Child’s play
Making a trilogy or coming up with sequels is not just about repeating themes.
It is not about replaying the original plot with new actors, recycling names of characters from the previous films or casting the same actress is a similar role.
Gautham, in spite of adding a serial killer thriller feel to the regular cop flick, ends up repeating quite a bit from what he introduced to us in his first re-invention of the cop flick genre that was earlier limited to ‘Aanest Raj’ and scores of other Captain Vijayakanth avatars: Kaakha Kaakha.
But wait, Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu is a pretty decent film (compared to the likes of Thimuru and such celebrated crap that comes out of Kodambakkam) but that’s not what you would expect from the guy who made a reasonably well-paced police story ‘Kaakha Kaakha,’ which was memorable for a super tight script, a refreshingly fresh and subtle sensibility, an underplayed romance and a super cool long-haired gangster mouthing profanities.
First, where does Gautham succeed?
a. With Kamal Hassan. Gautham’s done it. We see a much restrained Kamal slipping under the skin of a pretty well-etched out character in Raghavan — the instinctive cop. A man who trusts his instincts so much that he’s willing to gamble his logic and reasoning.
Never mind that one such act leads to the death of a NYPD detective who plays by-the-book, at least the character is consistent. Unlike Anbuchelvan, he talks quite a bit. Raghavan is impulsive to the point of being stupid (I mean which experienced cop would break into the house of one of the suspects without a back-up watching the door?) and lucky (towards the end, the script takes the most convenient route for the confrontation between good and evil). ‘Vettaiyaadu’ surely will be remembered as one of Kamal’s classiest performances.
b. The cinematography. Very few cinematographers have captured New York the way Ravi Varman has. It’s not the picturesque-postcards we saw in KANK and Kal Ho Na Ho. He presents NYC teeming with energy, the hustling-bustling metropolis (guess the hidden camera used sneakily due to lack of permissions actually works to the film’s advantage) with the finest time-lapse and aerial shots of the Manhattan skyline. The stylised shots superbly pieced together by Antony make Vettaiyaadu one of the most technically sound movies made in this part of the world.
c. Credibility of the world it is set in. Be it characters or locations, they seem incredibly authentic. The detailing is pretty good and if at all there is any fault, it is too much of it. A whole lot of those supers telling us what time and date things happen were quite redundant.
d. Jyotika. Yet another fine performance.
Where it doesn’t quite work:
a. What’s with long-haired villains? Serial-killers need a strong enough trigger to become what they have. In Vettaiyaadu, he addresses the need for a reason from childhood but does not flesh it out enough. As a result, we have sketchy villains who’re quite weak. Having juvenile villains does no good to a cop story where the policeman is supposed to be much more experienced than Anbuchelvan. Having ‘Hannibal’ posters in the room does not make them evil. To be truly evil, you need to be smart and cunning. Here, the bad guys are stupid, inconsistent and are probably confused about their sexuality. Even if they aren’t, Raghavan clearly is, when he asks one of them if they are homosexual. Dude, they raped their victims! They’re probably bi-sexual. We do not know. That’s the problem with the villains. We do not know enough about them. They are cardboard cut-outs. The silver lining is Daniel Balaji’s stylised performance bordering on hamming (which should go down well with all those who thought Vikram was brilliant flexing every single muscle on his face in Anniyan), passable for a serial killer. And his friend, lesser the said the better. He could’ve just worn a T-shirt that said ‘I am a Uz boy’ throughout and it would’ve made no difference to the plot.
b. The pace. Bad enough he takes his time to take us into the romantic angle of the middle-aged cop with a suicidal wreck, Gautham also unleashes upon us an item song with an all-seth bunch of dancers and models doing sethji-steps, so much that it looks like a song from some random Hindi flick dubbed in Tamil. There is no place for the intracies of romantic sub-plot or an item song in a serial-killer thriller.
c. Repetition of sub-plots. There is a distinct Kaakha Kaakha hangover throughout. Some of it might be intentional (like the song picturisation and all), but the crucial bits (like the climax — the kidnapping of the love interest) makes you feel cheated. You walked in thinking Gautham is going to tell you a story about a much more challenging, complex case from the police files. Instead, you get a case of two extremely stupid, juvenile serial killers who are no match for a man who was once Anbuchelvan, the young cop who took on the most powerful and dangerous of gangsters almost single-handedly.
d. Fine filmmakers, unfortunately, are not compared with the rest of the mediocre bunch. Their work is compared with their own work from the past.
And when you do that, ‘Vettaiyaadu’ is found wanting. It suggests he’s running out of ideas for character prototypes, sub-plots, character names and song picturisation.
