Visaaranai, after seeing a lot of international film festivals across the world, comes back to where it belongs - theatres of Tamizh Nadu. The film garnered highly positive reviews right from superstars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan to critics and jury members. Tamizh Cinema has seen a lot of promise from Balu Mahendra's proteges - Bala, Ram and Seenu Ramasamy to name a few. Vettrimaran is no exception.
Visaaranai is about political interference in Indian judiciary, corrupted officials, white collars, police officers and hapless victims caught in the web - if that's the correct hierarchy of the so called "system". The movie starts in Andhra Pradesh with a group of four homeless migrants from Tamizh Nadu being picked up by the policemen and asked to confess a robbery they never knew about. The only connection they have with the robbery is the place where they stay, a park closer to the colony. They are repeatedly beaten up until they confess the robbery and finally taken to court. The second half runs along the same lines again, but the ambience and the nature of police investigation changes. Vettrimaran, taking inspiration from a novel "Lock Up" has interwoven few real life incidents to make a feature film that runs for less than 2 hours.
The realistic portrayal of police investigation sends a chill down your spine. The brutality handled by the policemen to make the victims confess the crime is terrible. Everytime a lathi blow lands on one of the victims, you feel the pain. Vettrimaran has achieved a rarity in Tamizh Cinema, making the viewers a part of the proceedings. Right from the first frame, he keeps everything real and there is no exaggeration anywhere. The authenticity of picturization is clearly evident from the crackles of walkie-talkies you often hear in the background in a police station.
Vettrimaran is one director who makes movies which are critically accliamed and commercially successful. In Visaaranai, he has managed to place an intriguing sub-plot that keeps the audience engrossed throughout. There is love, there is friendship, there is betrayal, there is truth - everything blended in so perfectly that there appears to be no compromise. Above all, there is an element of fear that engulfs every frame - and it sometimes shifts to the viewers too.
"Attakathi" Dinesh gives his career best performance - Performance would be an understatement : He has given his heart and soul.. and skin for the character. You can sense his pain everytime his muscle releases a spasm on a lathi blow - the most underrated actor in recent times. We can see his "Attakathi" version in a few frames that involves a love portion with Anandhi of TIN fame. Be it the frame where he emotes betrayal or the scene where he takes in more and more beatings to save his friends from being beaten to death - a masterclass performance from an under-utilized actor. Samudhirakani and Kishore play their role with comfortable ease. They are the front-runners in the list of most sought after supporting actors. The investigation scene involving the two of them brings out the crux of the story, a true reflection of the reality - how political heads influence and make use of police and civilians as pawns for their own gains. Samudhirakani's shift from being confident when he has the upper hand in the first half to becoming one more pawn in the second half is just a sample for his versatility. Kishore's performance is perfect especially in scenes where he cries in pain before having his last breath. "Aadukalam" Ramadoss provides the humour quotient, and his boundary does not end there - he is only second to Dinesh in emoting the pain. Each and every person on screen is at his/her best, even the ones who come in for a single frame. Misha, as the only kind hearted cop makes an impact.
Vettrimaran's dialogues are top-notch, they convey the much needed message strongly - The system feeds and is being fed by the powerful and the powerless are nothing but pawns. Editor Kishore has delivered one more masterpiece and Tamizh Cinema has definitely lost one of the bests in business. GV Prakash's background score is undisturbing and doesn't dilute the script. There are scenes where there is no background score - this makes us realise the impact the movie would have created in the international film festivals, where it was screened without the BG score. Being a definite contender for the national awards, Dhanush and Vettrimaran have one more feather to their cap - after Kaaka Muttai.
Bottomline - Visaaranai: The real face of Tamizh Cinema at the global arena... Oppukontaara?
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