Visaranai

My review: Visaranai

When I was a kid we used to go this zoo in our town where there would be an caged enclosure for a python. Three times in a day they would throw in a live hen inside for the python to devour. This hen would first look terrified inside the cage trying its best to find a way out. But after a point when the python is still in its slumber it slowly gets cozier, gets used to the place and even at times would poke at the python playfully. It would be running around without knowing the danger it is placed in and its imminent end. It was a terrifying scene to witness all this especially when the python rears its head from the slumber and gets its prey. 

Somehow I got reminded of this childhood encounter of mine while watching this terrific movie by Vetrimaaran, "Visaranai". This movie exactly depicts this in the setting of how the police and their highhanded handling of things wreak havoc in the life of innocent souls. It is more terrifying to note that the story itself is based on certain real life incidents. Your heart will surely go for those who went through this ordeal in their real life and the end that befallen them. 

Many a times when handling such a strong and rich material even the most experienced of directors would get carried away in translating it on screen. Either they might get too arty or will go overboard in a preachy manner. Here Vetrimaaran has somehow struck a magic middle path that keeps the movie on the boundary between an art cinema and a commercial cinema. And this he does by showcasing the happening in a simple narration with all the subtlety of a world class cinema. At no point in time do you feel that a scene is stretched to get a arty quality nor does he wastes the opportunity to get massy. Take for instance the scene in the court when Dinesh blurts out about the brutality he and his friends are subjected to, it is one of the best mass scene one could have seen in the recent times. You just clap or whistle in joy without even realizing it which even the most viable of commercial stars are trying difficult to command. 

Movie boasts of powerful performances from first class actors. Dinesh is probably the most underrated actors in the tamil film industry currently. He has not gotten his due even after sterling performances in each of his movies so far. "Visaranai" is high time that he finally gets his due which he highly deserves. Not only him, both Murugadoss and Samuthirakani have come out with terrific performances. Samuthirakani's is one of the best police roles written and enacted in recent times. Everyone in the movie are flawless in the enactment of their roles which is very rare. 

Technically the movie is simple and just about caters what the script demands. G.V.Prakashkumar's background score is again subtle yet enhances the movie's overall appeal. 

On the whole, "Visaranai" is certainly one of the best movies that deals with the human rights violations in the police settings, courageously bold and brutally honest. 

Bottomline: Sends shivers down the spine at the end. 

4.5/5