After all, there is a difference between creating a signature and rehashing a few old ideas.
If Ram Gopal Varma made a Satya as the story of a gangster, he followed it up with a macro look of the underworld in Company and a cop’s perspective in ‘Ab Tak Chappan’ (directed by Shimit Amin) and paid his hurried homage to Godfather in ‘Sarkar’. They were all gangster films, not as good as the other but very different. They need to deviate from the central idea at least a little. After ‘Kaakha Kaakha,’ we already know that the loved ones of the police officer are targetted.
Something Gautham should keep in mind while coming up with the third film in the trilogy he was talking about.
Gautham, tell us more. Tell us something you haven’t told us before.
MADRAS INK. 
I guess you saw the movie with the KK hangover..how about a review on just VV??
ok..review can too late:)
-The Conscience
“Even if they aren’t, Raghavan clearly is, when he asks one of them if they are homosexual. Dude, they raped their victims! They’re probably bi-sexual.”
We have a theory on this one. (Apart from that perhaps Raghavan was just taunting Daniel’s character) Perhaps they were homosexual. And as Daniel/Amudan? says earlier, extremely homophobic and therefore raped as a reaction, in order to prove their sexuallity to themselves, assure themselves of it. Besides rape is an act of violence, powerplay, control, hatred never really pure lust or desire.
And yes, Gautam was cruel to try that climax on the viewers a second time.
satish:
how about you write one and post in your blog for us to leave smart ass comments??
the conscience:
well, i dint get tickets until last night and that too at Rohini complex, Koyambedu. š and i think i posted by review in two hours after i got back.
avronea:
interesting theory. but i was never sure if their rapes were not outta lust and desire because ilamaaran tells amudan he WANTS jyotika whether she has anything to do with the cop or not, after he follows her. I wish Gautham told us more about why they were the way they were. I wish he had made them a little intelligent. I wish they had made it more challenging for Raghavan, instead of coming across as juvenile delinquents and responding to taunts.
But the Raghavan taunting Ilamaran theory works for me fine cuz its simpler. š
Do you guys have to buy tickets to write the review?
If Yes,doesn’t the fact that you work for a reputed newspaper help in getting tickets in say ‘Sathyam’.?
Are you writing the review in the paper or is someone else doing it?
The `taunt’ theory is simpler. But the `want’ this is the need to possess and control and somewhat diminish…eitherways, Gautam Menon left way too many loopholes. Which is sad since the most compelling part of movies (or books) about serial killers is the mind, psychology behind the act. Which is why it’s more interesting to consider Hitler as demented or deluded (as in `Downfall’) than simply undiluted evil because that’s just too simplistic.
GM should have elaborated either on the “execution style killing”, or the sawed off finger, or the bisecting in terms of modus operandi or atleast explored the claims of being the best doctors in the world, enabling humankind a life without death.
Woah, long comment. Oops š
Sudish,
Each of the villain is different in his psychosis – one is the repressed homosexual (Ilamaran) trying to prove himself by raping while the other one (Amuthan) is a sociopath (or psycopath). Kaakka Kaakka had a very ordinary viallin story but this one definitely had the better villain story. FYI, sociopaths do not require triggers to become serial killers – sociopaths are not made but are born that way. Amuthan clearly talks about him trying to repress his urge to kill but then gives in once he is raped by a Hermaphrodite in the jail cell – I think that is strong enough a trigger. I don’t agree to you calling them stupid- these guys successfully killed 15 people without getting caught – do you really think that is stupid? The guys panicked the first time somebody tracked them down – to me that is understandable. I actually thought the strongest point about the movie was mixing the love story with a serial killer plot successfully – not many movies have done that very well. And who laid the template for a serial-killer movie to be made devoid of love? And the other thing is, it is ok to make a movie that suits the critics if it is small budget, but if they are spending as much as they are spending, they better be darned sure that the cost can be recouped- which means giving what the crowd wants and by that I don’t mean the A class crowd but the B andC center crowds.
I think most of you guys comparing VV with KK are suffering from some sort of Gautham-Menon-the-great-film-maker-isis. This movie is a very good movie by itself and why do you need to compare it against KK? Did the director ask you to?
Sudish,
I actually like your critiques and am not a crazy Kamal fan. This is a movie I thought was great and every negative review of the movie I see on the internet seems to focus only on the Kaakka Kaaka angle. I am bothered by this and hence this is my third post since the morning. None of you seem to have noticed the subtle humor in Kamal’s “my gut feel says” and Anderson’s “Uh!” to it.
