Rajnikanth’s last hit venture was the dark action-comedy film Jailer. It was a hoot to watch Rajnikanth, the superstar of India, pull off such delicious dark characters with utmost finesse. Keeping that in mind, T.J. Gnanavel tries to recreate a similar premise with the superstar. Vettaiyan is about the investigation into the death of a public-school teacher who was very close to Rajnikanth’s character in the film.
Spoilers Ahead
Who was SP Athiyan?
Vettaiyan began with Patrick, aka Battery, serving tea at a meeting of local mafia dons who were discussing the wrath of the new superintendent, Athiyan. There were only two gang lords who were not afraid of the new sheriff in town. One of them ended up being attacked in the police raid that happened at this meeting. Athiyan was known to be an encounter specialist in the Kanyakumari region. His shoot on sight policy had all the gang lords terrified. All of them ran away on Athuyan’s arrival, including Kumaresan, who was known for his drug ring in the coastal town of Kanyakumari. It turns out Battery was the snitch who gave away the location of the meeting. He was a thief turned informant who reformed himself on Athiyan’s advice. For Battery, Athiyan was a father figure, and he was happy to be helping the police whenever he was asked to.
What did Saranya complain about?
Saranya, a local school teacher, complained to Athuyan about the public school classrooms being used to store drugs by unknown people. Since she was keen on providing proper education to children, she had to file a complaint. She’d studied computer engineering and had applied for a transfer to Chennai. Saranya’s complaint made Athiyan take Battery’s help to plant bugs and activate a flying camera in the shape of a house fly. This helped Athiyan get enough evidence against the drug lord, Kumaresan. As his drug ring was busted, Kumaresan was being set up for an encounter killing, as Athiyan and his subordinates knew he would be out on bail in no time otherwise.
Kumaresan escaped but was caught, and eventually revealed Athiyan’s colleague was corrupt. Athiyan gave Kumarasen his gun to kill his colleague with, and he did that. Kumaresan was hence trapped, and Athiyan killed him, claiming the culprit had killed a police officer. Kumaresan’s death instantly made Athiyan and Saranya local heroes. SP Athiyan had an opposing voice: ex-judge Sathyadevan, who was fighting against encounter killings, and claimed it was a violation of human rights. Sathyadev refused to see Athiyan as a hero and did not agree with his methods.
Who was arrested for Saranya’s murder?
Saranya moved to Chennai after her transfer, and on reaching the city, she was meeting many parents of the children of the school she joined. A while into her job, Saranya was chased in the school where she worked and brutally raped and killed by someone. The investigation was handed over to IPS officer Harish Kumar. The Evidence and the interrogations conducted by Harish and his team members Roopa and Ram pointed at a school employee named Guna. Guna apparently had a history of harassing women, and he’d been fired from his job with an edtech company, Nat Academy, for watching adult films. Guna was arrested after the murder weapon was found in his store.
Guna escaped in no time from the police custody. Meanwhile, Athiyan requested his superior officers to let him be a part of the investigation team, as he had been deeply moved by Saranya’s selfless work as a teacher in Kanyakumari and Chennai, and her death had affected him. Guna was eventually found on a trawler off the coast by Harish, Roopa, Ram, Athiyan, and Battery. While Battery was shooting a video of Guna holding Ram hostage, Harish and his team heard Guna say he would surrender to the police on his own and confess whatever he knew. Athiyan, however, who was confident of Harish’s investigation skill, shot Guna dead on getting consent from him.
Did ex-judge Sathyadev change Athiyan’s mind?
Athiyan and Harish were proclaimed to be heroes by the people, the media and the teachers working at Saranya’s school. However, ex-judge Sathyadev was unwilling to believe Guna was the culprit, as he produced an interview letter Guna had received which proved he was in Hyderabad on the day of Saranya’s murder. Athiyan also learned Guna had been helping many underprivileged kids with computers. This startled Athiyan as he realized Harish and his team had botched up the investigation. There were gaping holes that Ram, Roopa, and Harish had ignored.
The team found Guna was arrested on the orders of Nat Academy for misbehaving with female clients. He was bailed out by Saranya, which made Athiyan wonder why he would kill her. On further diving into investigating Guna’s alibi, the CCTV footage received from Hyderabad proved that Guna was not in Chennai, hence he had been framed; as a result, the investigation was misled.
Who killed Saranya?
Athiyan asked Harish and his team, including Battery, to acquire CCTV footage of the slums where the school was located from around the time of the murder. They found a car with Telugu language writing it and the presence of a pan masala packet that was in the car and at the scene of the crime. The fingerprints were cross-checked by the Andhra-Telangana police, who found they belonged to a local hitman, Hanu Reddy. Hanu Reddy was an influential figure, and arresting him was a difficult task. Athiyan, was seen as a savior right from the start and he was able to capture Hanu Reddy. Hanu Reddy confessed to having gotten a contract from the internet and being given the job to rape and kill Saranya for money. The hitman was unfortunately killed on the way to Chennai, and the team was left with nothing to produce to reopen the case.
