vetrimaran full movie

Every Vetrimaaran Movie Ranked and Where to Watch Them

Published on.

Shaurya Singh Thapa

Official JustWatch writer

Known for his gritty crime dramas, underdog heroes, and numerous collaborations with actor Dhanush , Vetrimaaran has established himself as one of Tamil film industry’s leading directors.

If you wish to know more about the Asuran and Vidhuthalai director’s filmography, we have got you covered with a complete streaming guide that leads you to all of Vetrimaaran’s movies and information you need on where to stream them online.

Which Vetrimaaran movies should I watch first? 

The best way to watch Vetrimaaran’s movies is in the same order as their release date, as this sequence would show how the director has only improved in his craft with every passing movie. Vetrimaaran made his directorial debut in 2007 with the action thriller Polladhavan . Dhanush played the lead character, a man whose fate changes after he buys a bike and later gets it stolen. Opening to rave reviews for Dhanush’s acting and Vetrimaaran’s directing, the movie spawned numerous remakes in other languages and popularised the Bajaj Pulsar (the bike featured in the movie) among Tamil youths.

The director and actor joined forces again for the drama Aadukalam . The 2011 hit found Dhanush’s protagonist embroiled in an unattainable romance and a rooster-fighting business. The movie earned Vetrimaaran a National Award for Best Director and Best Screenplay.

While Vetrimaaran’s first two movies addressed social themes like an economic class divide, his political themes got more evident in his third film: a police thriller titled Visaranai (also released as Interrogation). The gruelling social drama revolves around the fates of two men who are forced to confess to a crime after they are locked up by the cops. The film won a National Award for Best Tamil Film and also opened much debate and discourse over the ethics of the police force in Tamil Nadu.

Visaranai’s success opened the avenues for more ambitious projects like the period gangster epic Vada Chennai , yet again starring regular collaborator Dhanush. The movie charts an underdog’s journey between rival criminal factions in a fishing community in ‘70s-era South Chennai. Vada Chennai ended on a nail biting cliffhanger, teasing the possibility of a sequel that fans still await.

With Dhanush already starring in several anti-caste dramas, Vetrimaaran cast him again in Asuran. Addressing the oppression faced by marginalised castes, Asuran starred Dhanush as a hot-headed lower-caste youth who kills an oppressive upper-caste landlord. The ensuing chaos made for a violent, powerful, and relevant watch. As is the case with many Vetrimaaran films, Asuran also earned the National Award for Best Tamil Film. 

Why is Vidhuthalai Part 1 Vetrimaaran’s best movie to watch? 

Intending to direct a two-part saga next, Vetrimaaran directed Vidhuthalai Part 1 . Set in the 1980s and inspired by real-life politics of the era, Viduthalai explores the conflict between the police and a separatist group. However, neither side is good or bad as Vetrimaaran’s story explores the morally grey areas of the policemen and their atrocities as well. Boasting impressive performances by Vijay Sethupathi and Soori, Vidhuthalai is a gripping political thriller.

Where can I watch the best Vetrimaaran movies online? 

Below you can find the latest streaming information for every Vetrimaaran movie. This includes every offer for viewers in India today.

Viduthalai: Part I

Kumaresan, a police constable, gets recruited for an operation implanted to capture Perumal Vaathiyar, who leads a separatist group dedicated to fighting against the authorities for committing atrocities against innocent village women in the name of police interrogations.

Pettaikaaran is famous in his town for an impeccable track record of successes in rooster fights. When one of his aides, Karuppu, goes against his word in a fight, it leads to an enmity between them.

Pandi and his friends, immigrant workers in Andhra Pradesh, are picked up by cops for a crime they never committed. And thus begins their nightmare, where they become pawns in a vicious game where the voiceless are strangled by those with power.

Vada Chennai

A young carrom player in North Chennai becomes a reluctant participant in a war between two feuding gangsters.

The teenage son of a farmer from an underprivileged caste kills a rich, upper caste landlord. How the pacifist farmer saves his hot-blooded son is the rest of the story.

Polladhavan

Prabhu is dejected when he learns that his bike has been stolen. He decides to find the people who stole the bike, but lands in trouble when he realises that his bike has been used to transport drugs.

Vetrimaaran

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• 20 wins & 10 nominations

• Writer (as Vetri Maaran)

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• Vetri Maaran
• September 4 , 1975
• Cuddalore, Tamilnadu, India
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Vetrimaaran

Producer, Writer, Director, Actor

Born September 4, 1975 in Cuddalore, Tamilnadu, India

Vetrimaaran is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer, who works in the Tamil film industry. Vetrimaaran made his directorial debut with the Polladhavan. His second feature film Aadukalam won six National Film Awards. He produces films under his production company, Grass Root Film Company. His movie Visaranai (2016) was selected as India's official entry to the Academy Awards.His film Asuran (2019) was named as the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.

Filmography

Connections

Aadukalam Naren

Aishwarya Rajesh

Samuthirakani

Andrea Jeremiah

Kishore Kumar G.

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Viduthalai on OTT platform: Release date, where to watch, cast and plot

Vijay sethupathi and gautham vasudev menon's 'viduthalai' is all set to release on the ott platform. check out the release date, where to watch, cast and plot..

Listen to Story

Vetrimaran’s national award winning action drama starring Dhanush and Taapsee Pannu. G.V.Prakash has composed the film’s musical score.

CAST & CREW

Taapsee Pannu

Vetrimaaran

G. V. Prakash Kumar

Music director, previous movie.

Every Vetrimaaran Film Ranked

Tamil filmmaker Vetrimaaran belongs to one of those breeds of director whose tight scripts, apt casting, and realistic treatment of storyline has made fundamental changes to the very nature of mainstream filmmaking. His films are made for a multi-cultural audience and backed by the strength of their storytelling and sculpted dialogue, which has reinvigorated the art of popular cinema with a breath of fresh air.