Prabu
Prabu
Somehow I think even Gautam Menon wants to viewer to consider Kaakha Kaakha…the drawn out suspense at the end before revealing whether Aradhna lives or not, plays on the effect of KK. The way in which Kayalvizhi dies is practically the same Maya dies in KK.
VV takes of from where KK left off and there are too many similarities, indicators (even without hearing the filmmaker’s explanation) in the film itself to ignore that.
And about the serial killers, there are alot of loose ends. But I think what would have added to the film’s merits would have been if the cops had analysed their characters with more depth than `gut instinct’ (considerable as Kamal’s gut may be in the film)…something like the `Bone Collector’ or Hannibal Lector explaining the `Red Dragon'(in the book, haven’t seen the movie)…even a psychopath has more of a motivation, deluded as it may be, than a mere urge
Avronea,
What you are forgetting is that only few people are really interested in why the psycopath became one (probably due to oever exposure on CSI, L&O CI, L&O SVU, etc.) and for most others it doesn’t. Also, are cops in India trained for the kind of psychosis you are talking about. Kamal makes simple assumptions about their nature and goes with it – more in line with what we see with Indian cops than the Super cops we see on CSI, etc. Remember Kamal’s comment about picking the lock when he wants to enter the suspects room? I think that summed it up for me – he used his simple and stupid technique in a place he is not familiar and his “partner” paid the price for it.
Prabu
(hee hee this could go on for a while I see. Sorry Sudhish)
For one thing, just because the cops here would hedge rules (actually I’m sure there are cops everywhere hedging rules) doesn’t mean they wouldn’t come up with a psycological profile of criminals.
And who’s to say that only ppl who watch CSI, L&O and whatever else, only care? (I, for instance don’t watch any of those shows btw). This is a country where when you meet someone the first time, you’re asked abt father mother native mother tongue. Acquaintanceship begins after you’ve been contextualised, so to speak. Someone like Gautam Menon could have definitely worked a little harder on that.
I loved the movie, woke up at 5 am to catch a 7.30 a.m. show at 10 bucks tickets. And I’m gonna watch it again, flaws and all.
cinefan:
yeah, we dont always get tickets. and we always find it strange to ask for tickets cuz we see it as abuse of goodwill… not worth ruining that for just a movie ticket.
and no, we have a tamil movie specialist doing reviews for tamil films. I only review hindi and english films for the paper.
avronea:
exactly what i wanted from the film too. more of the whys and hows behind the serial killers. exciting premise, wasted opportunity.
prabu:
the kaakha kaakha comparisons are inevitable cuz Gautham made this as a sequel. if he hadnt made this as “another episode in a police officers life”, it wud have been stupid of us to compare the two. But since he has, you as a critic, cannot ignore his earlier work on the subject. as a fan however, you have every right to defend the film and maybe your explanations are valid.
also i called them stupid cuz
a. they have hannibal as their pin-up and yet show no traces of smartness when it comes to facing the investigator. a simple taunt is adequate to bring them home.
b. one of them thinks the most opportune time to tell the cop the story of their lives is when the cops might arrive any moment. which means that they possibly could not have time to reach the airport, let alone arrange for tickets out of the United States. and wait, his lover is lying unconscious all the time. so instead of reviving the guy or figuring a way outta there, he spends the ten minutes of getaway time confessing his crimes. if that’s not stupid what is?
c. amudhan thinks that a cop will not kill his partner if he kills someone the cop likes. very smart indeed.
its guys like these who give serial killers a bad name. hannibal wud ve liked to have them for breakfast but these guys… are junk food.
And dude, this isnt a negative review. if ive said four good things about the movie, ive also listed four bad things. Overall I liked the movie. Yet I feel let down and disappointed because this could have been a great movie. this man Gautham is rare talent. and I dont want to see him repeating any of this ever again. especially, cuz he’s said there will be a third movie on the subject.
and the subtle humour is nothing to write home about when the gut feel ends up in an anti-climax. unless you want us to see the black comedy in it.
avronea:
yo. kamal’s gut feel was a lil overdone… to the extent that i thot he was psychic.
1. he finds the first corpse with gut feel.
2. he finds the second corpse with gut feel.
3. he opens the door of the suspect with going by his gut feel.
4. he saves jyotika with his gut feel.
