Vettaiyan Review after 3rd watch

Just finished watching Vettaiyan for the third time on Sunday. 

As per a post by Lyca on social media, the film is said to have garnered atleast ₹240 Cr (Gross) at the worldwide BO during the 4-day festival weekend.

Given that the reviews for the film have been fairly positive, Vettaiyan is expected to fill atleast 60% occupancy over weekdays and 100% on weekends until Deepavali. An Orange Alert for rains has been announced due to which occupancy during the week could reduce. 

That’s a good 3 week run for the movie and is expected to earn around ₹350 - ₹400 Cr in collections, if not more.

Given the ongoing tiff between Producers and Exhibitors, the movie is expected to hit Amazon Prime OTT platform only around November end, when the 7-week window ends.

Theatres, on the other hand are a happy lot with F&B outlets overflowing with guests, a clear indication of family audiences. 

The movie itself has earned great reviews from families except for 1or 2 scenes, which have upset a section of the society due to repetitive and obscene content. 

My own observations at this juncture - 

Most pistol’s magazine carries only 6 rounds, but in the opening credits of the movie, 7 rounds are loaded and fired as well. 

I wonder how did the Director allow this flaw. (I noticed this during all 3 times I saw the film). Or, does this model carry 7 bullets, I wonder. 

All through the 80s and 90s as well as in 2000s, Thalaivar entry was always with a song. During his last 5 outings, it’s been with a bang. A shoot out or a fight scene and then the song breaks out. Call it the change in times.

For Ex., the song “Manasilayo”, like the opening song in Darbar has no connection with the film’s screenplay, especially as Thara is a Chef.

In the opening scene, Thara says, “Ennai vazha vaikkum deivangalana Galatta Kitchen neyargale” and Thalaivar gives a sarcasm loaded look. 

Thalaivar’s voice during the film’s dubbing has not been consistent. Not sure if he fell unwell during this period. But is certainly not the same baritone that he is famous for.

Dialogues in English by Amitabh Bachchan are dubbed by him, while his Tamil dialogues have been generated by AI. 

Though ardent fans miss duet aongs of Thalaivar, the public at large seem to be happy without this trend. 

Songs like “Mona Mona” from Lingaa were quite off from the main script, but was added to feed the expectations of fans. But from Kabali onwards, this has been avoided  

In the film, I found a few interesting moments - 

When Guna is admitted in the hospital, there are no guards around him at his bedside, which leads him to escape. This is a loose point in the screenplay. 

When his friend who works as a ward boy is pulled up for questioning by Athiyan, he is slammed as being a slum boy and hence must be taken in to custody. 

That’s when Athiyan eulogises the boy’s friendship - the central theme of Superstar’s success in his personal life and professional career. 

Another interesting scene is when Shwetha (Abirami) is being interrogated - when she refuses to cooperate, DSP Roopa shows the recording of Harish’s confession; she puts down her leg while Athiyan puts his left leg on his right - an absolute Padayappa-like “oonjal” moment. 

Roopa and Patrick don’t wear seatbelts while driving in the Police vehicle which is against traffic laws and she eventually gets hurt on her forehead after the made-up accident. 

It was a wow moment when Thalaivar would single handedly kick a dozen baddies at a time from the 80s till 2000s. 

But in 2024, this looks not just a gimmick, but also silly.

Lastly, how does (and from where does) Athiyan board a helicopter and arrive at the same venue where Natraj plans to escape?!? This seemed like the Lingaa Parachute moment. 

A lot of loose ends overall, but all is well that ends well. 

Hope to see it once again soon.Here is the link for the movie review after I watched it the first time.