Related Read to Vetrimaaran Films: Every Lijo Jose Pellissery Film Ranked

Each of the films is imbued with a powerful, coherent aesthetic that guides viewers through a dark matrix. At its best, it augments a captivating narrative and sinks viewers into a world of social realism of rural Tamil Nadu. Even urban reality is being depicted showcasing more fallible and life-like characters. The cinema of the carnivalesque with its larger-than-life characters, melodramatic orientation and highly romanticized canvas is something that does not whet his appetite for creativity.

With a filmography of five features and one short film as a director, he has earned his reputation as the most one of the most accessible filmmakers of the last decade. His style involves artistically thriving with a soothing pace lending itself to an atmospheric work filled with oneiric undertones. Some viewers may find his films brutal and gut wrenching as it gets; yet, despite its ruthless depiction, it’s also surprisingly heartwarming.

5. Polladhavan (2007)

Vetrimaaran’s debut feature film opens up with a gruesome and brutal fighting sequence and then using the device of flashback, the filmmaker takes us into the dynamic world of contemporary Chennai, where an educated young man, Prabhu ( Dhanush ) fight injustice and in the process is forced to unleash the animal within him.

Also, Read: Every Sriram Raghavan Film Ranked

The protagonist of the film is an uneducated youth who due to turn of events confronts his father (Murali) and an argument regarding the responsibilities of parents towards their offspring ensues. As a result of this conflict, Prabhu gets a hefty amount from his father and he uses the money to purchase a Bajaj Pulsar bike. This appears to be a wise investment because owning the vehicle enables him to get a job and earn respect in society. But the situation takes a drastic turn when a gang of anti-socials steals his bike. Thereafter the film presents the viewers with the transformation of resilience into power and its hold over the life of an individual’s struggle to maintain his position in the harsh reality of everyday life.

The plot of the film has similarities with Wang Xiaoshuai’s Bejing Bicycle (2001). But the well worked out mise-en-scenes of Polladhavan makes it an entertaining tale of a casual urban carefree person’s conversion into a person of genuine worth and true dignity. Polladhavan was remade in Kannada as Punda, in Telugu as Kurradu starring Varun Sandesh, in Sinhala as Pravegeya, in Bengali as Borbaad (2014) and in Hindi as Guns of Banaras (2020). But none of them could achieve the excellence earned by the original version.

4. Visaranai (2016)

Based on the Tamil novel Lock Up by M. Chandrakumar, Vetrimaaran’s third outing in its first half has such brutal scenes of police torture that one could genuinely feel the bestial act of police torture. The viewers are compelled to cringe as well as empathize with the plight of four helpless souls. The narrative of the film can be divided into two sections-before and after the intermission. Four migrant workers are falsely accused in a burglary case that has taken place at a rich and affluent man’s bungalow. The police beat these four characters in black and blue and want them to confess. Not able to withstand the pain they agree to accept the charges. Once they are produced in the court the narrative of the film takes a twist and the viewers are presented with one shocking surprise after the other.

Related Read to Vetrimaaran Films: Salt Of The Earth (1954) : A Landmark American Independent Cinema On The Working Class  

The filmmaker displays superb craftsmanship and commitment to an engaging dramatic tale that ends in a tragedy. The film subtly depicts that the characters in the film become a victim because of the system that protected the criminal over the accuser. It is a deeply troubling film that is devoid of cathartic and healing moments. Vetrimaaran does not feel hesitant in constructing the brutal scene with ease and he is neither afraid to carve out its own unique style.

The film had its world premiere at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Amnesty International Italia Award. Back home it had won three National Film Awards- Best Feature Film in Tamil, Best Supporting Actor and Best Editing.

Watch Visaranai (2016) on Netflix

3. asuran (2019).

What becomes the last resort for a farmer who goes on the run with his family as he is compelled to protect his son, who has murdered a wealthy upper-caste landlord in a fit of vengeance? The reply should be to fight with the oppressing forces and reclaim his identity. That is exactly what Sivasaami (Dhanush) does to break away from the uncomfortable social status he has inherited. Based on the novel Vekkai by Poomani, Vetrimaaran’s screen adaptation is so watertight that every occurrence in the screenplay feels alluring.

Related Read to Vetrimaaran Films : Asuran (2019) Review: Rise, Asuran, Rise!

With Asuran Vetrimaaran continues his excellent cinematic flair as a director enhancing his commendable grasp on the tropes of mainstream cinema. The film also benefits from technical polish – the cinematography, background score and editing are all top-notch. Asuran too has gut-wrenching violence and prepares the viewer for the edge-of-seat tension. The narrative follows a rhythm where the plot is revealed without wasting much of the screen time. The film belongs to the genre of revenge saga told from the perspective of a lower caste protagonist.

It’s one of those mainstream films that fulfill a social purpose, for it’s hard to imagine anyone viewing Asuran and not abhorring the evil practice of casteism in our country and how it voluntarily degrade human values and status. At the Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards, 2020, Vetrimaaran won the award for best director. The film had won two National Film Awards- Best Feature Film in Tamil and Best Actor.

Read the Complete Review of Asuran (2019) Here

Watch asuran (2019) on prime video , 2. vada chennai (2018).

A tale of criminal activities narrated in a non-linear pattern over the span of more than a decade is the perfect recipe for a crime sage. Vetrimaaran’s narrative takes the viewers on a journey that lasts for nearly a hundred and sixty-four hours and introduces them to the world of guilt, regret and vital decisions leading to loyalty turned into betrayal. The protagonist of the film Anbu (Dhanush) is an expert carrom player but his life gets entwined into the world of crime. He gets pulled into the vortex so deeply that penitence alludes to him after a point in time.

