Vettaiyan
Vettaiyan is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by T. J. Gnanavel and produced by Subaskaran Allirajah's Lyca Productions. The film stars an ensemble cast of Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Fahadh Faasil, Rana Daggubati, Manju Warrier, Ritika Singh, Dushara Vijayan, Rohini, Rao Ramesh, Abhirami and Ramesh Thilak. The film follows a senior police officer who accidentally shoots an innocent person during an encounter killing, while investigating the murder of a teacher.
The film was officially announced in March 2023 under the tentative title Thalaivar 170, as it is the 170th film with Rajinikanth as lead actor, and the official title was announced in December 2023. Principal photography commenced in October 2023 and ended in August 2024. It was shot in several locations including Thiruvananthapuram, Tirunelveli, Chennai, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. The film has music composed by Anirudh Ravichander, cinematography handled by S. R. Kathir and editing by Philomin Raj.
Vettaiyan released worldwide on 10 October 2024 in theatres, coinciding with Vijayadashami, to mixed reviews from critics who praised Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Fahadh Faasil and Rana Daggubati’s performance and technical aspects while the storyline and pacing received criticism. Although emerging as the third highest-grossing Tamil film of 2024 and the seventeenth highest-grossing Tamil film of all time, it did not perform well at the box-office.
Plot
Athiyan, a Superintendent of Police in the Kanyakumari district, is a renowned encounter specialist known as "Vettaiyan" for taking down criminals with the help of his team and "Battery" Patrick, a thief-turned-police informer who is also a tech genius. Athiyan receives a complaint from Saranya, a middle-school teacher, from Pechipaarai about marijuana being stored in classrooms, leading to student drug abuse and disrupted classes. Following the tip, Athiyan and his team arrest Kumaresan, the man behind the drug production, and kill him in an encounter, earning public approval but drawing scrutiny of the human rights commission. Justice Sathyadev Bramhadutt Pandey visits the encounter case hearing for observation while the court rules the encounter justified. Saranya gets closer to Athiyan's family and is soon transferred to Chennai.Soon, Saranya is brutally raped and murdered on the terrace of her new school, with her body discovered in the water tank. SP Harish Kumar and ASP Roopa Kiran led the investigation, uncovering Guna, a software engineer and the brother of Saranya's school student Chitra, as the perpetrator due to his alleged addiction to pornography. Teachers protest statewide, demanding Guna's arrest and justice for Saranya. Guna escapes custody from the hospital, prompting authorities to deploy Athiyan, and is eventually tracked down and killed by Athiyan in an encounter at sea. While the public praises this, Sathyadev reveals that Guna was in Hyderabad during the crime, proving his innocence. Devastated by his mistake, Athiyan reopens the case with Patrick, Roopa, and Harish, uncovering gaps in the original investigation.
Their efforts led them to Hanu Reddy, a contract killer hired to murder Saranya. However, Hanu is killed before they can discover who hired him. With Patrick's technical expertise, the team uncovers Harish's corruption: he had tipped off Hanu about the police's pursuit and took a bribe to frame Guna. Investigations with a Nat Academy employee, Swetha, revealed that their chairman, Natraj Shanmugam, was involved in a scam of luring parents and students with promises of 100% pass rates in competitive exams through online courses. Many families took loans to join, but the Nat Academy refused refunds when they discontinued or could not pay, and those who complained faced threats and violence. To hide the scam, Natraj partnered with the Government under the "Smart Student Scheme" to provide free entrance exam coaching classes to government schools, to deceive people by disparaging the standards of government schools by bribing social media influencers. Saranya and Guna, whose sister was also a subscriber to Nat Academy's online course, had uncovered evidence of the scam before Saranya's demise.
Athiyan attempts to arrest Natraj but is transferred to the Economic Offences Wing in retaliation. Subsequently, Athiyan collaborates with DSP Nazeema to investigate Natraj under the provisions of the BUDS Act, 2019. To gather evidence, Athiyan, with the assistance of his wife Thara, a social media influencer, collects complaints from parents across the state who claimed to have been defrauded by Nat Academy's online courses. Natraj sends goons simultaneously to intimidate Athiyan, Thara, and Roopa, but these attempts are unsuccessful. Athiyan learns that a hard disk drive had already been sent by Saranya, and upon recovering, finds proof of Natraj's scams, but Natraj's henchmen kill Patrick during the investigation. Swetha bribes the public prosecutor, allowing Natraj to evade a court case.
