas. These films are more rooted and REAL.
In both VC’s and Vikram’s cases, the decision — to go after Leela, to listen to Vedha — is based on INNER thought, which cannot be shown on screen. So one way to deal with this is to extrapolate the way Rahul does so beautifully above, and say, “This is what must have happened.”
Here, I wasn’t able to get around it so easily.
Again, not a deal-breaker. More of a chin-scratcher.
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sowmya natarajan
July 24, 2017
@brangan follow up to my previous comment-finally watched the movie.
If it interests you, you may read my review on http://ofmountainsandstreams.blogspot.com/2017/07/vikram-vedha-2017.html
Cheers
Sowmya
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Sathyanarayanan N
July 24, 2017
My take – It’s about who should deserve the punishment – the doer or the instigator. Each character is well written and there is no scene which was out of context and that explains good writing. Director of Mahendran, once said referring his movie “Mullum Malarum”, I hate characters turning good in the last scene. Evil or good is here to stay if we are brought up in that atmosphere and that was exemplified where Ravi and Vedha grown up in Vyasarpadi but with different mindset as one uses kids to protect himself without any remorse and the other made sure his brother’s identity is well protected. It was further exemplified with Madhavan’s brought up as he would say, there are just two things “right or wrong”. To say the writing was brilliant would be an understatement.
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Deepa
July 24, 2017
There was a huge round of applause from the audience after the movie. I think , thats enough. More we dissect, the more we end up being critical. I enjoyed the movie.
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brangan
July 24, 2017
Deepa: More we dissect, the more we end up being critical.
What an odd thing to say. No one here is “criticising.” We are “analysing.”
You’re new to this blog and its commenters, aren’t you? 🙂
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Deepa
July 24, 2017
I have been here for ages BR. Silent observer, most of the times. I know you guys analyse even the most intricate details. It’s just , i loved the movie. May be, completely jaundiced to look into the lapses… 😊
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jaga_jaga
July 24, 2017
@Rahul – Hey thanks for your great piece of explanation! I fully agree with you.
The next sentence in such pieces should begin with “however”…LOL!
So, however the problem I have with the movie (not with your explanation) is that, see this Vikram Vetal concept has been touted as being central to the movie. Why should such a central concept require so much afterthought, “dissections”, and “analysis”? Shouldn’t that be so well established as part of the movie itself that, nobody questions it?
But that did not happen, and I for one am not the only one having this gripe! BR seems to have it too, and so do many other reviewers, as far as I know. That such a central theme in itself, requires so much explanation is what I call as “shoddiness”, in the worst of my moods, and “cute” in the best of my moods!
For me it was more than a “chin scratch”. It was more like “hair pluck”, and a feeling, how come they miss this? I mean are we supposed to buy it just because it is already announced that this movie is going to be based on Vikram Vetal? Shouldn’t it be woven more naturally (than it is now) in the script, so that no one says “Bravo, this is a very good movie, but…”?
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jaga_jaga
July 24, 2017
@anandgrafiti – Thanks man! With Madhavan in action roles, I’ve always had a problem with how fast and illegibly he speaks. Personally, I feel that fits-in perfectly well for chocolate boy roles. But for roles demanding authority, although he does have the smarts, has worked on his body, has amazing persona and everything, the moment he starts speaking, I feel let down! It is not the accent or pronunciation. It is more the careless style of diction (which is his natural style) and what looks to me like a toddler mouthing some words!
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shaviswa
July 24, 2017
Madhavan is one of the better actors in Tamil. His delivering is also quite good….Tamil diction is pretty good actually.
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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
July 25, 2017
Jaga_jaga: Ha, true that! I first noticed it in Seeman’s Thambi.
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shaviswa
July 25, 2017
His dialogue delivery* – shucks!! What was I thinking when I wrote the above comment? 😐
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chandra Prakash
July 25, 2017
Watched the movie on Sunday here in Edison NJ, only 9 people in the theatre, really surprised possible the other two days more people watched.
