Vilangu review: A solid, satisfying Tamil crime thriller series
‘Vilangu’ makes for a gripping watch as a result of it downplays its surprises intelligently, and doesn’t fall again on flashy, unrealistic reveals that revolve round a hero cop.
After Zee5’s middling Tamil net collection Auto Shankar, the Over-the-Prime (OTT) platform has provide you with one other crime thriller, Vilangu, directed by Prasanth Pandiyaraj. Crime thrillers, normally, are usually set in city areas in mainstream cinema. Nevertheless, OTT platforms have more and more been turning to small-town mysteries, in all probability as a result of they provide a departure from the routine fare and likewise stand an opportunity to draw new audiences from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities (Netflix’s Aranyak, set in a small-town in Himachal Pradesh, is a latest instance). Vilangu, which takes us by means of the twists and turns in a homicide case, revolves across the Vembur police station, with SI Paruthi (Vemal) main the investigation.
The seven-episode collection begins with a policeman noticing a flashlight within the jungle. However although he doesn’t discover anybody, a physique later surfaces on the spot. Extra intriguing, the pinnacle of the corpse goes lacking even because the place is swarming with police. Prasanth builds a practical image of the Vembur police station. It’s an unimpressive constructing with scaly partitions and rickety furnishings. This isn’t a state-of-the-art facility the place science or expertise can break the case; as an alternative, the police must depend on their community, intestine instincts, and sure, custodial torture. The digicam follows Paruthi as he goes from room to room, coping with his every day work and its chaotic nature that doesn’t enable him to pause and take into consideration the shock worth of a criminal offense.
There are totally different threads to the story; seemingly unrelated crimes and victims who method the police station. At occasions, it feels just like the information are too densely packed and it’s tough to see the sunshine, however Prasanth steadily connects the dots and presents a completed puzzle that’s principally satisfying. The power of the writing lies within the characterisation. Whereas the digicam doesn’t shrink back from exposing the brutality of the police power, we additionally see the stress that they’re beneath to unravel instances. They’ve little time for household (as one senior cop exclaims, he visits a city handy out invites for his daughter’s marriage ceremony and will get entangled in a brutal homicide scene as an alternative), and should resolve instances with few sources and loads of purple tape. The narrative doesn’t tackle a justifying slant however as an alternative presents it as a grim actuality.
Whereas Vemal’s Paruthi isn’t above breaking a couple of bones if he thinks it can get him outcomes, he’s, as compared, a way more humane cop than his colleagues. He isn’t the swashbuckling Singam sort of officer. He will get yelled at by his superiors, he’s conflicted about not attending to spend time along with his pregnant spouse, and he’s beneath large stress from having misplaced the corpse’s head within the case he’s investigating. Bala Saravanan as Karuppu, Munishkanth as Uthaman, RNR Manohar as a senior policeman and the remainder of the solid additionally do properly to maintain the viewer concerned within the goings-on on the Vembur police station.
Revealing the title of the actor who seems to be the prime accused will probably be a giant spoiler, however it have to be talked about that the twist is surprising, and the unraveling of the whys and hows of the crime too, isn’t predictable. I used to be, nonetheless, disenchanted with the feminine characters. Paruthi’s spouse, Revathi (Ineya), is saddled with the stereotype of the nagging spouse and is nearly at all times crying or yelling in each scene. We see a couple of girls cops in passing however none of them will get a pivotal position within the investigation. The opposite girls are painted as seductive sirens, and there’s scant effort to humanise them in the identical manner because the male characters. There are some references to caste politics (an “avanga aalunga”, “namma aalunga” sort of narrative that continues to be imprecise), however the collection doesn’t actually sink its tooth into it, and leaves it hanging within the air as an “additionally there” issue.
General although, Vilangu makes for a gripping watch as a result of it downplays its surprises intelligently, and doesn’t fall again on flashy, unrealistic reveals that revolve round a hero cop (the background rating, too, is dedicated to the plot and never Paruthi). It’s a cat and mouse recreation the place we aren’t positive till the top who’s the cat and who’s the mouse. Effectively performed.
Watch: Trailer of Vilangu
Disclaimer: This overview was not paid for or commissioned by anybody related to the collection/movie. TNM Editorial is impartial of any enterprise relationship the organisation might have with producers or every other members of its solid or crew.
