Vetrimaaran’s Viduthalai Part 1 was a generously exciting action thriller set on the backdrop of a police-vs-people force, and how the journey of a constable was important in nabbing the most wanted man. The director brings about the second part of the film which was tuned as his most close-to-heart project, and it has turned out to be a film in a new direction rather than giving us more of the food from the first part.
Viduthalai 2 takes off from the same point where the previous film left off, and we get the story moving in the direction over Perumal’s arrest, and how the tension is building around it with respect to the media, the police force, the announcements and the political pressure. The film’s first 30 minutes set the stage on when Perumal is captured and has to be transported to another point for further safety, and we then move into the flashback portions which bring about his rise to the point where he is now, starting from the school teacher he was. A brief but effective appearance from Ken Karunaas sets things in motion, and we have an action sequence that rises up the mercury and makes the start of the film very intense. After that, Viduthalai 2 moves into more of a heavily dialogue driven approach, where Vetrimaaran chooses to narrate the travel of KK (Kishore) and Perumal together as a pair, and also the love track of Vijay Sethupathi with Manju Warrier. Here, the film starts to get a bit bland, and does become repetitive with its talk about politics, the leftist ideology, commentary on the scenario and more.
It is only when Viduthalai 2 returns to its present portions, where the film manages to bag more steam, and prove its point with a couple of intense scenes. The second half is a mixed bag with some interesting incidents which are also coupled with some long-drawn out sequences which beat around the bush. The intensity and fire which we have experienced in the second halves of Vetrimaaran’s previous films goes missing here, and it is only brought back to life in the climax, which is well executed even though it is not an entirely pulse pounding action sequence.
It feels like Vetrimaaran swayed more towards delivering Viduthalai 2 as a dialogue heavy film where he could throw forward all the ideologies and opinions in his mind, rather than generating it as an action thriller for the larger audiences.
Vijay Sethupathi once again delivers a commanding performance as Vaathiyaar, and there are easily 4-5 scenes that would stand on your mind. Soori has to wait until the climax to show his mettle, and he gets a couple of good scenes there. Manju Warrier is a neat fit into the proceedings too.
Ilaiyaraaja’s songs and score are of no match to the first part and there’s nothing memorable about his work here. The film is technically good though, without big complaints.
On the whole, Viduthalai 2 is a film that is worth a watch, but be prepared to experience a film in a new direction instead of the usual grip that Vetrimaaran is known for.