n Vetrivel , M Sasikumar is out to convince us that he can do all the things a Tamil-film hero usually does. He is the son-of-the-soil, and is introduced in a song that dispenses Rajini-like aphorisms ( Yaarudhu vaanam… Pogudhu megam… Adha patta poda mudiyadhuda. )
He gets duets, and he gets to dance — and I use the verb rather generously. He gets action scenes where no attacker can seemingly harm him. He even gets self-referential, with a nod to his big hit, Naadodigal . He proudly gets to proclaim that he isn’t educated, but that doesn’t stop a researcher at an agricultural institute (Mia George) from falling for him. It’s the great Tamil-film fantasy: to get a girl who’s fairer than you are, who’s more educated, who comes from a more privileged background, who sms-es in English while you text in Tamil.
But these massy must-haves apart, Sasikumar doesn’t play your average hero. Even with his limited set of expressions, he plays a character, blending in with the film’s many characters. His name appears in the opening credits in a modest manner, after the names of the others. Vetrivel , written and directed by first-timer Vasanthamani, is the rare film with a big hero that also manages to make everyone else seem important. There’s the relationship between step-siblings, between brothers, between a father and his sons, and a new bride and her in-laws. Some of these dimensions, inevitably, get more emphasis, but the result is that of reading a story with a sprawling set of characters. Very little is really new, but the writing is solid, and the characters are fleshed out well and even the smaller parts have well-rounded arcs. Sometimes, that’s enough.
At a time most filmmakers want to be flamboyant magicians, wowing us with high concepts and fanboy-appeasing star vehicles, Vasanthamani wants to be a diligent little craftsman. He takes the rural-drama template and — without really altering it — adds tiny touches that make a difference, at least while watching the movie. I was surprised at how much of the drama is downplayed. Take these typical situations — when a middle-class schoolteacher goes to a rich man because his son has fallen for the latter’s daughter; or when a girl who’s been away for a while returns and finds the man she loved is now married to someone else, you’d expect huge showdowns. But Vasanthamani imbues the proceedings with a dignity, seldom found in such films. And a welcome strain of humour, even in the more serious moments.
Even the way the story unfolds is unusual. The film opens with some drama that sets up the enmity between step-siblings (Prabhu and Viji Chandrasekhar, both in top form), and it appears that we’re in for a film in which members of their families fall in love and face parental opposition.
There is a love story, and there is parental opposition, but the way the characters of Prabhu and Viji Chandrasekhar are woven in shows a real writer at work. Vetrivel would have been even better with a shorter climax, and I wish Vasanthamani had incorporated more of the hilariously blue-ish comedy track featuring Thambi Ramaiah, but I walked out of the theatre happy with the things that worked. The fact that women are treated with respect and not like objects, or the fact that a proclamation as poisonous as Inga jaathi dhaan namakku aaniver doesn’t lead to thunderous message-mongering. The antidote is injected into casual conversations and actions. It’s been a while since a purely formulaic film was made with respect for the art as well as the audience.