I liked Pushkar Gayatri ‘s Oram po and Vaa 1/4 cutting, both off beat movies, VV exceeded my expectations, superb performance by pretty much every one especially Maddy and Vijay Sethu. Pace slowed with some unnecessary songs.
Maddy’s solo performance while trying to decipher the mallu guy at the police informant search A++.
Any one imagined Prakash Raj in Vikram (Maddy) role, would have been a different kind of treat, not that Maddy didn’t justify his role.
A must watch
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Vinod G
July 25, 2017
Am I the only person who is drawing parallels between this movie and Raavanan? Both were based primarily on the blurring lines between good and bad. The crux of the structure of both movies was the usage of an epic/ mythological tale to get the story across. Please don’t get me wrong. I am not, for a second, questioning the originality of this movie. But, the inspiration seemed too strong to miss. I thought there were even a couple of dialogues in Vikram-Vedha which were almost there in Raavana.
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Sunny
July 25, 2017
I am a long time reader, so I am well aware of the intensity with which this community of readers dissect every tiny detail of various movies. While I do not always agree, I always have a lot of respect for people who love the art form so much.
However, I am a bit perplexed reading all these comments here – so everyone’s question is “Why didn’t Vikram kill Vedha when he had the chance?” I could go into very specific plot points which explain this, but leaving that aside, is this really a question that cinema goers can honestly ask about this one specific movie? If THIS is the premise that you cannot digest, then you cannot watch ANY action movie made on this planet – be it Hollywood or any other ***wood. Isn’t it the time honored technique in every movie – the villain has a perfect chance to kill the hero and finish the movie in 30 mins flat or vice versa and somehow instead of pulling the trigger, he will give his sworn enemy plenty of time to explain himself, thereby giving him enough of a runway for a quick escape (and torment the audience for another couple of hours). I have watched this happen in 99% of action movies, TV series, thriller novels etc.
At least in this movie, the makers respect the intelligence of the audience and instead of stuffing the above cliche down our throats, they set up a sophisticated Vikram aur Betal premise (did you find yourself humming the doordarshan title track 🙂 ). Also, there are several reasons why Vikram did not shoot at sight –
SPOILERS ****
First time in the police station – Vedha surrenders, drops his weapon and there are literally hundreds of cops around; Vikram cannot shoot
Interrogation room – The commissioner clearly states no violence, and the proceedings are recorded on camera. This is a high profile case, Vikram cannot just shoot a prisoner who surrendered
Harbor – Vikram is enraged at the death of his best friend and wants to inflict some serious pain on Vedha; by the time he is ready to shoot, a crowd has gathered
All encounters after this – Vikram is intrigued, he knows there is something sinister happening below the surface and he does not want to kill the only guy who can give him the answers
Yea, that simple. I personally loved the movie. The pace did not slow down even for a second. The BGM was iconic, reminded me of the amazing IR scores from Talapathy, Mouna ragam etc. And about Maddy and Vijay Sethupathi… it was like watching Kamal and Rajini on screen at the same time! May all the pretenders please move over, these two are the real superstars of today! Tons of kudos to Maddy – he has enough looks and acting chops to dominate the screen but he is secure enough to let others shine and hence let the story and movie shine.
Equally awesome was the attention to detail, and the relationships between the supporting case (especially between Half-boil and Vedha). Loved the inside jokes about VS needing to hit the gym and Maddy’s smile!
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jaga_jaga
July 25, 2017
@Honest Raj – haha very true that! Back then, he didn’t even have the abs to make-up for his dialogue delivery.
@Sunny – Most of what you say is fine but for two points.
“All encounters after this – Vikram is intrigued’ This is fine with the third time they meet. But the second time, post harbor when Vikram literally has Vedha on the knees, there is no way to justify that Vikram is intrigued based on the screenplay. Only a week a postereori rationalization can be done, only to justify the Vikram Vetal theme!