Related Read to Vetrimaaran Films : Top Tamil Movies of 2018 and Where To Watch Them

With a multiple cast the story of the film is set in the underbellies of North Chennai as the title of the film implies and the theme of the film is more nuanced than the conventional black-and-white morality tales where evil is punished by good at the end. The film blatantly showcases the graphic world of crime and violence, investigates the nature of friendship, the ethics of vigilantism, and the nature of unhappiness. Vetrimaaran delves deeply into the minds of his tortured characters and explores how the men and women he depicts grapple with moral codes and their emotions.

He further engages with many of the most basic questions about our humanity and how we relate to one another in a complex world. The stylistic elements in the film earn comparisons, bearing marked connections to several of Vetrimaaran’s other films. The film won the Best Film (People’s Choice Award) at the Pingyao International Film Festival, 2018. At the Filmfare Awards South, Dhanush won the trophy for the Best Actor.

Read the Complete Review of Vada Chennai (2018) Here

Watch vada chennai (2018) on disney hotstar, 1. aadukalam (2011).

As the roosters combat in the arena with each other, it becomes a fight of the egos of the individuals who own the fowl. So, when Karuppu’s rooster emerges victorious he not only earns a lot of money but also the enmity of his boss Periyasamy (V. I. S. Jayapalan) and Rathnasamy (Naren). And from then onwards the life of our protagonist will be filled with one hurdle after the other as the tale of loyalty, self-esteem, deception, and honor unfolds.

Related Read to Vetrimaaran Films : 10 Great Tamil Movies You Can Stream On Netflix Right Now

In his sophomore, Vetrimaaran presents a varied cultural pattern of rural Tamil Nadu and uses realism, tradition, and contemporaneity, soaked in local flavor within the narrative structure of his tightly structured screenplay. The conflicts introduced within the plot points create tension by employing smart conventions that are able to sustain the viewer’s anticipation. The editing pattern of the film creates a commendable pace and multi-layered visual design that heightens the impact of the film. Though the filmmaker has openly admitted that he was inspired by the dogfighting scene of Amores Perros (2000), Vetrimaaran has infused his own style and poise within the film, which is anything by blatant copy.

Despite having strong content and potential for box-office success, filmmakers from another region could not dare to remake the film until now. The reason being the milieu of the film is so rooted in the soil of Tamil Nadu and that makes it the best film in the oeuvre of Vetrimaaran’s impressive career. At the 58th National Film Awards, the film won five awards-Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Choreography and Special Jury Award for Acting.

Special Mention: Oor Iravu (2020)

Oor Iravu is a part of the Tamil anthology drama Paava Kadhaigal (2020). Owing to its shorter running time, I have included it in the category of special mention. On the surface level of its narrative, the film depicts the tale of a daughter Sumathi (Sai Pallavi) who had eloped from her village and now she has reunited with her father Janakiraman (Prakash Raj). But as the story of the film moves forward we discover the sensitivity and intricacies of the complex human psyche of individual characters within the film.

Also, Read: Paava Kadhaigal (2020) Netflix: Sinful Filmmaking under the Garb of Hard Hitting Social Drama

Vetrimaaran treated the film with a style that is bold and innovative with the choice of a subject in which the form and content merge into one. The pacing is not fast like his other films rather it is a slow study of how Sumathi’s drastic decision had impacted the lives of various members of his family. Vetrimaaran did not deviate from his usual style of narrative exploration but he has brought an understated rhythm to the unfolding of the events.

There is a kind of freshness in his approach and courage displayed in choosing to build a film around the brutal concept of associating the honor of the family with the sanctity of a woman. The film ends on a depressing note as we realize that such evil things are a reality and will continue to happen unless and until the evils of casteism are not obliterated from our society.

Watch Oor Iravu (2020) on Netflix

Vetrimaaran links : imdb , wikipedia, trending right now.

Dipankar Sarkar is a freelance writer on various topics related to cinema. His articles have appeared in Scroll, The Hindu, Livemint, The Quint, The Tribune, Chandigarh, Upperstall, and vaguevisages.com amongst others.

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Home » Reviews » Tamil Movie Reviews

Viduthalai Part 1 Movie Review: Vetrimaaran Explores A Man Losing Innocence In The Most Brutal Way

Vetrimaaran is himself experimenting with viduthalai, the filmmaker has reshaped his own grammar and tried to expand the universe..

Star Cast: Soori, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Vijay Sethupathi, Bhavani Are, and ensemble.

Director: Vetrimaaran

What’s Good: It is Vetrimaaran setting up a foundation for a much larger story that is about a man losing his innocence and a cultist making his point in the most brutal way.

What’s Bad: While this is a visually brutal movie, it isn’t so brutal in its ideology like the filmmaker’s last movies.

Loo Break: It is an uncomfortable watch which will make you look away from the screen at least once.

Watch or Not?: You must because not many brave filmmakers still have their ideology safeguarded like Vetrimaaran. A mind we must promote and protect.

Language: Tamil (with subtitles).

Available On: In Theatres Near You.

Runtime: 150 Minutes.

Kumaresan (Soori), a newly joined police officer, is posted in a politically sensitive village where he is supposed to capture the leader of a separatist group, Perumal (Vijay). With time he learns tough way that the stories of valour and shining badges about the police force are not the same in reality.

Viduthalai Part-1 Movie Review: Script Analysis

Vetrimaaran , with time, has become the voice of the have-nots whom the woke culture and progress both have to reach. He is a mirror that shows the exact reflection of their condition and how brutal an existence they are living. The filmmaker weaves his stories in a way that they are niche in nature but global in approach. Viduthalai, for the beginners is probably the least ideologically brutal movie to come out of his mind, but visually the brutality multiplies and for a reason.

