Vikram Vedha

Vikram Vedha (2017): Adapting an ancient story into film with the present world characters is not new to Indian cinema. Mani Ratnam's Thalapathy, Raavanan and Anurag Kashyap's Dev D are loosely based on Mahabharatham, Ramayana and Devdas respectively.Following the formula of these films, Pushkar Gayathri duo has made Vikram Vedha loosely based on the Vikramadityan-Bethala tale. In the original story, Bethala teaches a moral story to King Vikramadityan in each episode whenever he gets caught. Similarly gangster Vedha (Vijay Sethupathi) cleverly unmasks the real wrongdoers to the upright cop Vikram (Madhavan).

Plot: A team lead by Vikram (R Madhavan), a ruthless, no-nonsense encounter cop, is on the hunt to capture/kill a dreaded gangster Vedha (Vijay Sethupathi). In this battle of good versus evil, as audiences we are left to pick a side but everything you see is not what you believe. There's always another side to everything in life and Vikram Vedha, in the most entertaining fashion, makes its viewers understand this philosophy.

My Review: You know the story. We have all grown up with these characters. But how you present the same story is the question. We've had filmmakers who have tried several forms of storytelling. But re-telling a story with the same effect is perhaps the reason why Vikram Vedha stands out. Pushkar-Gayatri's version of Vikram Vedha is one such smartly-written thriller, which has a texture, well-developed character arcs and filmmaking gimmickry.

Vikram Vedha is not just an ordinary adaptation but a perfect portrayal of morality conflicts.The film keeps pushing us to judge its characters, judge someone by their actions, judge someone by their upbringing and in the process proves how wrong we could be in our assumptions. The confrontation scenes between Madhavan and Vijay are easily the film's best moments as they end in fireworks.

It's highly difficult not to love Vedha's character, thanks to his wisdom and never-say-die attitude.Vedha is one of the most fascinating characters written in Tamil cinema. He's smart, intelligent and extremely funny. While Vikram is naive and sort of represents the general public that easily judges one's character without knowing the entire story.Madhavan and Vijay have competed with each other in delivering intense and convincing performances but it is Vijay Sethupathi who deserves a award for sure.

Cinematography by P.S.Vinod gave the movie a neo-noir look and BGM by Sam C.S. is terrific.

So,Vikram Vedha is one of the best movies of 2017 with mind blowing performances and direction.A Must Watch.

My rating 9/10

Pushkar Gayatri the husband wife duo directors hits the right chord to present an engaging, entertaining, gripping thriller. This is a Neo Noir movie which happens rarely in Tamil.

Story is simple straight forward police and gangster cat and mouse or I could say hide seek game.

The wow factor is the screenplay which is well crafted and characterisations are well etched. The perfect pace stands out first kept the audience thrilled and guessing till the end. Dialogues are sharp as knife and powerful as the gun shots in the movie. The BGM was rock solid which had added the feel to the play.

Coming to the performances Madhavan as Vikram the protagonist a perfect police maintains his grip and emotes intensive emotions particularly when he feels he was used. Vijay Sethupathy on the other hand essays antagonist Vedha a most wanted leader of local gang pulling it off effortlessly seriously effortlessly like so much of assaultness the way he carries himself stands out unique particularly. Loved the in between short stories he threw. Both Madhavan and VJS with their exposed grey carried on their roles picture perfect. They present raw psychological thriller duo. All the other support characters were picked perfect. Varalakshmi's plays an extended cameo but stands out as well the new face lady who plays the lawyer and wife of Vikram.

Subtle messages on guilt - revenge - emotions of gangster or the police were the special catch.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this Neo-Noir flick.

Verdict : Don't miss it. Hats off to the team Vikram Vedha. Easy 8.5 on 10

Vikram Vedha is a neo-noir action thriller film written and directed by Pushkar-Gayathri and stars R. Madhavan, Vijay Sethupathi, Shraddha Srinath, Kathir and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar.

I am thrilled and excited to know that now Indian cinema specially south Indian cinema is trying their hands in some different plots and subjects to make movie of and are tasting success. The movie 'Vikram Vedha' based on Indian folktale Baital Pachisi, the movie is been not only been executed beautifully but also acted superbly. The movie has all the elements to be termed as one of the greatest movie ever made.

The plot of the movie is good and as mentioned earlier the execution is superb, screenplay of the movie is gripping. The movie is filled with lots of intelligently crafted scenes which i don't want to mention here to avoid spoilers.

Acting is the one of the most strongest aspect of the movie, R. Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi were the two most shining stars of the movie with their superb acting and i would on my personal opinion would rate Vijay Sethupathi slightly better then Madhavan although Madhavan was also superb.

Background music of the movie is superb and gives finishing touch to the crisp screenplay, Climax is another strongest part of the movie and will leave you spell-bounded. A Must watch.

As a westerner I have grown extremely unsatisfied with the plot and charachter development in western cinema. I have been watching Indian movies and Vikram Vedha strikes a cord that misses in western cinema. It asks questions vital to our urge to rationalize the world arounf us. What is ethical and what is not? The screenwriter leaves the question to each of us in the ending standoff scene, so that it is up to us to decide on what is right and wrong. The cast is wonderful giving their best. There are no unrealistic action scenes and the cinematography is on a high level. The only thing that would make the movie better is some better music, the choice of songs was pretty poor.

What will happen when two star actors, who tend to give priority to stories more than their respective roles, join together in a movie...? Vikram Vedha happens...!

A usual cop-criminal story, which is presented with a unique screenplay inspired by Vikramadithan-Vedhalam stories of folklore, where Vedhalam (Vijay Sethupathi) asks a tough riddle to Vikramadithan (Madhavan) to evade encounter. The movie starts with a huge difference between the characters, with Vikram - as an honest cop; and Vedha - as a ruthless gangster. The differences fades away as the movie progresses and goes through a complete karmic cycle, from evil vengeance to redemption, with the support of riddled flashback stories narrated by Vedha. The idea remotely resembles Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction in a rather simpler manner. But this movie is a masterpiece of unique kind.

When you find enough ingredients in the plot, setup and pace of the movie, the unexpected thrilling element that changes the entire course of the movie, at regular interval, will take you by surprise. The pace keeps you hooked and does not give you time to anticipate a twist. That's what have made this movie enjoyable to watch.

No one can fit into the role of Vikram Vedha better than Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi. Especially the comical arrogance of Vijay Sethupathi have created wonders on screen. Even a small character in the movie have owned the role to perfection providing a flawless performances from all sides.

Yaanji song and BGM does the work it was expected to do.

The movie is a rich mixture of class and entertaining elements with astonishing story and narration. In all, this movie is a treat to watch and worth sparing some extra bucks post GST.