5. he figures what flight they wouldve taken from calicut by gut feel.
and some more.
but my point is if his gut feel has helped him solve so much of the case, why have him play a cop? this couldve been a night shyamalan flick, a paranormal thriller. the only investigation he does is studying dates of the murders and shortlisting of passengers between US and India. this film relies little on investigation and more on chance. especially the “accidental encounter” in the climax.
prabu:
w.r.t your comment to avronea: “I think that summed it up for me – he used his simple and stupid technique in a place he is not familiar and his “partner” paid the price for it.”
even if he had used the same technique in india or any place he’s familiar with, i doubt if the outcome would ve been any different. you need to guard the door if the suspects are that dangerous. basic common sense. when we’re talkin about a film where we don’t know who’s more stupid : the cop or the killer, and where the investigation relies more on chance and gut feel than actual clues and putting together of the jigsaw puzzle, we do have a problem calling it a great film, don’t we?
Avronea
I did notice your sentiments about the movie in your first post. I do agree there were flaws in the movie but my principle on that is – as long as it doesn’t hit you in the face while watching the movie, you should be happy.
Regardiong who would care about the psychosis, my point was that people in India are not exposed to criminal psychology – the fundas of it – that they don’t really care about why someone is evil.
Prabu
I find the comments section more detailed and informative than the review itself:)So many theories on psychiatry and psychosis that would leave Sigmund Freud confused..
I am sure Gautham didnt spend even half the time that our clever bloggers spent on the psycho analysis of a tamil cinema villain..
Gautham is neither a psycho,nor is he a student of psychiatry,he just wanted to make a masala movie with its share of violence,gore etc..you guys are just wasting your time trying to figure out the making of a successful psycho and attaching meanings to a script that really didnt have much depth.
It’s not a Da Vinci painting for god’s sakes.
satish:
nobody asked you to read. or did they? and look who’s talking about wasting time now! š
Prabu:
None of you seem to have noticed the subtle humor in Kamal’s “my gut feel says” and Anderson’s “Uh!” to it.
I noticed that part, but did you notice the line that followed immediately from Raghavan? That was the line that made Me go “Uhh!” in digust!
Suderman:
Fine filmmakers, unfortunately, are not compared with the rest of the mediocre bunch. Their work is compared with their own work from the past.
Lovely line! summed up everything I felt after I got out. And Gautham’s cameo got on my nerves too!
As for your comment about villians needing to be clever, I have a faint idea that this was intentional. Amudan has fantastical visions of grandeur. Is it possible that his vanity is pricked the moment he finds that there is someone whose thought process parallels his on the other side of the wall? Is it possible that he thinks he is invincible? Is it possible that the poster of Hannibal is because the character has watched the movie and has illusions of getting past every hurdle just like the Dr.Lecter?
Yes and no! Your answer would be a No, but I say that it could be a yes. But that brings us to the root cause of this ambiguity – the fact that the back stories are not etched properly. It is not possible to expect this to happen everytime, but me thinks that the effort put in toward the romance part would have been better spent in building the back stories and in developing the clues instead of letting Kamal’s already bulging gut escape š
Btw, one question. Need you to clear up one huge doubt. Where did Gautam graduate from? There was an interview in the Hindu where he was quoted as saying that he was a graduate from REC Trichy. But I have a friend who met him at the Chennai airport and asked him if he was a senior from our college (he did not recognize him as Gautam menon). Gautam replied he was a 1991 graduate from another private engineering college from near trichy and quietly mentioned that he was a film maker who had made a recent movie called Kaakha Kaakha. Our friend was tongue tied, but later recovered and the two chatted for sometime till it was time for their particular flights.
I would say that VV was a pre-sequel to KK in many ways ala Star Wars
1) Maya is introduced in this movie, she becomes an adult to be heroine in KK
2) The villian’s kill Kamalini similar to killing of Jyothika in KK.. in KK the gun replaced knife
The camera I had similar xpression as in this review.. New York was showed far far better than KANK..
One thing i dont understand is how come villians who are psycho’s are always good in studies?? When do they get time to study??
How was Jyothika able to survive 10mins buried??
Read my review @ http://krisathish.blogspot.com/2006/08/vetayadu-vilayadu-hunt-play-movie.html
Thanks Sudish for caring to reply to my questions which does not have anything connected to the movie.
And yes the ‘Comments’ section sure has some interesting posts.
A last question.Have you ever met/spoken to Kamal?If yes,your views on him as a person.
well, i saw this last sunday and felt its lil dragged…
Mr.suderman,
when is the update on TFLW coming??? š
-Raow
Suderman:
I am not saying that your review is negative but my main problem is the comparison with KK.
———————————-
the kaakha kaakha comparisons are inevitable cuz Gautham made this as a sequel. if he hadnt made this as “another episode in a police officers life”, it wud have been stupid of us to compare the two. But since he has, you as a critic, cannot ignore his earlier work on the subject. as a fan however, you have every right to defend the film and maybe your explanations are valid.
