Vidudhala Part 1 Movie Review

Vetrimaaran is a critically acclaimed and award-winning filmmaker who made films like Visaranai, Asuran, Kaaka Muttai, etc. His latest offering is Viduthalai (Part 1) in Tamil which was released on 31st March. Two weeks later, the film is dubbed into Telugu as Vidudhala Part 1 and released today. The film portrays comedian Soori as the protagonist and Vijay Sethupathi as the antagonist. This raises curiosity on the film. Will Vetrimaaran score in Telugu? Let’s check out.

Story

Notorious and ruthless separatist leader Master (Vijay Sethupathi) of Praja Dalam, is fighting against the government and police. He is behind the deadly bombing of a train resulting in killing several innocent people. He is called a ‘Ghost’ who is untraceable and uncatchable. Operation Ghosthunt is formed by the government to nab Master. But the police and government are struggling hard to make this operation work. A small constable Kumaresan (Soori) joins as a driver in the police company. He is a sincere policeman with a heart in the right place. A serious of unfortunate incidents happen to him at work place that lead him to prove himself as police and protect his job. In this journey, Kumaresan attempts to nab Master and this is the crux of Vidudhala Part 1.

Performances

The transformation of Soori from comedian to a serious cop role Kumaresan is praiseworthy. He has stunned with his role and performance, all thanks to director Vetrimaaran who has well-designed characters in the film and choose the best artistes for them. Vijay Sethupathy as usual outstanding and brilliant as notorious naxalite Master. There is a nude scene of Vijay in the film, which was blurred due to censor, that shows his courage, passion towards the character. Gautham Menon as police boss adds a lot of value and weight. Female lead Bhavani Sri’s makeover as de-glam role is worth mentioning. Her contribution to the film is not less. The police personnel in the film are shown brutal. Rajiv Menon, Balaji Sakthivel, Chetan impress with their acting. All the actors have Vetrimaaran’s mark and delivered best performances.

Technicalities

Writing and direction of Vetrimaaran is unique. He continues this with Vidudhala as well. There is intensity and depth in characters and story around them. Visuals are striking. DOP Velraj shows his strength with the brilliant camera work. Songs have no great importance in the film and Ilaiyaraaja couldn’t do much justice to the tunes. Whereas Maestro is back with his background music score. Editing is fine. Slow-paced narration and length issues disappoint to an extent.
 
Highlights

Realistic & Brutal Portrayal
Vijay Sethupathi & Soori Performances
Direction, Visuals & BGM

Drawbacks

Predictable Story
Slow-Paced Narration
Climax

Analysis

Vetrimaaran returns to his favourite subject of socio-political. He has once again attempted one such with Vidudhala. Given that he is master of the genre, he dominated the film with his craft. Story-wise, it is very simple, thin and predictable. But it has a lot of depth. Like all Vetri’s films where it is about underdog or common man, here the story is led by an ordinary police constable Kumaresan who takes the centre-stage. He is innocent, honest and sincere to his job. Vetri chose perfect cast to portray the emotions intensely and impactfull. He scored brownie points here.

The initial half revolves around Soori, his world, the series of incidents that put him in trouble. At the same time, director Vetri also establishes the conflict strongly. The very opening scene of the film is train sequence where tragedy and story is unfolded. This is where the film’s conflict is also introduced without any time delay. The shots and visuals are striking that add to the story narration. 

However, Vidudhala also has its share of flaws or shortcomings. The story is predictable with slow-paced narration which puts off here and there. The entire sequence of hunt of Master (Vijay Sethupathi) in the latter half is major episode in the film. This could have been shown in a much better way. Although Master’s identity and whereabouts are identified by Kumaresan, he doesn’t run and wait for the police to attack. This is not convincingly told. The climax sequence deserves better writing and presentation. The nudity scenes are overdone but highly impactful too.

Overall, the brutal portrayal and realistic presentation is what makes Vidudhala a non-regular film and makes it a league above the rest. Vidudhala is not for all. It is a hard watch if you are a faint-hearted. But give this a try. 

Bottom-line: Vidudhala (Freedom) From Regular Films!

Rating: 2.75/5