It's not just another movie about police brutality; Vetrimaaran's Viduthalai Part 1 reveals the inefficiency of a system that still preys on the weak. It's his most intense film since Visaranai. The movie, which is undoubtedly not for the faint of heart, is a complex, in-depth investigation of abuse of power and it delves deeply into the mind of a man, an upright police officer who must choose between doing his work and looking for the truth.
The story is told from the viewpoint of Kumaresan (Soori), a moral police officer who joins the squad searching for Perumal aka Vaathiyar - The Mentor (Vijay Sethupathi), the head of the neighbourhood separatist organisation Makkal Padai (People's Army). Kumaresan enters the police force with high hopes, but he has no idea that he will spend most of his time performing menial tasks, such as delivering food to all of the check points through the forest and performing nighttime tower duty. His moral convictions are called into question when Kumaresan inadvertently crosses paths with Vaathiyar and later plays a crucial role in his capture.
The movie begins with a railway explosion, and the images are undoubtedly the scariest ones one has seen in recent Indian movies. Those responsible for the assault, which left 28 people dead and numerous others seriously injured, are the People's Army. Operation "Ghost Hunt" is started by the police to apprehend Vaathiyar, whether he is living or dead. When two men attempt to flee after being shot in cold blood by police for carrying weapons, we see a bus being frisked at a checkpoint in the following shot. Although some lives have been lost in both instances, the police murders are justified because they make newspaper headlines the following day. In the most unsettling, unrelenting manner, Viduthalai challenges the morality of police violence.
The movie develops like a crime drama and creates its universe at its own leisurely pace. The story examines the political climate in Tamil Nadu in the 1990s in addition to focusing on police brutality. Soori, whose previous parts in his career have all been comedic, is a very intriguing choice to play the lead role. Like the majority of us, he becomes a silent observer of all the crimes committed in the name of a police probe. He does a fantastic job of capturing the purity and helplessness of his character.
Vetrimaaran casts some really intriguing roles. The choice to cast Gautham Vasudev Menon in a significant part is brilliant. A director whose previous works glorified police killings now portrays an officer in a film that brutally exposes police brutality. It makes sense to cast Vijay Sethupathi as Vaathiyar. Despite his lengthy cameo, he makes the biggest impression in those sequences. The role of the women, who take the brunt of the abuse, is what makes Viduthalai at times unsettling, and Bhavani Sre is a talent to look out for.