Athiyan, lacking concrete evidence linking Natraj to Saranya's murder, with his nephew Dharan's help, shares Saranya's final video, revealing Natraj's purported scam and attempted murder on social media. Then, he convenes a press meeting to share findings regarding Natraj's scam, exposes Harish's role in falsely implicating Guna, and declares Guna's innocence. The police arrests Harish and Natraj, and the government annuls all MoUs with Nat Academy, leading to its ban. During transportation from Puzhal prison to the court, Natraj escapes custody, taking Roopa hostage. Athiyan confronts Natraj and subdues him and his henchmen, securing Natraj's arrest.
Six months later, Natraj is sentenced to life in prison for Saranya and Patrick’s deaths, and Athiyan steps back from his encounter-driven methods, choosing to let justice take its course.
Cast
Production
Development
In May 2022, it was reported that director T. J. Gnanavel would reunite with Suriya for his next directorial post the critically acclaimed Jai Bhim. Then Suriya stated that if his film with Vetrimaaran, Vaadivaasal, got further delayed due to extensive pre-production works, they would collaborate again. Production was to begin after Suriya completed his commitments with Bala's Vanangaan at that time, but Suriya left Vanangaan due to reported creative differences with Bala. Gnanavel confirmed the reunion in November 2022 during an interview for the occasion. He further stated that he narrated the script to Suriya during the filming of Jai Bhim in 2021, and the actor approved it back then.In July 2022, director Cibi Chakravarthy, was reported to begin work for his next, which would either star Vijay or Rajinikanth, with the latter being the top contender. In August, Chakravarthy confirmed that he indeed had begun work for his next directorial but the lead actor was not finalised. Throughout the year, speculations arose over the collaboration of the director and Rajinikanth and the film was temporarily titled Thalaivar 170. As Rajinikanth signed a two-film deal with Lyca Productions due to the success of 2.0, the venture was reported to be produced by Lyca. In January 2023, Chakravarthy reportedly confirmed the collaboration of him and Rajinikanth. However, the project failed to materialise and was dropped.
Pre-production
In January 2023, sources claimed that due to Suriya's commitments with Siva's Kanguva and Vetrimaran's Vaadivaasal, Gnanavel began work on another script. He reportedly narrated it to Rajinikanth, who was impressed by the director and immediately gave his nod. Lyca Productions announced the project on 2 March, tentatively titled Thalaivar 170. The project was planned to start after Rajinikanth wrapped up Jailer and Lal Salaam. A muhurat puja was held on 4 October in Thiruvananthapuram in the presence of the cast and crew.The film was made on a budget of. Anirudh Ravichander would score the music, in his maiden collaboration with Gnanavel. On 4 October 2023, the technical crew including cinematographer S. R. Kathir, editor Philomin Raj and stunt choreography duo Anbariv were announced to have been retained by Gnanavel, after they previously worked in Jai Bhim. Art director K. Kathir, make-up artist Pattanam Rasheed and costume designer Anu Vardhan were chosen as crew. The official title Vettaiyan was announced on 12 December 2023, coinciding with Rajinikanth's 73rd birthday.
Casting
Rajinikanth plays a police officer. In October 2023, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan joined the cast, making his debut in Tamil cinema, as well as in his reunion with Rajinikanth after Hum. Bachchan was initially set to make his Tamil debut with Uyarndha Manidhan, which got shelved. Fahadh Faasil was signed for a comic role in his fifth Tamil film Manju Warrier, Ritika Singh and Dushara Vijayan play the female leads, and Rana Daggubati was chosen for a prominent role in the film. The actresses were announced on 2 October 2023, while Daggubati was announced the day after, by the production house. Rakshan and G. M. Sundar's presence at the muhurat puja confirmed their inclusion. Rohini, Rao Ramesh, and Ramesh Thilak were later confirmed to be a part of the cast.Filming
was scheduled to begin on the third week of September 2023 in Chennai, but ultimately began on 4 October in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Production moved to Tirunelveli on 11 October. In late October, the second schedule began filming in Mumbai, with Rajinikanth and Bachchan. The schedule concluded by 30 October. On 20 November, the filming began at Prasad Labs, Chennai. During this schedule, as Indian 2 was filming in the same studio, Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan met at the studio and posted videos and pictures to social media, which went viral. In early December, Singh, through her social media, stated that she would take a break from filming as she injured herself during the filming of her portions.A leaked picture of Rajinikanth and Fahadh, taken by paparazzi, was posted to X, where the film's social media security partner removed the picture from the social media and warned the users not to post or else they would lose their account. After a short break for Pongal, filming resumed in Puducherry. That schedule concluded by mid-January 2024. The final schedule began on 28 January in Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh. Rajinikanth, on 10 February, stated that 80% filming was done. In early March, production moved to Hyderabad, and Daggubati began filming his portions on 4 March. Filming of Rajinikanth's portions ended on 13 May 2024, while overall filming ended in late August.