Why do we keep saying this is a sequel? They are not the same characters – not even one single person is. All he is saying is that he is presenting a story about another police officer.
————————————
also i called them stupid cuz
a. they have hannibal as their pin-up and yet show no traces of smartness when it comes to facing the investigator. a simple taunt is adequate to bring them home.
b. one of them thinks the most opportune time to tell the cop the story of their lives is when the cops might arrive any moment. which means that they possibly could not have time to reach the airport, let alone arrange for tickets out of the United States. and wait, his lover is lying unconscious all the time. so instead of reviving the guy or figuring a way outta there, he spends the ten minutes of getaway time confessing his crimes. if that’s not stupid what is?
We’ve seen this in a number of James Bond movies and other H’wood movies also. Yes it is stupid but this is a way to introduce their stories to the audience. I would have complained if their story had in any way influenced how Kamal “out-thought” them
————————————
c. amudhan thinks that a cop will not kill his partner if he kills someone the cop likes. very smart indeed.
I agree on this part
anantha:
yes, you are absolutely right about the half-baked back stories… thats what makes the villains a lil weak.
sorry mate, no clue where he passed out from.
sathish:
i read your review. and see that you have a comment from “Gautam Menon” himself! he he!
cinefan:
yes ive met him a few times but not recently. he’s a powerhouse of information. half the time I have no clue about the filmmakers and films he talks about. he’s sorta like the internet. he begins about something and then provides all the links and goes into the links on autopilot. so its sorta tuff to make him stop talking about movies.
he’s an extremely knowledgeable man who knows his movies and is incredibly passionate about them.
RaoW:
TFLW awaiting censors and theatre slots. Still sorting that out. Will keep you posted when details are finalised. thanks for asking.
prabu:
dude, HE called this an extension of kaakha kaakha. not me.
read complete interview here:
http://sudhishkamath.blogspot.com/2006/04/gautham-menon-interview-uncut.html
jothika turning up ‘undead’ was the alternate climax(watch it on a DVD) to KK if i may add..
Suderman,
Have not yet seen the movie and the ur review is more confusing.. probably will give it a try as a new slate by forgetting KK… the villains sound sloppy though
And no comments abt the rocking music?
Sudhish,
I felt the dialogues sucked big time. Especially the ones between Kamal and Jo. Donno much abt cameras and stuff, but I felt the last chase sequence had the camera shaking and turning unncesessarily. The villians kept mentioning something about curing cancer,ridding the world of disease etc. I really don get the point. Was that intended to reflect their “psyched” out state? Guess thrs already been plenty of discussion here:)
PS: Notice Gautam’s cameo in Manjal Veyyyil? Boy thawas hilarious!
hey sudhish,u know wat i am waiting to write a review on your so-called film “TFLW”. lets see how perfect u r.maybe i ll spend one whole day writing your flaws alone.then alone can u understand and comprehend the art of writing a review.u seem to be out of your nuts all the while while writing this.shame on u or rather us.
anonymous:
the directors cut of vv will be worth the wait. watch out.
the bard:
hope it makes sense after u watch the movie! š
karthik:
i’ve been really sick over the last four days with no reason to cheer. Your comment brought a smile to my face. thanks mate!
sorry if i was a bit harsh tho i really didnt mean it that way. all the best for your TFLW.
karthik:
no, i wasnt sarcastic. i seriously meant ur comment made me smile. i mean here’s someone needs one full day to find flaws with my film… ha ha!
No reason to cheer? Elaborate, will you. Bloody..!
adhu seri. Why are u not saying a single word about the music? I have read most of ur reviews and same is the case.
And ur reveiw on “Aap ki khatir” in The HIndu was hilarious! š
What so ever, Jothika is not needed for the movie…
Kamalini could have been given much role to play. Just take Jothika away from the movie. You will miss two songs some scenes. It didnt seem like a good mixure of romance and thriller. Here the Jo’s romance part was a speed braker for the speed of thriller.
I feel KK is the best mixure of romance & thriller.
best
best
Suderman,
Have not yet seen the movie and the ur review is more confusing.. probably will give it a try as a new slate by forgetting KK… the villains sound sloppy though
Voxzone X100P
Good review. I just saw the movie yesterday in DVD. I was shocked to see that Jo is alive at the end. After reading one of the comments here came to know that in the theater version, Jo dies. Is that true?
GM should have left Jo dead. Also I was surprised that Amudhan did not rape and brutally kill Jo before burying her !! That’s what he did to all other victims.
Overall a great no-nonsense, Hollywood-style movie. GM has risen well above the mediocricy of Indian movie directors.