We are talking not merely about random action movies. But really good ones – like Vikram Vedha! If it were to be a crappy movie, of course our expectations would be misplaced. But why should the filmmakers, make this crucial peccadillo in an otherwise awesome movie??
Hence the feeling of letdown. Letdown is a big word, say something like “Aah having done so much, why did you miss this…?”
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
July 27, 2017
(Short and funny review by my uncle)
Overall very satisfying movie to spend about 205 including the astronomical parking charges. For a moment I was tempted to park the bike on the side road. But consoled myself that m. Kamal Hassan during his spare time when he is not doing panchayat duty on Bigg Boss, between Oviya and others, would take up my cause of lower parking charges in the multiplex. Or else people may be forced to use Uber or Ola that would be considerably cheaper to park your vehicle in the multiplex.
CARTOON : TAMILNADU’S SWEETHEART https://thezolazone.wordpress.com/2017/07/27/cartoon-tamilnadus-sweetheart/
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Ashwin
July 27, 2017
I was really looking forward to this movie with Maddy facing off Vijay sethupathy and I WANTED to like it. But I didn’t!
Do encounter teams barge in without bullet proof vests?
Vijay sethupathy jump diving and saving Maddy from a bullet! Cringe worthy.
Somehow I didn’t buy into the wife being a client of a dreaded gangster and lecturing about justice to her police officer husband. How real is that?
The bar song was a bore.
A few other such small turnoffs spoilt it for me.
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pato
July 29, 2017
Why did vikram reveal to vedha that puli was killed by ravi??I do understand that vedha asked a question and vikram is answering back but this is where i felt that to fit into vikram-betal storytelling template ,the character of vikram was somewhat compromised.
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GODZ
July 30, 2017
I am not sure. But this may be the first Tamil movie that features a Gay hero. Veda, I guess May be a gay in this movie. Although Not Specifically mentioned, There is always a chemistry on screen between “Half boil” and Veda that’s more than friendship. Half boil cares for Veda more than a friend(He says to go to the gym and not to drink). When “Half boil” sacrifices his life for Veda, Veda Says he Feels “Empty”. I may be wrong but that’s what I felt when I saw the movie as Veda don’t have a female pair which cannot be a co-incidence as Vikram says “There is always a reason to everything”.
Not a single scene is a waste in this movie. If you think of any individual scene in the movie it perfectly fits the whole and forms an integral part of the story. When young Chandra takes Rs.100, it gives a small clue that she has a natural love towards money. So when its revealed that she took away the money, that action is not a surprise but is in align with her character.
How many movies we watch where even “Nalli Elumbu” is used to move the story forward.
Whats amazing about the movie is that the directors treat even the front bench audiences as People who can think and figure out whats going on. When things are difficult to comprehend, the directors explains and answers through characters themselves(Ravi explains finally whats going on). A director who respects his audience will be respected back. This movie is a perfect example for that. Vikram Shirt color changes from White to gray as the movie progresses showing his shift in mindset.
Coming to Actors, All I can say is I am really looking forward to future Madhavan and VS movies. These are genuine actors who care for their audience and want to give a quality movie which is very evident from their Consistent good script selection. Eagerly looking forward to Vijay sethupathis performance in Aneethi Kadhaigal. That Performance will decide if he is one of the best actors not just in Tamil Cinema but in Indian Cinema.
Over all this is one of the best Tamil movies of the current decade. Great!!
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srinichennai
August 2, 2017
Many reviews mentioned the awesome entry scene of Vedha. Am I the only one who thinks this is directly inspired by James Spader’s entry in The Black List ? Though I must admit that it has been very smartly customised
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Sriram
August 5, 2017
Did anyone else notice the ‘metti oli’ title track in the background during the narration of the first story? I believe it was a conversation between Ravi and Sangu on the balcony late in the evening and you could hear ‘metti oli’s title track resounding through an apartment window. Loved the attention to detail here. Next morning, Vedha is seen pacifying pulli who is getting ready to school watching Shakthimaan. Makes me wonder when did Shakthimaan air during weekdays!
