is vetrimaran dhanush brother

Dhanush And Vetrimaaran, the Alliance That Never Fails To Create Magic

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Last Updated: July 28, 2022, 18:08 IST

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The movie became the first Dhanush film to reach the 100-crore club at the box office within 10 days of its release.

With five films under his belt, the director has already established a cult following.

Nobody was surprised when director Vetrimaaran’s most recent film, Asuran with Dhanush, opened to a raucous love from both critics and audiences. The movie became the first Dhanush film to reach the 100-crore club at the box office within 10 days of its release.

Vetrimaaran has solidified his position as one of the most intriguing directors in Kollywood over the past ten years. With five films under his belt, the director has already established a cult following.

But Dhanush could be equally responsible for the early Vetrimaaran movie’s success. It is no secret that the pair have a very close working relationship; they are both National Award winners. The actor starred in every other Vetrimaaran movie except Visaranai, including Polladhavan, Aadu Kaalam, Vada Chennai, and Asuran.

Over the past 12 years, the director and the actor have praised one another’s achievements in the industry. In 2005, while working as an assistant on the late director Balu Mahendran’s Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam set, Vetrimaaran had his first encounter with Dhanush. Vetrimaaran composed Polladhavan for Dhanush two years later. The actor agreed right away, and the movie quickly became a big success.

Vetrimaaran waited another four years before his subsequent release, Aadukalam in 2011, following the success of Polladhavan. Nobody had any doubts that this movie would succeed and receive praise. Dhanush excelled in a role that required him to portray an assistant to a Madurai cockfighting legend. At the 58th National Film Awards, Aadukalam went on to win six awards, including Best Actor and Best Director for Vetrimaaran and Dhanush, respectively.

Leaving Visaranai aside, for the time being, commercial films like Vada Chennai and even Asuran exist. Despite their overblown approach, they stand out as quality films. We are immediately taken to the seedy underbelly of the slums of north Chennai in Vada Chennai.

Asuran, on the other hand, is about a poor family’s fight and defeat against the exploitative rich. Despite the violence in both movies, they don’t glorify it. They are direct and blunt, and every aspect of the movie including the background music, the cinematography, and the editing works together to move the plot along. In circumstances like this, Vetrimaaran’s brilliance shines.

The unconventional way Vetrimaaran approaches cinema sets it apart from other styles. There seem to be two things you can expect from a Vetrimaaran film: excellent writing and, to boot, equally excellent performances, after 12 years and five high-calibre movies.

In Kollywood, very few director-actor teams are as successful as Vetrimaaran and Dhanush. It strongly resembles the collaboration between Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro. We can only hope that the duo keeps providing us with excellent movies for years to come.

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Dhanush shares thank-you note after National Award win, calls Vetri Maaran his brother

Dhanush shared a thank-you note on social media after winning best actor at 67th national film awards. he managed to impress everyone with his performance in asuran..

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DHANUSH'S THANK-YOU NOTE AFTER NATIONAL AWARD WIN

Dhanush is currently in the US shooting for his Netflix original, The Gray Man. He took to Twitter to thank everyone who is associated with the film Asuran and his fans for their unconditional support. Asuran, directed by Vetri Maaran, spoke about caste injustice and discrimination.

OM NAMASHIVAAYA pic.twitter.com/XXFo8BDRIO — Dhanush (@dhanushkraja) March 23, 2021

Here's Dhanush's statement:

"I woke up to this amazing news of being honoured with the prestigious national award for ASURAN. To win one best actor award is a dream, to win two is nothing short of a blessing. I never imagined I would come this far.

"There are a lot of people to thank, but just gonna state a few. As always I thank my mother and father, my guru, my brother first. "I thank Vetri Maaran for giving me 'Sivasami.'

"Vetri, never thought when I met you at Balu Mahendra sir's office that you would become a friend, companion and a brother. I am so proud of the four films we have worked together and the two films we have produced together. I am very glad you chose to believe in me so much and I chose to believe in you. Now can't wait to hear what you have written for me next. A big hug.

"I sincerely thank the National Award jury for this award. I thank my producer Thanu sir for all the support. I thank my entire ASURAN team especially my family, my dear Pachaiyamma Manju, my Chidambaram Ken and my Murugan Teejay.

"Thank you GV for 'Vaa Asura.' The blood bath song."