Written by Vetrimaaran and adapted from Jayamohan’s novel Thunaivan, Viduthalai is a movie that is used as a run-up to the central conflict and nothing else. A 10-minute long shot without a single cut, in the beginning, speaks at length about the immersive experience the filmmaker wants to welcome you in. A train filled at total capacity with passengers is bombed, and there is death all around. The camera skilfully walks through the entire scene defying geography, through windows, uncomfortable openings in the fallen train, and past dead bodies and amputated body parts. He doesn’t want you to be a viewer but a participant.

It is about a police officer filling up for a dead officer in a region known for the unrest it is in. Technically Kumaresan always thought of the force as righteous and the one that is always at the service of people. Little did he know the brutality of the business. There is so much nuance in how Vetrimaaran creates Kumaresan visually. He is informally ousted from the troop because he follows the book and has a heart. He was told to guard a watch tower and later connected to a skill set that he must have developed while being on the tower. Slowly he is made to lose his faith and innocence but becomes brutal to fight for his rights.

So is the man who he is fighting against. Perumal, a boss of a separatist group, fights for the people. At some point in his life he was also like Kumaresan, because the screenplay does hint at his generous heart. So technically here are two individuals of the same emotion fight against each other. Between this is the class divide, the caste divide, police brutality, the haves eating off the have nots, and the forest that is very much a character.

The only thing that Viduthalai lacks in is building Kumaresan’s world inside the police workshop. He is never shown forming a bond with the fellow officers giving a gateway into some more lives.

Viduthalai Part-1 Movie Review: Star Performance

Soori, as Kumaresan, is a sheer force. The actor is our eyes in this world and is learning it as we are. He is empathetic, loveable, but these are not the only qualities which will help him survive. There is so much layering to him as he even shows hint of saviour complex. The movie explores this character in the most immersive way possible.

Bhavani Sre, a girl from the village, is an effortless performer. She becomes the voice of the women who have faced brutality at the hands of the system. When the brutality gets visual and the fact that Sre is at the recieving end, it hurts you, because the actor has managed to impress you so much. Gautham Vasudev Menon is his perfect self.

Vijay Sethupathi doesn’t have much to do than some very brief appearances this time, but the last scene where he confronts a corrupt cop is an testimony of what is about to come.

Viduthalai Part-1 Movie Review: Direction, Music

Vetrimaaran is himself experimenting with Viduthalai. The filmmaker has reshaped his own grammar and tried to expand the universe. He treats the Part 1 as just an introduction to what is to come, and that works well till and extent. But the lack of Sethupathi in the first part might not be welcomed so well by an audience who will buy that ticked for him. While there is enough brutality on screen where nails of a man are being chipped during an interrogation. Women are stripped naked and physically assaulted. But all of this is visual, the idea never gets that brutal. It does bother a bit, because the impact gets diluted by the intercutting of the scenes.

The cinematography by Velraj is beautiful and haunting. The frames are perfectly lit and they have a story to tell. The music by the Maestro Illaiyaraaja, like all other Vetrimaaran products, is on point.

Viduthalai Part-1 Movie Review: The Last Word

Viduthalai Part 1 is Vetrimaaran experimenting and trying to make his audience live a very haunting story. Go in with a strong heart because this watch needs one.

Viduthalai Part-1 Trailer

Viduthalai Part-1 releases on 31st March, 2023.

Share with us your experience of watching Viduthalai Part-1.

For more recommendations, read our Christopher Movie Review .

Must Read: Kabzaa Movie Review: A KGF Rehash Where Men Roam Around With Beheaded Heads As Accessory, Possibly No Brains & Speak In Google Translated Dialogues

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Top 10 best movies of Vetrimaaran

• April 26, 2023 / 02:30 PM IST

Vetrimaaran is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, who primarily works in Tamil cinema. As of 2021, he has won five National Film Awards, eight Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards and two Filmfare South Awards. Now, we bring you the list of top 10 movies of this critically acclaimed Kollywood director.

1) Polladhavan (2007)

Vetrimaaran’s debut feature film opens up with a gruesome and brutal fighting sequence and then using the device of flashback, the filmmaker takes us into the dynamic world of contemporary Chennai, where an educated young man, Prabhu (Dhanush) fight injustice and in the process is forced to unleash the animal within him.The protagonist of the film is an uneducated youth who due to turn of events confronts his father (Murali) and an argument regarding the responsibilities of parents towards their offspring ensues. As a result of this conflict, Prabhu gets a hefty amount from his father and he uses the money to purchase a Bajaj Pulsar bike. This appears to be a wise investment because owning the vehicle enables him to get a job and earn respect in society. But the situation takes a drastic turn when a gang of anti-socials steals his bike. Thereafter the film presents the viewers with the transformation of resilience into power and its hold over the life of an individual’s struggle to maintain his position in the harsh reality of everyday life.The plot of the film has similarities with Wang Xiaoshuai’s Bejing Bicycle (2001). But the well worked out mise-en-scenes of Polladhavan makes it an entertaining tale of a casual urban carefree person’s conversion into a person of genuine worth and true dignity. Polladhavan was remade in Kannada as Punda, in Telugu as Kurradu starring Varun Sandesh, in Sinhala as Pravegeya, in Bengali as Borbaad (2014) and in Hindi as Guns of Banaras (2020). But none of them could achieve the excellence earned by the original version.

2) Visaranai (2016)

Based on the Tamil novel Lock Up by M. Chandrakumar, Vetrimaaran’s third outing in its first half has such brutal scenes of police torture that one could genuinely feel the bestial act of police torture. The viewers are compelled to cringe as well as empathize with the plight of four helpless souls. The narrative of the film can be divided into two sections-before and after the intermission. Four migrant workers are falsely accused in a burglary case that has taken place at a rich and affluent man’s bungalow. The police beat these four characters in black and blue and want them.

