Veera Dheera Sooran: Part 2 Marks The Return Of The Vikram Everyone Loves

FOR THOSE who, in the flush of their youth in the early 2000s, in Tamil Nadu, life was coloured by many movies starring Vikram, but most notably Dhill (2001), Gemini (2002), Dhool (2003) and Saamy (2003). He had many hits post those too, but they all demanded so much of him physically — he gained weight, he lost weight, prosthetics were called in — we rarely got to see the performer in him shine without a crutch. We hardly got to see his shy smile or just be part of the universe created by a director, without drawing any attention to himself. Thaandavam (2012) and Mahaan (2022) were rare exceptions.

The audience had to wait till 2025 to see vintage Vikram or the people’s much-loved Chiyaan back on the big screen. As Kaali in SU Arun Kumar’s Veera Dheera Sooran: Part 2, Vikram makes time stand still, and you can also see the film as a continuation of the works he greenlit in the 2000s. There’s action - yes, there’s love - yes, there’s sentiment - yes, but there’s also that lovely thing missing in most films — a hero who is part of the ambience, a hero who prefers lurking in the shadows, a hero who shies away from the spotlight. Cinematographer Theni Eswar lights and frames these dark spaces beautifully, considering most of the film takes place at night.

But, what director Arun manages, most of all, is to put Vikram back in a space that has always been his — the hero with a conscience who will always keep up his word, for whom family matters, but someone who also knows how to be playful. This was a space that lay vacant for Vikram.

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Arun is known for his taut writing, and that shines for the most part in VDS — the story of a former hitman who leads a silent life, but has to get back to a life of crime, for just one night. The first half is riveting. You don’t see Kaali until some time, and when you do, he’s carrying a sack of onions in the market, and later romancing his wife Kalai (a luminous Dushara Vijayan) on a moped. They run a provisions shop, selling everything from milk packets to thenga keethu (slivers of fresh coconut for those who can’t afford the full one). These scenes are a throwback to the cinema of yore — we’ve almost stopped seeing them these days in the world of instant delivery apps and focus on the swish set.

Earlier that night, a woman and child come running into the compound of a huge house, crying for her husband, who is missing. Instantly, you know that the ‘genteel-looking’ people of the house, including Kannan (the usually flawless Suraj Venjaramudu seems to stumble in parts here) and his fiery sister, who are anything but that. That is where you first hear of Kaali. Then, the woman and child are missing.

Elsewhere, in a police station, the cops are planning an encounter and putting in place everything. Somewhere else, the bad guys are planning to eliminate the police chief. And, in between all this, the village is out celebrating a festival.

The movie is 162 minutes long, and you feel that duration only for about 10 minutes in the second half, especially during the siege of the police station. Else, it breezes at a rapid pace, aided by Prasanna GK’s editing and GV Prakash Kumar’s intriguing background score. God, how much we have missed hearing GV’s BGM since he began focusing on acting!

There was so much talk before the movie’s release about why older actors should avoid pairing up with younger actresses, but Vikram and Dushara share the kind of easy chemistry between themselves, and together as a family with their children, you just know they are meant to be. The love story works beautifully.

Which is why the characters of Kannan and SP Arunagiri (SJ Suryah was relatively subdued, but we have gotten used to his hyperactive avatar on screen) did not sit very well in some scenes — both fine actors, both characters play games on the other and on Kaali, but they are distinctly monotone, with no nuance.

Ramesh Indira, who plays the original Periyavar, the big man in the village, worked far more effectively, aided in part by the fact that many are yet to forget his menacing act in Hemanth M Rao’s Kannada film Sapta Saagaradaache Ello.

Kalai has an important role to play too, for she’s worked hard with Kaali to create this family — there’s a lovely backstory — and while she can lift a weapon to save her brood, she can’t wait to throw it down fast enough.

Now, one waits for the prequel to know the backstories of most characters, but I’m most curious about the fiery sister — why is she the one always on edge? And how does she feel being the smartest in the group, yet reduced to playing just a woman while her brother rules as scion?

Credit to Arun for putting together a commercial film with soul and logic, and where wrongdoing is not exactly celebrated and lauded. With this, and earlier with Sethupathi, Arun has shown he can marry sense and sensibility, action and romance. One just hopes he’s not restricted to genres. Even in this film, there’s crime, but there’s also punishment in some form, even if the cost is just a person’s sleep.

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