Big fan of this blog. Thanks BR.
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suganthi
August 8, 2017
Why would Ravi give the team both money & inside-info? Even by slyly giving info alone, the encounter would have happened..right?
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Anantha Narayanan
August 9, 2017
Finally saw Vikram Vedha today. A lot has been said and I am not going to add much.
One clear example of a movie made greater through tight, unwavering control of the script, something that is forgotten nowadays. I mean, a quiz question which would go unanswered is ‘Who wrote the script for Kapali’.
Also makes me realize the way the two films I saw recently were scripted so differently. I am referring to VV and Nibunan. A single example. In one, the police guy lives in an upmarket bungalow with swimming pool. In the other, in an ordinary government house.
The last 15 minutes of Nibunan made me tear off my non-existent hair. This film was true to its theme, to the end.
Hats off to Pushkar-Gayatri (After two eminently forgettable films, a film which would be talked of for many years) and the leading pair.
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palm_is_tree (@opunsoars)
August 11, 2017
Just a random thought. If a similar adaptation was made for a TV/web series with Madhavan & Sethupathi, how would it fare? With episodic structure (may be 10 episodes and that’s it). We have more compelling reason (or lack of) for why vikram would listen to vedha’s riddle tales.
The movie’s positives outweighed the negatives. Take away the fable and the compulsive cutting of edges to fit the screenplay to the fable, the movie is left with nothing much.
Related basket in bits: Bheema, Madras, Raman Raghav, Shaitan (?)
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Jetlagged
September 26, 2017
“And Vijay Sethupathi is fantastic, tossing away crowd-pleasing lines in the most casual fashion”
No doubts, it was indeed crowd pleasing and super fun to watch – the whole class/mass thing. Much much on the dot than other massy things we are given in other mass hero movies.
But this very same thing was a disappointment for me. The introduction to vedha was enormous. He was a legend. There had to be a fear element when he comes on screen, and ones he managed to do that and also remain massy, the movie would have attained it’s true potential. We don’t see the vetaal that we see in the cartoon. We wish it was even more than the cartoon vetaal. But the outcome is also cartoonish. This was a terrific chance for Vijay Sethupathi to come out of his comfort zone (which he himself seems to be acknowledging in quite a few of his recent interviews), but alas he plays safe and ends up making vetaal little caricaturish. The is nothing new in his delivery. There is nothing “legendish” when he reveals his bits and pieces. That itself would have made it compelling for Vikram to hear his next story. Leave alone Vikram, the audience would have felt compelled to hear the I next storu. We never get to see the vetaal who opens up his enemies vertical with a sickle. We get to see a vetaal who begs his friends for a small drink when they say he has become old and weak.
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Rocky
July 12, 2019
Watched it on Hotstar – Hindi dubbed .I have to say that the dubbing is very well done ( as against KGF dubbing ).
The movie is a good masala movie but there are a million holes and coincidences in the movie,The way Madhvan connects the dots and solves the puzzle while repairing his bike is just three much, and why would he stop everything and agree to listen to the stories??
But all that is forgiven because the screenplay is so tight/ no songs that one does not get bored at all.
Madhvan is very good, and his wife in the movie looks is so hot !!
The Vedha guy is average ( he looks like younger brother of Ganesh Acharya ) – I wish they had Vikram or Rana Duggabatti in that role.
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An Jo
August 24, 2022
HR rocks here; and how! He is terrific in the teaser. SAK, repeating the same act that he has done for decades, is plain bad.
Not interested in watching at all, what with having a seen fantastic performance from Madhavan followed by Sethupathi. And of course, the fact that 80% of the film had been attempted before in AKS; But in July 2000 or maybe 2001, this was a damn good film and Bachchan, at 58, coinciding with KBC, belted out one class of a performance.
Observe the brilliant scene between Manoj and Bachchan. The ‘dance of death’ enacted by Bachchan, no freaking actor can even attempt that…Shakespeare would have loved it to the hilt…
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