3) Aadukalam’ – Cockfight competition

‘Aadukalam’ is a remarkable Tamil film as it bagged National Award under several categories. Dhanush played the role of a Madurai based cockfighter. The actor has impressed many with his diverse role. Dhanush in the film takes up the challenge put on him by the opponents and wins a series of matches in cockfight competition to win huge prize money. Vetrimaaran has well created the sequence, and GV Prakash Kumar’s music added more power to itself. Not able to withstand the pain they agree to accept the charges. Once they are produced in the court the narrative of the film takes a twist and the viewers are presented with one shocking surprise after the other.

4)Vada Chennai

Anbu turning against Senthil Vetrimaaran and Dhanush joined after a gap of several years for the gangster drama ‘Vada Chennai’. The film carries the story of Dhanush from his childhood to a gangster. Anbu (Dhanush) was on the side of Senthil (Kishore) at the start of the film, but at a point, he turned against him since it was a secret mission to kill the opponent. The film received positive reviews, and it had a good theatrical run all over.

5) Asuran’

Sivasaami regaining his power Dhanush’s character in ‘Asuran’ was an elder one, and he played the father of two youngsters. Sivasaami (Dhanush) teaches his sons to be calm in life and to stay away from problems. It was surprising for the fans to see their energetic star in a calm role, but it was the opposite when his flashback revealed. Sivasaami regains his power to save his son from a group of people and destroys them.

6) Vada Chennai

With Vada Chennai, Vetrimaaran returns to the titular North Chennai where he shot his debut film. This time, however, there is more blood, more history, and more politics, and a richer, denser world full of human foibles and fumbles. The detailing is more vivid — like prisoners snorting lizard tails to get high. The violence is more structural — it telescopes its attention on a neighbourhood over time, not a group of friends like in Visaranai.

Like Aadukalam, Vada Chennai starts with bloodshed, which it returns to in the last half-hour. Unlike Aadukalam, this structure feels perfunctory, because the beginning is almost forgotten in the blitzkrieg of rat-a-tat action centred around Anbu (Dhanush), a sincere carrom player, who gets caught in the crossfire of a gang war that he further curdles and erupts. What sets Vada Chennai apart is not just Anbu as an ambivalent hero who is swept into heroism by circumstances, but a hero who is unsure of who is right and who is wrong. He expresses this moral dilemma to his wife in a moving scene. There is a sense that if this film was narrated from another perspective, it might easily flip the moral labels we have slapped on characters. That a film allows its characters this latitude is a triumph of an expanded, exploded imagination — both moral and literary.

7) Asuran (2019)

Asuran perfects a lot of Vetrimaaran’s pursuits — the mass film without the mass conventions. There is no hero entry scene. There is, instead, the intermission block. There is no hip dangling love. There is, instead, trauma and affection. Humour does not exist, distilled in the form of a separate character, like a court jester. It is baked into the exchanges. There is no beauty, no polish. There is a harsh abruptness with which scenes transition. And yet, Asuran has packed in it the most potent scenes of grief and redemptive violence. It is Vetrimaaran allowing his films to char your heart, not just your senses. The second half gives the origin for Sivasaami’s docile nature, one that he has arrived at after a youth of bloodshed that left him orphaned and without love. This mirroring of the two halves is another beautiful Vetrimaaran-ism — from the slippers, to the heroism, to the tragedy that culminates in an escape. It is easy to dismiss this film as templated, but there is a reason templates have survived the onslaught of genre, taste, and time shifts. That it is predictable does not take away from what an artist can do with and within that predictability. Asuran is Vetrimaaran’s most emotionally staining — not draining, but staining — film; its violence lingering as hurt, not horror.

8) Viduthalai Part 1 (2023)

In one sense, Viduthalai is the culminating artistic collaboration between Vetrimaaran and cinematographer Velraj, who has lensed all of Vetrimaaran’s films except Visaranai. The opening shot of around 10 minutes takes us, in one sweeping, single take, through the debris of a train bombing. The sheer audacity of the scene, the lubricated ease with which the camera slides, both vertically and horizontally, sets the stage for Kumeresan (Soori), a kind-hearted police officer who has been sent to the forested hills as part of a police force that is trying to weed out an extremist group. It invokes awe while depicting horror.

The dense prologue, the unfussy heroism of Vetrimaaran are both here. The politics is just as long winded and stiff — like how Vada Chennai questioned development, here, too, the story hinges on how the state uses development as a cover for profiteering; the police, here, too, are brutal beasts. Love comes as a reprieve — both to the character and the narrative.

But what marks Viduthalai apart is how it makes violence seem so routine, Vetrimaaran isn’t even interested in sharpening it. There is a blunt relentlessness to it. It is not that the director can’t show violence that whips our moral sense of the world. It’s just impossible to fixate and linger on violence the way he did in the previous films. In Visaranai what was happening to a group of friends, in Asuran what was happening to a family, is, in Viduthalai happening to a whole movement of people. Vetrimaaran employs a disenchanted cutting away from these moments before their full impact is even felt, for the impact is not in its festering but in its unrelentingness.

If you notice closely, these rankings are in the order of Vetrimaaran’s filmography, suggesting that, at least artistically, he seems to be streamlining ahead, a swift, sure motion away from where he first began.

A motorbike-obsessed son dupes his father into paying for his chopper in order to impress his lady-love. But the young fellow has lessons to learn, and miles to go.vetrimaaran is story writer of the film.Vetrimaraan only provided story for the film.

10) Naan Rajavaga Pogiren

A young man gets sucked into an adventure as he searches for his lookalike. Vetrimaaran gave story and dialogues for this experimental movie.

