We watch many movies every year. Few garner our attention, and even fewer evoke appreciation. Better yet, there are extremely few movies which stay in our memory the next year, and for many years to come. These are movies which set new standards in film-making. Vetaiyadu Velaiyadu is one of them.
Why is this movie special??
1.It made me wake up in the middle of the night to write a review on it.
2.It pushed me hard enough to come out of hibernation and return to review-writing, after a long hiatus of more than a year. I saw many good movies, but none of them excited me enough to write on them.
3.I guess I must’ve seen the film at least 10 times by now. Now that’s a record of sorts, even by my standards! Never in life have I watched a movie so many times. Of course there is the odd ‘Angoor’, ‘Golmaal’, ‘Lakshya’, and ‘No Entry’, but I watch them only when they appear on TV.
4.Every time I watch it, I discover new details that were overlooked in the previous viewing. I begin to appreciate the thought process and painstaking detail in various areas, such as editing, screenplay, choreography, dialogues, acting, direction etc. After 10 viewings, I finally feel I have absorbed it enough to write a review on it!
That was about the effect that the film had on me. Coming to the film itself, as I mentioned above, Vetaiyadu Velaiyadu is NOT a film that can be appreciated in a single viewing. It deserves multiple viewings to absorb the details and appreciate the effort that has gone into making it. Let me give you an example.
During the first viewing on DVD, I fast forwarded all the songs, which I later realized was a grave mistake because not only were the songs melodious and catchy, but the picturisation was just Amazing!! When I heard the songs on my mp3 player, I realized my mistake and saw the movie again. This time I paid special attention to the songs, and understood that they formed an integral part of the screenplay.
The next time I watched the movie, I fell in love with the screenplay. The clarity and beauty of the screenplay has to be seen to be believed. Its one of the best that Indian Cinema has seen in the past few years, and certainly the best as far as COP movies go. It shows just how beautifully a love story can be intertwined with the main storyline without losing focus on the central theme. Gautam certainly deserves an award for ensuring that the story flows smoothly without any unnecessary diversions or distractions. Even Raj Kumar Santoshi couldn’t avoid the lure of dream songs in his otherwise well made ‘Khakee’. Although this film has a song with some dream sequences, it is purely situational and depicts the emotional turmoil that the lead protagonists undergo. Like Lagaan and Lakshya, every song aids the screenplay, which is not evident or visible in the first viewing. Multiple viewings help us appreciate this fact.
During subsequent viewings, I fell in love with the story. Gautam has hit Bullseye with this movie and it is by far his best and most mature effort at film-making. I didn’t like Kaaka Kaaka because it had a wafer thin storyline peppered with some dramatic incidents and scenes. It had loads of style but little substance. But this film had a detailed storyline, where effort was taken to explain and show the minutest details of a police investigation of homicide cases. I don’t think any film-maker has ever delved so deep into the psyche of police officers and tried to capture their thought processes. And thankfully, the hero is not shown to be a superhuman capable of bashing up 100 people at a time without a bruise on his face. He’s strong, but he’s human, and vulnerable to injury, attack and even love. His heart isn’t made of stone.
During the next few viewings, I appreciated how impeccably stylish and razor sharp the editing was. Antony, who shot to fame with his stylish jump cuts and digital effects, has outdone himself this time. If you thought “Sutrum Vizhi” from Ghajini was revolutionary, think again, because the title song of this film just blows you away! James Bond, go take a walk! And it only keeps getting better as the film progresses. Again, as I keep mentioning, it requires a discerning audience, which can spot attention to detail, to appreciate this.
I also underrated the cinematography by Ravi Varman, which appeared pretty average during first viewing. Upon repeated viewing, I realized that the colorful, cucumber-fresh look that the film had throughout was all thanks to director Gautam and Ravi’s efforts. The songs and action sequences in particular have been shot brilliantly. Watch it to believe it!
The opening scene in the movie amply demonstrates the realism and style of the action sequences. Stunt Siva has outdone himself and all the other action directors in India by coming up with stunning action that is both real and adrenalin-pumping! Check out the climax car chase and fight. It’s a far cry from the nauseating Matrix-inspired action that we have been subjected to by both Bollywood and Kollywood! Great job Siva!
The music, as I earlier mentioned is AMAZING. Harris has composed award-winning music that is a beautiful mix of techno-rock and melodious songs. The screenplay actually heightens the effect of the songs, because it blends them seamlessly into the story. The background music is equally superb and contributes immensely to the thrill factor.
The creator of this Masterpiece, Gautham Menon, is a Genius in the making. The dialogues in the film are brief, to the point and excitingly real. The direction is Excellent, and the conceptualization and execution of the scenes is indeed clap-worthy!! Bravo, bravo! One thing that disturbs me though is that his latest film was a real dud and made one wonder if it was the same Gautham who made VV. Guess he’s great at making cop movies only!!
Kamal Haasan proves yet again that he is Light Years ahead of other so-called stars and superstars when it comes to versatility and talent. He delivers a knockout performance as Raghavan, the tough, intelligent cop and handles the serious and emotional scenes with effortless ease. His look has been chiseled to perfection, especially the hairstyle and moustache, which is in sync with the character!
I am really running out of adjectives to describe the performance of the rest of the cast, i.e. Prakash Raj, Jyotika, and the villains, which, simply put, is uniformly outstanding. The range of emotions displayed and the intensity shown is phenomenal.
Gautham has taken a risk by including some explicit dialogues and scenes in the film which may not go well with family audience. It’s a bit stark, disturbing and real. While one can argue on the extent to which it was shown, there’s no doubt that it was in sync with the plot and didn’t pop out of the blue, like most of the steamy songs and sequences in recent blockbusters.
All in all, Vetaiyadu Velaiyadu is a Exhilarating experience that commands multiple viewings! Addictive!
