Judging from the trailer, Vetrimaaran's Viduthala Part 1 seems to be a high-voltage political drama with an outer ring of an action movie.
The trailer and audio of director Vetrimaaran's much-awaited movie Viduthalai Part 1 were released on Wednesday. Starring Vijay Sethupathi and Soori in the lead roles, the film is set to arrive in cinemas end of this month.
Judging from the trailer, Viduthala Part 1 seems to be a high-voltage political drama with an outer ring of an action movie. There was a lot to decode in the trailer, in terms of the real-life inspirations, plot points and character arcs. Here are the five important takeaways that you might have missed amid all the actions.
Police high-handedness:
The film is set in the remote corners of Tamil Nadu. The scenic backdrop is contrasted by the heinous kinds of human rights violations. The trailer opens with a cop shooting down a man who's trying to get away from him. We soon find out that the cops are dealing with the growing security challenge from armed rebellion and they are willing to cross all lines to get what they want. And the story seems to shed a light on innocent people, who get caught in the crossfire between the rebels and the cops.
An indictment of the system:
As in the case of Vetrimaaran's previous films, Viduthalai also seems to examine the role of the police force in modern society. In this film, it seems the director has gone further and put the entire ecosystem of power and authority under the microscope. The film seems to take a comprehensive look at the mechanism of our criminal justice system that enables some cops to indulge in violence against common people with impunity.
The Ramanaa influence?
Ramanaa is one of the biggest hits of Tamil cinema. Written and directed by A. R. Murugadoss, the film narrated one man's systematic war on corruption. And that film had a very empathetic underdog character named Narayanan. Even though he was the most efficient policeman in the room, his skills and intelligence were never valued by his higher officials. They ask him to stick to the script and be content with serving them tea and snacks on time. And Soori's constable role in Viduthalai seems to have some shades of Narayanan.
Has taken inspiration from the Vachathi case?
In a disturbing scene in the trailer, we see the cops rounding up all the women in the village, taking them into custody and torturing them to find the whereabouts of the rebel gang leader, played by Vijay Sethupathi. It seems like that scene might have been inspired by the Vachathi case. It seems it's at this point in the movie that the protagonist, played by Soori, makes a 180-degree turn.
The making of a rebel:
Viduthalai is the story of an underdog. The protagonist is a low-ranking police officer and in the larger scheme of things, he's irrelevant. The story seems to follow the efforts of Soori to rise through the ranks of the police department with honesty, hard work and determination. In turn, all he gets is humiliation. Will this lead to him joining the forces with the rebels?
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