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Vetrimaaran’s viduthalai: ott release date, where to watch, plot and other details.

Vijay Sethupathi and Gautham Vasudev Menon's film Viduthalai Part 1 is all set to release on streaming platforms. Find out the details here.

Witness the uncut, unseen, unbelievable extended version of #ViduthalaiPart1 Director’s cut on zee5tamil premiers on 28th April. #VetriMaaran @ilaiyaraaja @VijaySethuOffl @sooriofficial @rsinfotainment @BhavaniSre @GrassRootFilmCo @VelrajR @dirrajivmenon pic.twitter.com/u9F3QHKm3q — ZEE5 Tamil (@ZEE5Tamil) April 27, 2023

Here are the details of the OTT release date, where to watch, plot, and cast of Viduthalai Part 1.

About viduthalai director, producer, music, story, cast of viduthalai part 1, plot of viduthalai part 1, read more news on.

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Apple’s big-budget F1 movie finally has a release date, hitting cinemas worldwide

The highly-anticipated Apple Original Films project has finally gotten a release date. The as-yet-untitled F1 movie, starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, will premiere in cinemas on June 25, 2025, with a North America release on June 27.

The film will later stream exclusively on Apple TV+ , Apple’s streaming service. The theatrical distribution, which will include IMAX screens, is being handled by Warner Bros in partnership with Apple.

The F1 film is directed by Joseph Kosinski, the director behind smash hit Top Gun: Maverick. Kosinski has said they are using cutting-edge camera rigs to capture the feel of the cars in motion like never before. The actors drive in specially-designed F2 cars that have been modified to look like an F1 car. The rumored budget for the movie is believed to be in excess of $250 million.

Filming has taken place across the last year at many real F1 circuits, during real Grand Prix race weekends. Production was halted during 2023 by the strike, however. The cast and production crew are expected to appear at a few more races during the 2024 F1 season, until filming concludes.

Although still officially untitled, the project is generally referred to as ‘Apex F1’, as the fictional racing team in the film is called Apex. Brad Pitt plays a former driver who returns to the grid to help out his teammate, played by Damson Idris. The cast also includes other big names, including Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem, Tobias Menzies, and Sarah Niles.

For this year, Apple Original Films slate includes another Brad Pitt vehicle, ‘Wolfs’, which is dated for theatrical distribution on September 20. In action comedy ‘Wolfs’, Brad Pitt teams up with George Clooney as two fixers assigned to the same job.

See everything coming to Apple TV+ in our comprehensive guide .

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Who won Tony Awards for 2024: Full list of winners and nominees

By Jordan Freiman

Updated on: June 17, 2024 / 9:56 AM EDT / CBS News

"The Outsiders" took home the award for best musical and "Stereophonic" earned the coveted best play award at the 2024 Tony Awards, as the best of Broadway was honored Sunday night.  

"Hell's Kitchen," the jukebox musical featuring songs by and inspired by the life of Alicia Keys, and "Stereophonic," a play that, while not a musical, does feature several original songs from Arcade Fire's Will Butler, both earned the most nominations with 13 each coming into the night. While "Hell's Kitchen" missed out on best musical, Maleah Joi Moon, the show's star, won best lead actress in a musical for her first ever Tony Award win.

Several movie and TV stars were also nominated for Tony Awards for their performances on stage this year, including Jessica Lange, Rachel McAdams, Sarah Paulson — who won best lead actress in a play — and Daniel Radcliffe , who won best featured actor in a musical for his role in the revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Merrily We Roll Along."

Ariana DeBose returned to host the main program for the third year in a row. Several awards were given out before the TV broadcast began, during "The Tony Awards: Act One," hosted by Julianne Hough and Utkarsh Ambudkar.

The show featured performances from every best musical nominee, including a surprise performance from Alicia Keys and Jay-Z, and also featured a musical number from "Stereophonic."

Below is a full list of winners and nominees:

Best Musical

• "The Outsiders" — Winner
• "Hell's Kitchen"
• "Illinoise"
• "Water for Elephants"
• "Stereophonic" — Winner
• "Jaja's African Hair Braiding"
• "Mary Jane"
• "Mother Play"
• "Prayer for the French Republic"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

• Maleah Joi Moon, "Hell's Kitchen" — Winner
• Eden Espinosa, "Lempicka"
• Kelli O'Hara, "Days of Wine and Roses"
• Maryann Plunkett, "The Notebook"
• Gayle Rankin, "Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club"'

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

• Jonathan Groff, "Merrily We Roll Along" — Winner
• Brody Grant, "The Outsiders"
• Dorian Harewood, "The Notebook"
• Brian d'Arcy James, "Days of Wine and Roses"
• Eddie Redmayne, "Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

• Sarah Paulson, "Appropriate" — Winner
• Betsy Aidem, "Prayer for the French Republic"
• Jessica Lange, "Mother Play"
• Rachel McAdams, "Mary Jane"
• Amy Ryan, "Doubt: A Parable"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

• Jeremy Strong, "An Enemy of the People" — Winner
• William Jackson Harper, "Uncle Vanya"
• Leslie Odom Jr., "Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch"
• Liev Schreiber, "Doubt: A Parable"
• Michael Stuhlbarg, "Patriots"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

• Will Brill, "Stereophonic" — Winner
• Eli Gelb, "Stereophonic"
• Jim Parsons, "Mother Play"
• Tom Pecinka, "Stereophonic"
• Corey Stoll, "Appropriate"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

• Kara Young, "Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch" — Winner
• Quincy Tyler Bernstine, "Doubt: A Parable"
• Juliana Canfield, "Stereophonic"
• Celia Keenan-Bolger, "Mother Play"
• Sarah Pidgeon, "Stereophonic"

