Vikram Vedha movie review: Madhavan-Vijay Sethupathi's film is filmmaking at its best

Vikram Vedha starring R Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi is the big Tamil release this week and here is our Vikram Vedha movie review.

Vikram Vedha is the big Tamil release this year. Will it live up to the hype? Here is our Vikram Vedha movie review.

Vikram Vedha Cast: R Madhavan, Vijay Sethupathi, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Shraddha Srinath and Kathir

Vikram Vedha Director: Pushkar Gayatri

Vikram Vedha Rating:  (4/5)

Vikram Vedha is a freestyle adaptation of the famous tales of Vikram and Betal. 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. Madhavan. Vijay Sethupathi. Karma vs Dharma. Shades of grey vs black. In one of the film's superb scenes, Vedha is in prison. An officer threatens to shoot him. Vedha is silent. A policeman requests him to surrender. He is silent. Another officer tries his luck. He is still silent. Now, Vikram takes the charge. Vedha greets him with a sarcastic smile. He was waiting for his opponent. The first thing he says is "Neenga siricha azhaga irukinga sir."

In some ways, they are mirror images of each other. There's a nod to The Dark Knight because of their character arcs. The battle here is between minds, and not fists. Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi are not your regular hero and villain. They're not regular actors either. The cinematic high you get when you watch Madhavan and Vijay,  who have no craving for stardom, fighting against their sensibilities, is perhaps the soul of Vikram Vedha.

Vikram is an encounter specialist who is far from your stereotypical masala hero who gets a slo-mo shot after a shootout. Here, Vikram pops a cigarette, leaves for home and sleeps with his wife like a perfect gentleman. The interesting link is that his wife, Priya (Shraddha Srinath), is a lawyer. In short, they're a match made in...court.

Take this scene for instance, Vikram's friend Simon (Prem) sets him up with Priya. Vikram walks out after knowing that she's a lawyer. Priya too hates police officers. Both head straight to a bar. Vikram and Priya order whiskey on the rocks. The director allows you to live the moment. The scene is not mawkish. They smile and hit it off immediately. It gets better in the scene after their marriage. It's their first time. There's a hush in the room. Vikram says, "Thungalama?" To which, Priya says, "Happa...padukalam." Note: They don't mean sleepliterally. Thanks to the director duo, this is what we have been missing these days.

On the other hand, Vedha is one of the most fascinating characters written in Tamil cinema. He's smart, intelligent and extremely funny. We have been told that Vedha is the antagonist. His blast of an entry scene is reminiscent of The Joker's and he gets a roaring reception from the audience.

Vikram Vedha is a simple story made on a colossal level. Much like folklore, each time Vikram comes close to pinning him down, Vedha narrates a backstory, which leaves us dizzy. The game, however, is intriguing. But Pushkar-Gayatri doesn't want you to judge who's right or wrong. It's not about Vikram and Vedha, but the story you choose to believe. R Madhavan as Vikram is on a hunt to nab Vedha, a small-time gangster-turned-kingpin. There are certain things that Madhavan can do that Vijay cannot. Madhavan's range is unimaginable. Taunt him, and he explodes like a bottle of champagne.

It isn't difficult to see why Pushkar and Gayatri are enamoured by cinema. There's an ingenuity in their films. In Vikram Vedha, you tend to enjoy certain bits better, especially if you're a fan of their Va Quarter Cutting -- a genuinely written black comedy that misfired.

For instance, Vedha's brother Puli (Kathir) asks him to quit everything. Vedha gives his word. Puli says, "Thank you". Vedha is a doing brother before a gangster. He innocently asks, "Naa enna sollanum". Puli teaches him to say 'No mention'. In the next shot, Vedha, inadvertently, says "Hi" to an old lady. The stretch left the audience in splits. This is the kind of role that Vijay Sethupathi can sleepwalk through in films.

The problem with the film is that you start rooting for both Vikram and Vedha in the last half hour or so. I loved the portion where Puli slaps his girlfriend Chandra (Varalaxmi SarathKumar) and she gives one back. Chandra is two years elder to Puli, who stands with his pants down and says, "Aambala aanalum...pombala aanalum amanama ninadha kovam podium."  It's a casual line that reiterates the fact that we're in a Pushkar-Gayatri film.

When Pushkar-Gayatri made their last film almost a decade ago, Tamil cinema was in a different territory. Vijay Sethupathi was trying to make inroads into Tamil cinema, while Madhavan was basking in the success of 3 Idiots. Things have changed. The audience enjoys different a kind of films now. Being relevant in cinema is important too. That said, if Vikram Vedha is is the result of 10 long years of a sabbatical, there's no harm in waiting. Welcome back, Pushkar-Gayatri! We have missed you.

In an alternate perspective, Vikram Vedha reminds of a quote from Kurosawa's Rashomon: "In the end, you cannot understand the things men do."