ASURAN BAGS BEST TAMIL FILM

Apart from Dhanush winning the Best Actor award, Asuran won the Best Tamil film at the 67th National Film Awards. Producer Kalaipuli S Thanu of V Creations and director Vetri Maaran are overjoyed as Asuran has bagged two awards.

IndiaToday.in reviewer Janani K rated the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Asuran is Vetri Maaran and Dhanush’s most violent film yet. Also, it is the simplest, yet most effective movie of Vetri Maaran’s career. As the title implies, there’s a demon (Asuran in Tamil) inside all of us and it only comes out when your pent-up emotions need a way out."

ALSO SEE | Asuran trailer out: Dhanush and Vetri Maaran promise us a violent action drama

ALSO SEE | Asuran new posters out: Dhanush looks intriguing in Vetrimaaran film

ALSO WATCH | Cauvery water dispute: Tamil actors join protest demanding management board Published By: K Janani Published On: Mar 23, 2021 --- ENDS ---

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Ranking Vetrimaaran Films — From Polladhavan to Viduthalai Part 1

Ranking Vetrimaaran’s films — excluding the short films he made — can feel like picking a winner from a competition of despair. And yet, because of the artistry, his films end up challenging his own filmography; building on his flaws, adopting newer visual languages to express older tropes of a violent world. 

Beginning with Polladhavan (2007), his films increasingly hold you in a brusque, violent, and breathless chokehold. Visaranai (2016), his third and most celebrated film, which was even sent to the Academy Awards as India’s nomination, is best described as a relentless marathon of brutality. Every time you think the film has let go, like steam released from a pressure cooker, the plot tightens into lashings and screams.

That none of this violence feels gratuitous is because of how normal violence feels in the world Vetrimaaran creates on screen. When characters die, they just do. When they are violated, they just are. Is this violence repetitive? Yes. But does it feel repetitive? No, because his films are not hinged on stylized violence. He doesn’t need to find innovative ways to stage it, since his films are about the contexts in which violence begins to feel like an everyday phenomenon — brutal but, like air, everywhere. It is these contexts that keep changing — from Madurai to Vada Chennai (North Chennai), Andhra Pradesh to the forested hills of Tamil Nadu — and the violence remains unsettlingly natural to all of them. 

6) Polladhavan (2007)

The opening credit of “non-linear editor”, the voiceover narration, and the opening shot yanking you into a flashback in Polladhavan — Vetrimaaran’s debut film is preoccupied with time flipping over itself, bending, contorting, staring at a bloody present and then tracing backwards to how we reached this bloodbath. The film follows the fallout after its happy-go-lucky protagonist Prabhu (Dhanush) loses his bike, and comes in contact with first an insecure underworld and then the inefficient blackhole of the police station.  There is a visual recklessness, almost a disenchantment with stillness in the film. When the image does become still, it is usually like a jerk — either a photograph or a forceful pausing of the frame. Here is a director who refuses to be bound by conventional framing and narrative. He will bung in two narrative voiceovers — what Preston Sturgess called “narratage”. He will place the camera between two vessels on the gas, the foreground of coffee being flipped from tumbler to tumbler, with Prabhu entering from behind. 

Polladhavan is dated in the sense that you see a director struggling with his style and the template that he wants to both tap into and wreck open — the grating dream songs of love and amorous celebration in a disco, for example. Vetrimaaran himself said in an interview with Film Companion , “From Polladhavan , I learnt I should never make a film like that.”

5) Aadukalam (2011) 

We begin in the present, but return to it only in the last half hour of this film. Karuppu (Dhanush) is a masterful cockfighter, but the Othello-like machinations of jealousy lead his mentor (played by V.I.S. Jayapalan) to exact violence by slowly chipping away at Karuppu’s reputation through gossip and cross-speak. And yet, as Karuppu’s fortunes balloon, his love for his mentor is never challenged. His mentor’s rejection of him never translates to Karuppu’s resentment. It is the kind of mythological devotion Ekalavya showered on Drona — one incapable of rancour. Blind love, as director Vetrimaaran notes in an interview with Film Companion , can be most dangerous.