Best Direction of a Play

• Daniel Aukin, "Stereophonic" — Winner
• Anne Kauffman, "Mary Jane"
• Kenny Leon, "Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch"
• Lila Neugebauer, "Appropriate"
• Whitney White, "Jaja's African Hair Braiding"

Best Direction of a Musical

• Danya Taymor, "The Outsiders" — Winner
• Maria Friedman, "Merrily We Roll Along"
• Michael Greif, "Hell's Kitchen"
• Leigh Silverman, "Suffs"
• Jessica Stone, "Water for Elephants"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

• Daniel Radcliffe, "Merrily We Roll Along" — Winner
• Roger Bart, "Back to the Future: The Musical"
• Joshua Boone, "The Outsiders"
• Brandon Victor Dixon, "Hell's Kitchen"
• Sky Lakota-Lynch, "The Outsiders"
• Steven Skybell, "Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

• Kecia Lewis, "Hell's Kitchen" — Winner
• Shoshana Bean, "Hell's Kitchen"
• Amber Iman, "Lempicka"
• Nikki M. James, "Suffs"
• Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, "Monty Python's Spamalot"
• Lindsay Mendez, "Merrily We Roll Along"
• Bebe Neuwirth, "Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club"

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

• "Suffs" — Winner
• "Days of Wine and Roses"
• "Here Lies Love"
• "Stereophonic"
• "The Outsiders"

Best Revival of a Play

• "Appropriate" — Winner
• "An Enemy of the People"
• "Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch"

Best Revival of a Musical

• "Merrily We Roll Along" — Winner
• "Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club"
• "Gutenberg! The Musical!"
• "The Who's Tommy"

Best Book of a Musical

• "The Notebook"

Best Costume Design of a Play

• "Jaja's African Hair Braiding" — Winner
• "Appropriate"

Best Costume Design of a Musical

• "The Great Gatsby" — Winner

Best Orchestrations

Best scenic design of a musical.

• "Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club" — Winner
• "Back to the Future: The Musical"

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Best choreography.

• "Illinoise" — Winner

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Best lighting design of a play.

• "Grey House"

Best Sound Design of a Play

Best sound design of a musical.

• "Merrily We Roll Along"

Jordan Freiman is a news editor for CBSNews.com. He covers breaking news, trending stories, sports and crime. Jordan has previously worked at Spin and Death and Taxes.

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An Apple Original Films title is heading to the big screen for the sixth time with the June 27, 2025, release of Joseph Kosinski ‘s Formula 1 movie starring Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem. Warner Bros has won the rights to handle both domestic and overseas.

This follows Paramount releasing Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon ($157M worldwide), Universal with Argylle ($96.2M WW), and Sony with Napoleon ($221.3M WW), Fly Me to the Moon (July 12), and Wolfs (September 20).

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The pic will get a June 25, 2025, offshore release. Imax venues are included in the mix for the latest from the Top Gun: Maverick filmmaker and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment is also producer with 7x F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton’s Dawn Apollo Films banner. The movie was made in collaboration with Formula 1, with filming taking place at races on the sport’s calendar.

Pitt plays a former driver who returns to Formula 1, alongside Damson Idris as his teammate at APXGP, a fictional team on the grid, the feature has been shot during actual Grand Prix weekends as the team competes against the titans of the sport. Also starring are Academy Award-nominee Kerry Condon, Academy Award-winner Javier Bardem, and Emmy Award-winner, Golden Globe Award nominee Tobias Menzies, Sarah Niles, Kim Bodnia and Samson Kayo.

Kosinski directs and produces the feature alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films; and Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner for Plan B Entertainment, and Lewis Hamilton under his Dawn Apollo Films banner. Academy Award-nominee Ehren Kruger ( Top Gun: Maverick ) penned the screenplay. Copper CEO Penni Thow serves as executive producer. 

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'The Blues Brothers' came out in June 1980. Is there a better Chicago movie? Not for me

The following is adapted from “ The Blues Brothers: An Epic Friendship, the Rise of Improv, and the Making of an American Film Classic ,” published March 19 by Atlantic Monthly Pres s. The author is Daniel de Visé , a personal finance reporter for USA TODAY. 

One summer evening, back in the ‘80s, I filed into a Chicago theater and beheld my city on the big screen, pretty much for the first time.

I saw "The Blues Brothers, " the crazy car-crash comedy musical, starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd and directed by John Landis.

The film came out on June 20, 1980. I was 12, and it was rated R, so I didn’t see it until a couple of years later, at the Parkway Theatre on Clark Street, where movies cost a buck or two and no one asked your age.

From that night, "The Blues Brothers" was my Chicago film.

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Critics panned it at the time. Today, "The Blues Brothers" ranks at or near the top of the list of great Chicago films. For many Chicagoans of a certain age, "Blues Brothers" is foundational. It means enough to me that I wrote a book about it.

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Is there a better Chicago film than 'The Blues Brothers'?

Is there a better Chicago film? The Brothers’ biggest competition is probably "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off," the great John Hughes comedy, released six years later.

Here, let’s pause for a brief geography lesson.

I am from the city: born on the South Side, raised mostly on the North.

John Hughes was from the suburbs: Northbrook, to be exact.

(Random fact: My father and I used to drive out to Northbrook on Thursdays in summer to watch bicycle races. My father emigrated from Belgium and raced bicycles with other low-country immigrants in his youth. But that’s another story .)

Hughes set several of his films in the Chicago suburbs, and especially in the North Shore, the necklace of suburban jewels that flank Lake Michigan, north of the city: Places like Winnetka, where the "Home Alone" house just went up for sale , priced at a cool $5.25 million.  

North Shore kids used to flock into the city on weekends, generally making a beeline for downtown, or the Miracle Mile, or Wrigley Field.

