An Edgy, Raw and every bit personally crafted by filmmaker Bala, ‘Vanangaan’ starring Arun Vijay, Mysskin, Samuthirakani, Roshini Prakash in a tale of taking justice in the hands over a highly sensitive subject. The movie keeps on giving the unexpected surprise outrage that exceeds the imagination of the current audience who haven’t consumed a Bala’s movie in years with pure high octane violent action sequences that are alarmingly realistic.
Vanagaan Plot
Set in the southern tip of India, Kanyakumari, the story follows Kotti and his sister Devi who are brought together by a disastrous trauma that swept away their roots, leaving them together for each other. Kotti is a mute and hearing impaired by birth is often triggered easily by the social injustice happening in front of his eyes and takes matters into his own hands and provides justice through fighting. Skimming away a few times from law, he himself surrenders after a sensational news outbreak of two gory murders. Did Kotti have an alarming motif behind his act? Does the inclusion of sensitive sexual trauma justify his act of justice, following the rest of the story soaked in emotions.
The Positive Aspects
‘Vanangaan’ is purely an one man show run by Actor Arun Vijay, whose full potential broke away as the actor sincerely took over the challenging role of exhuming animalistic actions and emotions as a mute throughout the movie and did it impressively. Just like the previous lead men of Bala’s, Arun Vijay’s best scraped through some physically and mentally tough sequences.
#Vanangaan soothing 3rd single "Mugilin Mele" out now..🎶🎶@IyakkunarBala @gvprakash @vhouseofficial #VanangaanFromJan10https://t.co/yA4HXysAjE pic.twitter.com/5ynDox2yu5
— ArunVijay (@arunvijayno1) January 6, 2025
GV Prakash’s music composition for soul stirring songs and Sam C.S coming for a fluid and apt Background Score elevated the action sequences and the emotional ones.
Mysskin’s short yet crisp inclusion fitted perfectly as the talented filmmaker and actor was natural in playing the observant and balanced Judge, simultaneously trashing some of the legal myths, creating those rare chuckles in an otherwise harsh and violent film.
Unmissable Tamil Movie Releases in January 2025: Here’s the Full ListThe Negative Aspects
Any film that releases with the agenda of providing social justice regarding issues faced by women has a tightrope to walk on as the projection and showcase of the incidents that are fictional or derived and the impact it leaves will be put to debate. This was the case for the recent release Vettaiyan where the makers were pointed out to insensitively add a sexual violence or assault for the sake of a deep cut for the audience. While the debate is never ending, Director Bala who has always been on the verge of flipping the mood in his film dramatically has done it again in Vanangaan.
The showcase of a perverted gaze over young visually impaired women is where the line must be drawn in terms of differentiating an image for the audience to understand the narrative and the recurrence of the same over a time and the degree to which the visual medium imports the sensitive subject for the audiences must be restrained.
The Verdict
After several years and hurdles, Director Bala has put out his work that although lies in his usual genre is solely carried by Arun Vijay who shines like a diamond in the movie. Vanangaan is not everyone’s cup of tea and certainly not for the weak hearts who crave a happy, easy watch as the movie compels something more from the audience, more than a judgement to pass on over the film’s climax.