How was Nat Academy involved in Saranya’s murder?
Athiyan, along with Harish and the team with Battery, wanted to find the footage of Saranya and Guna that was leaked from outside the Nat Academy head office. In the footage, it seemed like Guna was harassing her, and someone from the Nat Academy had sent it to the police and the media to prove Guna was a serial harasser. On questioning the teachers of Saranya’s school, Athiyan and his team learned that Nat Academy was running a massive racket under the guise of offering NEET and IIT-JEE classes. There had been several complaints made by the children and the parents, but to no avail. Saranya took up the cause and was protesting against Natraj, the owner of the edtech company who had convinced the central HRD Minister to rope him into the government scheme in Tamil Nadu to help the underprivileged kids using edtech.
Athiyan eventually learned Harish Kumar was in on Nat Academy’s racket as he was taking bribes from Natraj and his associate Swetha for burying the cases against them. Harish was the only person who had heard Natraj’s confession about killing Saranya, as her growing protests against his company were becoming a major obstacle. Harish Kumar agreed to his role, and his only justification was that his life as an IPS officer had stagnated, and the offer by Swetha from Nat Academy was interesting, so he took a bribe from them.
Did SP Athiyan arrest Natraj?
Since Athiyan had a confession from Harish about Natraj’s direct involvement in killing Saranya, he assumed it would be easy to arrest him and throw him in prison. It seemed like an easy open and shut case, just like Guna’s arrest. Athiyan was confident nothing could stop him from arresting Natraj, as there was mounting evidence and the confession to put him in prison for many years. To his shock, Natraj was too powerful and influential, which led to the man being let go almost immediately without even proper arrest. This was bound to happen, as Swetha had mentioned her boss would never go to prison, as too much was at stake. Natraj was the personification of a typical villain who was introduced way too late in the screenplay. Some buildup about him would have helped in keeping the story going, but sadly that did not happen.
Athiyan was transferred to the economic offense team, and he was joined by Nazeema to help him nab Natraj for offenses that were violated by him as a businessman. The murder case was easy to get away with, as Natraj had faked alibis that got him acquitted in no time. Since Natraj was an influential person as well, it was not hard to believe he could bribe the judges and the police officers to prove he had been wrongly accused. Athiyan wanted to use the business angle to nab him. With the help of Sathyadev, they came across the 2019’s BUDS Act that protects the people from businessmen such as Natraj who accumulated a lot of money. Natraj had taken endless sums from many underprivileged families under various schemes, and in return, these people and their children got nothing.
If the teachers were encouraged to get the families to file a complaint, Athiyan would be able to build a strong case. This plot point and another new character were introduced way too late in the film. It further dragged out the movie for no reason. There was a hype created to prove Athiyan would not do wrong this time and he would come out triumphant. One proven case would sentence the culprit to three years in jail, and Athiyan, along with Sathyadev, Roopa, and Battery, were able to file thousands of cases from the city itself. This was Athiyan’s way to get his revenge for killing Saranya and placing the blame of the murderer on an innocent man. Athiyan also wanted to feel better about his conscience, as Guna’s innocence made him question his previous encounters. He was adamant about proving Guna innocent.
Battery was sadly killed as he got Athiyan, his mentor, the video that was erased from the school computer. The video included Saranya’s research on Nat Academy’s racket, where she did not shy away from naming and shaming Natraj along with evidence in the form of people speaking up against his company’s fraudulent schemes. Battery was killed to indicate Natraj would not shy away from killing Athiyan as well.
Vettaiyan ended with Athiyan releasing Saranya’s video to social media and the television media. This forced the police to arrest Natraj under the BUDS Act and for his role in Saranya’s murder as well. This time Athiyan had the upper hand, as the evidence against Natraj was overwhelming and hard to ignore. Athiyan was bound to come out as a hero because it was a Rajnikanth film. There was a masala fight between Natraj and Athiyan, and the showdown was necessary, as any Rajnikanth movie is bland without such hand-to-hand combat scenes between him and the villain. Natraj was put behind bars and was convicted in the court of law for killing Saranya and for the massive racket he was running. As Natraj was convicted, Athiyan came out and declared Guna innocent to the media, which was the closure the deceased’s family wanted. However, Athiyan did not kill him in an encounter, which was his norm before this. He wanted Natraj to face the wrath of the legal system and serve a long sentence. Death would be an easy exit, and Athiyan wanted Natraj to suffer as he had put a lot of underprivileged people through the pain.
The last scene of the movie had Athiyan speaking to a conference led by Sathyadev and motivating the police officers to have a conscience before making a logical judgment. This was Athiyan training the next generation of police officers to think before killing someone in the name of law and order. He cannot change his past, but Guna’s death changed something in him, and it allowed him to look at things from a gray perspective unlike before. Just like prisoners go through reformation, Athiyan went through one as well.
