Rajinikanth's Vettaiyan Review, Rating: Falls Short

Superstar Rajinikanth stars in TJ Gnanavel's latest film, Vettaiyan. The filmmaker wanted to deal with some severe social issues but needed to balance realism with the superstar's style. Important questions surrounding encounter killings include: When do the poor pay for the sins of the rich? How can loopholes in the education system be criticized? Well, Gnanavel handled a sensitive subject in the best way possible with his previous films, Jai Bhim and Vettaiyan, which came with a different challenge.

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There is an inevitability attached to stardom; it flashes expectations around it and limits a director's creativity. Gnanavel's effort to form a realistic social commentary revolves around the superstar rather than around him, which, in this process, turns out to be a tone mismatch.

Vettaiyan follows Superintendent of Police Athiyan (Rajinikanth), who supports extrajudicial killings, and retired judge Sathyadev (Amitabh Bachchan), who is against such encounters. Their coming together happens when Athiyan sets out to track down the killer of a school teacher at the government school.

Gnanavel's script is good but sabotaged by Rajinikanth's larger-than-life persona. If another actor had played Athiyan, Vettaiyan could have been a more productive film. Instead, it hangs in limbo between the director's vision and the superstar's action-packed style.

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