Vanangaan movie review: Arun Vijay effectively shoulders a Bala film that feels compromised

Vanangaan is about the story of Koti (a terrific Arun Vijay) and Devi (Ridha, who doesn’t get to do much except wail). Koti is a hot-headed man who can neither hear nor speak. He uses his hands to not just express his emotions in sign language, but also to punch, smash, and slap his way through people he believes are evil. The first time we see him flex his muscles, it is against a group of men who demean and physically assault trans women. The next time we see him flex his muscles, it is against a group of men who demean and verbally insult his local church’s priest. The next time we see him flex his muscles, it is against a group of men who demean and do an unspeakable act of sexual violence against a group of visually challenged women. Each time, the violence gets more gratuitous, and increasingly visceral.

This becomes a problem in the movie because the makers get carried away in their attempt to show the intensity of the violence. The visuals of the women being violated by strangers feels wrong because it makes the audience see them through the eyes of the perpetrators. The gaze is just wrong on so many different levels, and it leaves such a scarring feeling that the fate meted out to the perverts doesn’t really have the intended impact. Yes, Koti uses sheer brute force to beat them all up, and uses innovative methods to deliver not-so-poetic justice. However, there is an unshakeable feeling of having witnessed something we shouldn’t have.

Honestly, gratuitous violence is par for the course in Bala’s films, and we have seen such action sequences in Pithamagan and Avan Ivan where the raw nature of the stunts stood out. In fact, these were always welcomed because it was a much-needed detour from the hyper-stylized stunts in superstar films where they almost masked the fact that people flying in the air would actually hurt a lot when they land on the ground. In Bala’s films, there were no such filters. The heroes would have been hurt while hurling those punches, but we knew that it hurt the receiver more. And GV Prakash Kumar’s background score adds gravitas to every stunt sequence that often overstayed its welcome.

But, the faultlines in Vanangaan didn’t appear because of the seemingly insensitive portrayal of sexual violation or the never-ending stunt sequences, or the casual racism, or even the most random of endings, which can only be seen as a desperate attempt to wring out our tear ducts. The fault is definitely in the writing because Vanangaan has a wafer-thin plot that beats around the bush for too long despite the runtime being just around the 120-minute mark. The narrative is so ordinary that we never once feel that the stakes are high. We never feel that Koti is in danger. Despite his violent streak, and being put in prison for his crimes, Koti is released on bail because the story has to move forward. Despite his violent streak, and being a short-tempered person, Koti has Tina (a wonderful Roshini Prakash) falling in love with him because the hero needs a heroine. Despite his violent streak, and not exactly listening to anyone around him, people sympathise with his plight because he is the hero, and more importantly, Arun Vijay delivers a compelling performance. But he is underserved by the writing that burdens him with doing all the heavy lifting.

Just like Bala’s previous films, here too we have quirky characters inhabiting the world, and it is through them that the filmmakers drives home his ideologies about religion, caste, and other societal hierarchies. However, unlike previous Bala movies, the characters in Vanangaan don’t really have a similar impact because except Koti, and to an extent, Tina, none of the other characters get to do anything. While it was interesting to see Mysskin and Samuthirakani in impressive cameos, they distract rather than aid the narrative. While we understand Koti’s reason to kill, it is odd that these don’t have the required emotional impact. On paper, it might have been the emotional high point of the film, but it doesn’t register well enough considering the rushed narrative.

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Watching Vanangaan unfold on screen, it makes one wonder why there is a distinct lack of cohesiveness in the narrative. During the Avan Ivan times, when Bala was asked about the introduction of a villain almost two-thirds into the film, he argued that it is how such characters enter our lives too. So, the film is a reflection of our lives. Similarly, even in Vanangaan, the villains drop in randomly, and it makes absolute sense too. However, the trick that Bala missed out on delivering in this movie is that these antagonists are not powerful enough for Koti. He has made Koti so powerful and so invincible that these villains feel ordinary. Even the system with its might of the police and the judiciary feel ordinary in front of him, and this doesn’t bode well for the realism that Bala goes for in his films. It is such writing shockers that pull Vanangaan down, and makes Bala, the man who would bow to no one, feel like he compromised a bit too much. And once again, it is very very important that sexual violence is showcased with more sensitivity… and it is high time our filmmakers got that memo.

Vanangaan Movie Cast: Arun Vijay, Roshini Prakash, Samuthirakani, Mysskin
Vanangaan Movie Director: Bala
Vanangaan Movie Rating: 2 stars