VISARANAI MOVIE REVIEW

Vetri Maaran is back with his 3rd directorial - Visaranai. The director who is known for his two critically as well as commercially acclaimed films Aadukalam and Polladhavan is back with a crime thriller which has achieved laurels in the festival circuit even before its theatrical release. The film has been screened in few film festivals and also has got some rave reviews from top international critics.

 

The core story of Visaranai is inspired from a novel called the Lock Up. However, it is not a complete adaptation as the director fuses the core story with an interesting subplot that talks about a political conspiracy. That is one reason you might find the first half drastically different from the latter half. 

 

GV Prakash has done a neat job with the background score. His work is notable despite Visaranai's over shadowing performances and narration. 
 

Some directors have fascination towards violence and might even design or alter the plot accordingly but in this case violence is part of the film, it wasn’t force fitted. It was necessary for the brutality to make you feel the pain that the director wants to convey. 

 

The other major highlight of Visaranai is the screenplay, which looks brisk as a bee. Though it is a film that moves you, it is also hard hitting and carries an airtight writing and that is why Visaranai is special. Without any commercial gimmicks the film manages to be a mainstream product that keeps the audience at bay from the word go with some suspenseful moments. The cuts are so seamless that the film travels like water from the rock.

 

Violence and gore are two separate terms. Though you find people being hammered into pieces, the director has tried to stay away from gore as much as possible. So whenever you find blood being shed you’ll see the visuals go greyscale (black and white), thus trying to stay away from gore.

 

Visaranai is a performance oriented film; the acting quality is top notch. You’ll find some magnificent performances from Samuthirakani, Attakatti Dinesh, Kishore and Ramdoss. Not just the leads, every single person, even the ones who pass for a fraction of a second make an impact. Be it the scenes where Dinesh, Ramdoss and his friends get caned mercilessly or the scene Kishore gets beaten up; you will always feel it’s really happening right there in front of you. Samuthirakani’s characterization deserves a special mention. Such realistically portrayed cop you hardly see in films.

 

Art department and the cinematographer are two pillars of the film. Their works go hand in hand with the film. The set works or the camera movements, the makers have approached a different set of treatment for both halves. 

T Udhayakumar's sound is authentic, raw and precise. One would feel like virtually being in the plot, thanks to the splendid sound design. 

If you’re going to be very harsh as a critic, you could probably point out a couple of negatives like the makeup continuity issues and lip syncs.

 

Some may call Visaranai to be a violent film, while most of the others may say it is a brilliant piece of art that is so real and suspenseful. But if you’re a fan of crime thriller or film that depicts pain, do not miss it!