The “centrepiece” — where Karuppu has to make his cock fight, not once, but thrice in the dust-flung competition,— is a grunting, unending tapestry of tension. It cemented Vetrimaaran as a director with a vision that drew from the well of Cine Madurai violence while cutting against it, stamping his distinct visual style, his trademark panting exposition in the beginning and his casual irreverence towards heroism. In the first “action scene” Karuppu is given, the camera is static, staring at the fight like a spectator, watching as Dhanush’s lithe frame tries to pummel the goons.

Aadukalam ends with Karuppu escaping the scene with his Anglo-Indian lover (Taapsee Pannu), not wanting to explain himself to those who have misunderstood  him or been manipulated into believing incorrect things about him. It’s a rare, mature narrative closing that shows a protagonist who is okay being thought of as wrong, even though he was wronged. If that means keeping the memory of his mentor — who orchestrated the manipulation — unsullied, so be it. 

4) Visaranai (2015)

Visaranai felt like an aesthetic sharp-turn for Vetrimaaran, showing us that as a director, he is capable of patient storytelling, linear storylines; neat, spare flashbacks, that unfold at the pace of life, without sizzling it up or slurring it down. The only throbbing background score in the film is that of ominous rain and crickets.

Perhaps, because the film is based on events that are true and shocking, Visaranai looks as though it is “captured” and not “shot” as a film (look at these violent words used to describe cinema). It does not even have that “centrepiece” moment of bloodshed that Vetrimaaran usually places carefully somewhere in the middle. It does not need it. The film, based on accounts of police custodial violence — first in Andhra Pradesh to poor Tamil Nadu migrants, then in Tamil Nadu to a white collar auditor — yanked from M. Chandrakumar’s novel Lock Up , is brimming with blood. The centrepiece, if anything, is that moment of quiet, of silence, of hope, that comes in little snatches before it is pulled away. 

The cinematic virtue of this film is its relentless violence which never feels gratuitous. What differentiates one from another? Here is violence treated as life — without drama, without emphasis. A rare restraint that nonetheless produces horror unlike in another film — by Vetrimaaran or anyone else. 

3) Vada Chennai (2018)

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. 

This is a hypnotic movie, moving across time, back and forth, sometimes a flashback within a flashback. If you pause the film, turn and ask what year the events are taking place, it takes a moment because of how much is churning in the story. The death of M.G. Ramachandran and Rajiv Gandhi are used as temporal walking sticks to help us wade through the film. The original cut for Vada Chennai was 5.5 hours long, and the reason we feel scenes end abruptly with moments often collapsing as they begin, is because of the unsparing edit to bring it down to 2.5 hours. The action, the relentless throw of context, dialogue, and exposition, keeps you afloat, as though you were being swept away in an furiously rushing river. 

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. 

2) Asuran (2019)

Both Vada Chennai and Asuran are, perhaps, the most cinematic of Vetrimaaran’s films — with a slow-motion pay-off that belongs to the masala template, lodged comfortably alongside the various Vetrimaaran-isms. Both insert their intermission after a rousing action sequence that disarms you with its style and emotional punch. However, while Vada Chennai is impatient in its storytelling — by narrative design and editorial desperation — Asuran digs deeper. 

The first shot of the film, of a moon among milky clouds, crumples when feet are placed over it — we realise that we were seeing a reflection of the moon over still water, which is now being trampled over by escaping feet, that of Sivasaami (Dhanush) and his son Chidambaram (Ken Karunas). Chidambaram has just hacked the man who murdered his elder brother — an act of vengeance that dislocates his family, who are now fugitives. 

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. 

1) 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. 

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Did Dhanush drop hints about his collaboration with Jr NTR in Vetrimaaran's next?

Dhanush hinted at a potential collaboration with Jr NTR under Vetrimaaran's direction during the promotional event for Raayan in Hyderabad. Find more details inside.

At the promotional event of Dhanush's next Raayan in Hyderabad, the Captain Miller actor was asked about his future movie projects and which Telugu actor he would be interested in working with in a multi-starrer. Dhanush instantly referred to RRR star Jr NTR’s name. 

Also known as Tarak, Jr NTR is Dhanush's one of the favorite actors in Tollywood, alongside his top choice, Pawan Kalyan. Fans are now speculating that Dhanush and Jr NTR might come together for Vetrimaran-directed multilingual movie. This has been triggered after the speculation that Vetrimaran has already pitched a story featuring both these actors.

