Visaranai

The movie revolves around four youths who went out of their homes to a foreign place for working, but what it takes in it's course of orbit is pretty heavy. It takes the entire system that's been there for decades in a country and more to it is there is no hiding from showing how flawed it is. Having such high intensity in subject, there is nothing less that you can expect visually! The core cast has defined nothing but the definition for reality on screen. Their hard work is visible in every frame. Introducing a pair and a love bud to the lead wasn't really needed, if it was for making the climax more powerful then I feel the effect was meager. The BGM by GV is very subtle to grasp during the watch(First time at least). But it helped in a great way to reduce the intensity, without which it could be intense a few folds more.

This movie will stay with you! This movie will affect you! This movie will make you think about the entire system! This movie can make you get obsessed !

So I would say to be prepared for all of it before you decide to watch it.

This movie shows the harsh reality faced by some in some parts of the world.I can call this a masterpiece in reality film making.I have not known much about Vetrimaaran,after watching this,I feel like knowing more about him.This is a very sensitive topic to see upon.Therefore,I have give my huge applause to director Vetrimaaran for the courage and braveness shown by him that many other director's have struggled to show over the years,be it in Indian cinema or abroad.Hats off.The sufferings of the innocent minds in reality were finally paid off through this film with the blessings of the Almighty.Performances by Samuthirakani and Dinesh Ravi has totally done justice to the characters they played.Supporting casts did excellent jobs as well.Everyone has lived their character in this film in a totally convincing manner.I hope they will deserve all their awards in the coming award ceremony regardless of the one they already have.The highlight of the film was the interrogation scenes between the police and the victims.The cruelty of the police officers towards these helpless people were shown without any distinction.The innocence shown by the actors were unseen and amazingly painful to watch.The beating shown on screen will definitely be felt by all experiencing this film.Some may even end up in tears.I would also give a huge thumbs up the make up artists of this film for giving such real wounds and bruises for the actors.Music was done well and really intense.There are many moments that will make you scared and shiver through your spine.Finally,I wish the whole team and producer Dhanush my heartfelt well wishes for presenting this magnanimously informative piece of art that has become an eye opener for many worldwide.Hands down,again.God bless those who were affected in real life.A better life is awaiting you.Thank you,for this painful and hard hitting piece of brilliance.

Visaranai is a movie with the highest level of filmmaking (no songs, no heroism, no nonsense) coming out from Tamil cinema.. Director Vetrimaran of Aadukalam, has done brilliant depiction of novel 'Lock Up' based on a true story(great end credits).. He portrayed an hard- hitting screenplay to show the miserable plight of innocent immigrants being made scapegoats for the powerful system (call it brutal system).. From the very first scene he will arrest your attention and what follows, is a riveting narrative and gripping cinematic experience!! The casting is first class, Attakathi Dinesh and his 3 friends(Aadukalam Murugan), the supporting cast of Samuthirakani, Kishore and Policemen In the custody, given top notch performances.. Dinesh(one of the most underrated actor) another effortless, heart- wrenching performance while the terrific Samuthurakani finding himself stuck in between this brutal system but trying to act fair for god sake, he was excellent to describe!! The private interrogation part between Samuthurakani and Kishore one of the best part of the movie.. Vetrimaran made it a classic encounter against the painful, merciless lockup scenes.. And when you think things get better for Dinesh and friends, misfortune struck again, inevitably.. Move on from there, Afsal execution scenes will make you breaking inside.. Spell bounded!! The intense climax ended in the dark, intentionally he wants us to know nothing can be justified that ill-fated Dinesh character, very well crafted by Vetrimaran.. He is certainly, one of a kind filmmaker in the league of Bala and Myskkin!! This cinema is so world class!!

I m shivering as i am typing this......... Gut wrenching.....Ufff!! I m exhausted!!!! Truly sucked out every last bit of my soul!!!

This is too realistic to be labeled as a film.....An extremely violent intense political conspiracy is the apt genre.... Really tests the audience mental strength!!! My heart was pounding during the entire 110 minutes of running time...... Gonna have hard time sleeping at least for a few days!!!

This film will undergo some serious cuts before releasing in theater's, as the characters depicted and their language are too raw... Hope censor board takes it easy and release it with minor cuts.....

Dinesh, U beauty.....Wat have u done!!!.....National Award is awaiting!!!

Out of all the 100 films which i ve seen this year, this tops the list like a Boss.... Too good even for a WORLD cinema standards!!!! Take a bow, Vetrimaaran!!! A Masterpiece in filmmaking!!!!