In that sense, "Ferris Bueller" was a picture-perfect portrayal of a rich suburbanite’s relationship with the city.

It was a great Chicago film, but it was not my Chicago film.

Chicago is 'like 'The Blues Brothers' if you're poor'

“Chicago is like ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ if you’re rich,” one local musician recently observed in Jacobin magazine , “and it’s like ‘The Blues Brothers’ if you’re poor.”

I would define the dichotomy more in terms of city and suburb, but you get the idea.

Ironically, Belushi was himself a suburbanite, born in the city but raised mostly in Wheaton, a place so remote it barely qualified as a suburb.

But Belushi escaped to Chicago at his first opportunity. And the Blues Brothers, the fictional ones, were very much of the city.

When Elwood retrieves Jake from Joliet Prison at the start of the film, their eventual destination is a flophouse apartment in the Loop, a downtown space defined by L tracks.

“How often does the train go by?” Jake asks.

“So often you won’t even notice it,” Elwood replies.

Much of the film was shot in the suburbs, but not the John Hughes suburbs. Noooo: We’re talking Harvey, a struggling south-suburban hamlet with enough crime problems to shutter a mall at the height of the mall era. And Wauconda, a sleepy outpost farther from the city than Wheaton.

Jake and Elwood seem to spend most of the film trying to get back to the city. Not since "The Warriors," released a year earlier, had anyone fought so hard, and against such long odds, to get home.

'106 miles to Chicago'... from where, exactly?

It was never entirely clear where the Brothers are supposed to be when they set out on their final push, and Elwood announces, “It’s 106 miles to Chicago.”

In the film’s fanciful plot, the band plays a climactic gig at a fictional Palace Hotel Ballroom, on a fictional Lake Wazzapamani.

The production yielded few clues to its location: The crew shot the exteriors at the South Shore Cultural Center, an old Mediterranean revival structure on Chicago’s South Side. They filmed the interiors at the Hollywood Palladium, the art deco palace on Sunset Boulevard.

Thankfully, much of the film plays out in the city, paying glorious, gritty tribute to Daley Plaza, the downtown government campus; Maxwell Street, the famed open-air market; Lower Wacker Drive, the base of a double-decker roadway that threads through downtown; Bronzeville, the South Side neighborhood that housed the fictional Ray’s Music Exchange; and Chez Paul, the real River North restaurant where North Shore kids and their parents gathered to dine.

And here is another reason why "The Blues Brothers" matters so much to Chicago: When the film hit theaters, 44 years ago this month, it gave many Chicagoans their first real look at their city on a movie screen.

More: What the 'mission from God' really was for 'The Blues Brothers' movie

A film drought on Lake Michigan

In the years of my childhood, precious few films shot in Chicago, a prohibition that dated to the early years of Mayor Richard J. Daley. A powerful Irish American politician from the Southwest Side, Daley banished film and television crews from his city in 1959, when an episode of a now-forgotten series called "M Squad" portrayed a Chicago cop taking bribes.

If you grew up in New York or San Francisco or Philadelphia or Los Angeles, you could see your city on screen all the time, in such priceless cinematic artifacts as "Saturday Night Fever," "Dirty Harry," "Rocky" and "Chinatown."

A few film crews talked their way into Chicago: Remember "Cooley High"? But not many.

Yet, by 1979, when "The Blues Brothers" came to town, Mayor Daley was dead. Jane Byrne had just taken office as Chicago’s first female mayor. She was happy to let the production in.

The late mayor’s cronies had lined up against Byrne, calling her a “crazy broad” and worse.

When Byrne met with cast and crew, Belushi asked if his friends could drive a car right through the lobby of the Richard J. Daley Center.

“I wouldn’t have a problem with that,” Byrne replied.

And so, Mayor Byrne and "The Blues Brothers" threw open the gates to Chicago as a setting for a new generation of classic films.

"The Breakfast Club" (1985) and "Home Alone" (1990) are suburban Chicago. "The Untouchables" (1987) is old-time Chicago. "The Fugitive" (1993) is action-movie Chicago. "High Fidelity" (2000) is hipster Chicago.

And ‘The Blues Brothers’ is my Chicago.

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You’ve Seen the Movie — Now Name the Book That Inspired It

By J. D. Biersdorfer June 17, 2024

• Share full article

Can you identify a book title just by looking at a photo from its film adaptation? (Or maybe if you had just a little hint?) That’s the challenge in this week’s installment of Great Adaptations, the Book Review’s regular multiple-choice quiz about books and stories that have gone on to find new life in the form of movies, television shows, theatrical productions and other formats.

Just tap or click your answers to the five questions below. And scroll down after you finish the last question for links to the books and their screen adaptations.

Hint: The novel used as the basis for this film was originally released in six serial installments.

“The Shawshank Redemption”

“Road to Perdition”

“The Green Mile”

“Forrest Gump”

Hint: Before she did “Barbie,” Greta Gerwig directed and wrote the most recent film adaptation of this book in 2019.

“The Old Curiosity Shop”

“Pride and Prejudice”

“Jane Eyre”

“Little Women”

Hint: The book — about censorship and published in 1953 — has been banned itself in some places.

“Stranger in a Strange Land”

“Fahrenheit 451”

“American Psycho”

Hint: This 2008 nonfiction book sparked a 2012 film and two sequels.

“The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory”

“When Colleges Sang: The Story of Singing in American College Life”

“Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate a Cappella Glory”

“Powerful Voices: The Musical and Social World of Collegiate a Cappella”

Hint: The book was published in 1929 by a member of the Harlem Renaissance whose previous novel was “Quicksand.”

“Every Tongue Got to Confess”

“Unfinished Masterpiece”

“The Living Is Easy”

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