Dhanush is gearing up for the release of his next release, Raayan which hits theaters on July 26. Now all the attention of Tamil industry is focused on this Dhanush directorial venture since the much-anticipated Kamal Haasan's Indian 2 didn't work at the box office. 

Raayan is Dhanush 's second directorial venture after Paa Paandi which released in 2017. In Raayan, Dhanush himself plays the lead role in a story revolving around gangsters from North Chennai. 

After the success of Vaathi, Dhanush enjoys quite an impressive stardom in Telugu states. That’s why he held a promotional event in Hyderabad with his co-stars Sundeep Kishan and Kalidas Jayaram. 

Vetrimaaran to direct Dhanush and Tarak?

Vetrimaaran is one of the biggest directors in Tamil industry, who has delivered many  blockbuster classics with Dhanush. Vetrimaaran’s last collaboration with Dhanush was in the 2019 movie Asuran which was a huge blockbuster.  They had also collaborated for Vada Chennai, Aadukalam, and Polladhavan, the first film directed by Vetrimaaran.

Dhanush won a National Award for Best Actor in the film Aadukalam, directed by Vetrimaaran in 2011.  The ace filmmaker is currently busy in the preparation phase for a film with Suriya titled Vaadivaasal, set against the backdrop of the Jallikattu sport of Tamil Nadu.

Buzz is also strong that Vetrimaaran has narrated a script to both Dhanush and NTR . Fans of both actors are now waiting for confirmation to know if Dhanush had pointed at this possible collaboration while promoting Raayan in Hyderabad.

Work upfront for Dhanush 

After Raayan, Dhanush has confirmed two projects in his kitty. He is currently busy with the shoot of Kubera directed by Shekhar Kammula. It’s a Telugu-Tamil bilingual  where Dhanush will act alongside Nagarjuna and Rashmika Mandanna.

Dhanush is also confirmed to reunite with Captain Miller director Arun Matheshwaran for a biopic on Ilaiyaraaja's life. He has even signed up for the sequel of the 2010 Karthi-starrer Aayirathil Oruvan. This film will be directed by Dhanush’s brother Selvaraghavan, after helming the first part.

ALSO READ:   INSIDE PIC: When Jasprit Bumrah and his wife met superstar Rajinikanth at Anant Ambani’s wedding; fans can’t keep calm

Nikhil Sebastian, an Engineering graduate, is a seasoned writer who seamlessly blends technology and entertainment. With 7 years of writing

Nikhil Sebastian, an Engineering graduate, is a seasoned writer who seamlessly blends technology and entertainment. With 7 years of writing experience, he specializes in unraveling box-office trends in South Indian cinema. Beyond his professional role, Nikhil's heart resonates with movies, passionately following all four South Indian film industries. His storytelling talent captivates readers, unveiling the mysteries behind box-office triumphs and the enchanting narratives of South Indian cinema. In addition to his love for writing and cinema, Nikhil is an avid football enthusiast and a globe-trotter, exploring new destinations with zeal.

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How Vetrimaaran-Dhanush became a hit pair

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A couple of years before Yo Yo Honey Singh’s unimaginative ‘Lungi Dance’ in ‘Chennai Express’ (2013) thrilled Bollywood fans, Dhanush and director Vetrimaaran showed how it is actually done. In ‘Otha sollala’ from ‘Aadukalam’ (2011), Dhanush, shaking his lungi, dances on the busy streets of Madurai as if nobody’s watching.

Dinesh Kumar’s choreography and Dhanush’s childlike expressions leave you grinning. Among the six National Awards bagged by the film, one was for best choreography. It also served as an introduction to the now famous combination of Dhanush-Vetrimaaran.

Despite their socially conscious themes, their films don’t fall in the arthouse category. They draw large crowds, and entertain and disturb in equal measure. With six National Awards, the pair has shown that it is not just arthouse films that rule when it comes to film festivals and awards.

It was no surprise when Vetrimaaran’s ‘Asuran’ (2019) was adjudged the best Tamil film and Dhanush won his second best actor honour at the 67th National Awards announced on Monday.

Vetriamaaran’s first film was ‘Polladhavan’ (2007), with Dhanush. The routine story of a hero going in search of his lost bike was told rivetingly by Vetrimaaran, protégé of the great Balu Mahendra. Commercial cinema must-haves like romance, parental sentiment, duets, friendship and hero-villain faceoffs were accommodated in an engaging screenplay.