The first few montages of the yet-to-dawn nocturnal life is enough to invite the film festival community to engage in the story. Visaranai is the big screen transformation of Chandra Kumar's documented novel Lock Up; a true story about how police brutality and inhuman interrogation techniques go into tormenting innocents to admit false crimes. A group of migrants from Tamil Nadu working in Andhra Pradesh are taken into illegal custody by local police . What follows is a gruesome police drill involving batons, boots and banana stems. All they want is a confession; a fake confession. 'Attakathi Dinesh' as Pandi is the stand-up guy unwilling to surrender fearing a larger force at play and more importantly, he wants to do a great many things in life. 'Aadukalam' Murugadoss as Murugan can be easily tricked, Afsal is innocent to the core and Kumar is severally battered at an early stage.

The characters we meet on screen are controlled and manacled by the System in ways unprejudiced. Ajay Ghosh as the vicious Guntur chief Vishweshwar Rao is one such police officer with a disappointing career profile, a face like death and a body trained to beat the life out of others. But still, Attakathi Dinesh does a great many things as he aspires to do so when he is set free. There is a point of saturation in the film where even Vishweshwar Rao runs out of breath. If apathy, personal gain and atrocity ever had a threesome, mishaps like Ajay Ghosh tend to happen. The harsh acoustics of yelling can get on your nerves at some point. This was a necessity made by the film's structure to facilitate such relentless thrashing and torture. With so many battered souls locked up, it puts you in their place and raises questions. But Vetrimaran is not here to preach, his screenplay and dialogs stay direct, relaxed and procedural. Neither the water- boarding nor the vicious slow paced thrashing had any effect on Pandi, it was hope, his tenaciousness, his trickiness and a chance TN police intervention that puts an end to their misery.

Played by the ever obstinate Samuthirakani, Murugavel is a TN police officer on a special mission to trap an elite white collar auditor. Pandi and his friends return a favor and help Murugavel. The second half travels to familiar grounds of Tamil Nadu. The rich and fraudulent auditor KK (Kishore) who spurts money philosophy is the victim of the another brutal interrogation. It is his adage on 'System' that links the background events. All this talk about the System being the Kingmaker and that 'your actions have set things in motion' establishes a thick premonition. Thankfully, this talk is kept to a minimum. Had it not, then a part of audience's imagination would have reached heights of hype expecting a Brobdingnagian revelation of some sort.

There is calmness meandering in all scenes. The casual statement of the lawyer and the video logging of reconstruction scene shows the normalcy of situation and sheds light on how police practices defy law and makes you wonder on the number of cases solved by false/forced convictions. Taking a few incentives, Visaranai achieves a gritty cinematic leap. There is also a half baked romantic connection that is left to rot much like the irrelevant voiceless lives in jail. There is coherence of how the middle class working community from lower backgrounds are taken for granted. The abuse of Shanthi in the hands of her owner, the case of 4 street vagrants picked up from a Nellore park, the provision store owner who is blackmailed - a constant living in fear and hardship. 'Attakathi Dinesh' channels Pandi vehemently. He has the 'Andy Dufresse kinda' reluctance to give in. Pandi sure does suffer a hell lot in comparison. Both wrongly captured. One convicted and the other unwilling to get convicted. Maybe there can be more to say about these characters in contrast. That will be for another day. For a brief period in the last sequence of the first half, it felt like it was going to be a complete escape and survivalist episode.

The movie is a genius thriller in the making. Although not as tension seeking as Michael Mann-esque film, we feel the trap Pandi, Murugan & Afsal walk into as they accept the shameless duty of domestic help. Secondary characters make a lasting impact especially the promotion ignored officer in TN station. Muthuvel is an upright police pushed by higher officials and disoriented by the System into pursuing Pandi. Personally, my fondness for cinematography has grown rather exceptionally over the past few years. A film devoid of creative and meaningful visual strategy doesn't excite me. There were a few; very few parts in the film that meant visually nothing but then, this emptiness perfectly defines realism - through the dingy corners of highways and the wandering nightlife patrols, the blurry hope of escapism emanates. The final moments are as tense and seems like a cliffhanger until the camera zooms out to the fullest. The sudden pull and push of camera; this shift in movement noticed at a pivotal stage grounds the approach in realism as the hand-held camera becomes a secret surveillance tool, an all seeing eye - the eye of the system. As it looks down upon Pandi and Murugavel standing through knee-deep murky water, it signifies the troubled position of two candidates with no evil tendencies irrelevantly chosen by the powerful.

Visarani in its vagueness to expose a larger atmosphere for the Organism of System perfectly sums up the horrible dilemma of innocent fishes pushed into predatory waters that is timely polluted by forces unknown.