Vettaiyan is a crime drama, wherein Rajinikanth essays the lead role of Superintendent of Police (SP) Athiyan. But then, Rajinikanth is not alone, this film boasts of enough star power.
Interestingly, the Tamil movie title ‘Vettaiyan’ (வேட்டையன்) means ‘The Hunter’. So, in this cop drama, Rajinikanth portrays the super-cop and encounter specialist SP Athiyan.
“Vettaiyan” – Did The Great Hunter Of Criminals Make A Grave Mistake? Can He Beat The Corrupt System?
Spoiler Free Review of the Vettaiyan (2024) Movie
The trailers
Amitabh Bachchan and Rajnikanth team up after 33 years since the Hum (1991) Hindi Movie.
The synopsis
A renowned supercop SP Athiyan (Rajinikanth), who pays little heed to the rules, confronts a rise in criminal activity with assertive force, taking a stand against the escalating lawlessness. He decides to shoot a suspected criminal linked to a murder case, and soon enough, he finds himself caught up in a series of unexpected events. As he endeavours to justify his actions, he faces a profound moral conflict while confronting corrupt and overwhelming forces. So, this Vettaiyan movie examines the complexities of crime investigations, portraying one man’s fight in a world where justice is an elusive ideal.
The unique selling point (USP)
A couple of years ago, we saw the “Jai Bhim” (2021) movie written and directed by T. J. Gnanavel. At that time, we were mighty impressed by his Tamil movie. Therefore, when we learnt that the writer and director T. J. Gnanavel had come out with the “Vettaiyan” (2024) movie, we decided to check it out. T. J. Gnanavel is known for making movies dealing with pertinent socio-political issues in India.
However, after watching the film, one has to praise T. J. for raising some of the contentious governance matters. This masala movie has more than enough plot twists and turns to keep its viewers engaged and invested in its tale of two halves. Our only wish is that T. J. could have further tightened the script, like that of hard-hitting and realistic Jai Bhim.
Still, his story delves into a few debatable issues in India nowadays
The protagonist of the movie is the Superintendent of Police Athiyan (Rajinikanth), who is an encounter specialist in the police force. Being a part of the corrupt and compromised governance system in India, not surprisingly, even SP Athiyan becomes a sacrificial lamb. Moreover, the movie smartly uses the character of Judge Sathyadev (Amitabh Bachchan) to highlight the flawed police encounter system in India. Then, the social divide between and rich and poor classes have been intelligently depicted.
But that is not all. This layered storyline also sheds light on widespread corruption. Then, there are issues of the faulty and broken education system that is slowly and surely pushing many poor students to give up their dreams in India. Present-day education is dominated by highly competitive examinations and big coaching centres (companies) that prepare aspiring young students for entrance tests. Then there are universities which take rich students, who can afford their high donation and other educational fees.
Rajinikanth, Fahadh Faasil & Amitabh Bachchan lead a wonderful star cast
The presence of some of the very well-known Indian stars acted as an added incentive for us. The 3 big stars – Rajinikanth, Fahadh Faasil and Amitabh Bachchan were fascinating to watch. Rajni portrayed the no-nonsense and trigger-happy super-cop. In his effort to catch dreaded criminals, he is very well supported by Fahadh’s character. In the movie, Fahad plays the tech-savvy guy, who entertains us with his comedy. Then, Amitabh plays a well-respected Justice, who is an expert in the interpretation of laws. He lends gravitas to the serious issues mentioned above.
Rajanikanth's trademark style of wearing glares was changed in this film. As he is shown wearing spectacles on which he puts glares in his trademark style.
We also liked the performances of the rest of the ensemble cast, especially Manju Warrier, Rana Daggubati, Dushara Vijayan and Ritika Singh (of a recent Bench Life series).
FM rating
| FM rating | 3.65/5 |
The conclusion
It was a thought-provoking movie by T. J. Gnanavel that used the commercial potboiler film medium to raise social consciousness among the masses. Kudos to the team for the same.
The poster of the original Tamil movie from Tamil Nadu, India
Key details about the original Tamil movie from Tamil Nadu, India
| Genre | Action, Crime, Drama |
| Original language | Tamil |
| Dubbed languages | Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, |
| Subtitle | English |
| Duration | 2 hours 43 minutes |
| Writer & Director | T. J. Gnanavel |
| Cast | Rajinikanth (SP Athiyan), Amitabh Bachchan (Sathyadev), Fahadh Faasil (Battery/Cyber Patrick), Ritika Singh (Roopa), Manju Warrier (Thara), Rana Daggubati (Natraj Shanmugam), Dushara Vijayan (Saranya), Asal Kolaar (Guna), Abhirami (Swetha), Rohini (Nazeema), etc. |
| Network | Amazon Prime |
Notably, it seems that the said movie is insired by the ongoing real-life "NEET" examination controversy in Tamil Nadu, India.
The Poster, Featured and Other Images of the Vettaiyan (2024) Movie are credited to Amazon Prime.