Rooted in nativity

The two take up themes that concern the Tamil people. If the Madurai rooster fight tradition was central to ‘Aadukalam’, ‘Vada Chennai’ (2018) was about fishermen and gang wars in north Chennai. ‘Visaranai’ (2016), produced by Dhanush, held a mirror to police brutality while ‘Asuran’ exposed the atrocities faced by Dalits.

None of the films are melodramatic or message-heavy. Vetrimaaran turns stories into gripping sagas. The combination even backed debutant M Manikandan by producing ‘Kaaka Muttai’ (2015). The heart-warming take on globalisation’s impact on big cities was powered by child actors.

Vetrimaaran does not glorify blood and gore. In ‘Visaranai’, police cruelty represents the corrupt system around us. In ‘Asuran,’ violence shows us how the oppressed resist. In ‘Vada Chennai’, the camera movements and stylish score distract us from the murders.

When the hero says ‘This is our home and we must fight for it’ in ‘Vada Chennai’ and ‘Nobody can steal education from us’ in ‘Asuran,’ you don’t stand up and whistle. Instead, you are moved.

In his dialogue delivery, nowhere does Dhanush give the impression that he has learnt the lines carefully. In ‘Aadukalam’, your heart aches when he reacts to his mother’s death. He goes several notches above in the climax. He gives a sterling performance when he realises he is betrayed by his mentor. In ‘Asuran’, watching him as a helpless father trying to cover his son’s brutally attacked body moves you to tears.

All-round filmmaking

Vetrimaaran’s stories are from Tamil literature while his characters are Shakespearean in their hubris. They are driven by greed, hatred, selfishness and ego. He extracts brilliant performances from supporting actors. Some of the best works of Kishore and Samuthirakani are in his films. He also shows a constant interest in unusual music scores. If G V Prakash used rap in ‘Aadukalam,’ Santhosh Narayanan adopted the Gaana genre (a style of street music) in ‘Vada Chennai’.

Great camaraderie

Dhanush, ridiculed for his frail body and non-hero-like face, believed in gaining stardom with his biggest strength: acting. Vetrimaaran found the right man to execute his complex, maverick ideas.

They trusted each other and pushed their limits with each film. Today, they are arguably one of the best combinations in Indian cinema.

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The Dhanush interview | 'Asuran is Vetri Maaran’s best with me'

It’s hard for a director-actor combination to generate huge expectation each time. The Dhanush-Vetri Maaran duo has struck gold every time so far. The gritty Polladhavan, the rustic Aadukalam, the intense Vada Chennai… And now, Asuran that marks their fourth collaboration. This one, according to Dhanush, is their best. “I confidently believe so. The audience might agree or differ with me,” he says. An on-screen adaptation of Poomani’s novel, Vekkai, Asuran will document the bond between a father and his sons. “Every son has an equation, an unforgettable journey, with his father. Asuran is one such.” Dhanush plays the role of the father, Sivasami, this being his first outing, playing an aged character. While Ken Karunas plays one of the sons, London-based musician Tee Jay plays the other.

The story is set in two time periods — the familial bond is explored in the 80s like in the novel, while Sivaswamy’s flashback portions are set in the 60s. The hardest part of adapting a novel to the screen, Vetri Maaran says, is that a book offers a lot that isn’t adaptable for the screen. “Certain literary devices and flourishes don’t have the same potency when translated to the screen. One has to leave what can’t be used, figure out a path to the core of the story and then work towards adapting it for cinema,” he explains.

This, he says, was one of his biggest lessons he learnt from his mentor, Balu Mahendra. He admits that Asuran will not satisfy the expectations of people who have read Vekkai. “Both are different mediums. When you switch from one to another, there’s a lot that gets left behind and there’s a lot that gets added too. The film, on its own, will deliver an emotion to the viewer. This experience won’t be the same for the people who have read the book.” This is why Dhanush refrained from reading the book. “Reading the novel gives you certain expectations.

As an actor, I didn’t want that,” he says, adding that he will read it after watching the film. It was on October 17, last year, that Vada Chennai got released. Now, almost a year later, Asuran is set for release. This pace is unusual for Vetri Maaran who is known to take a couple of years between projects. “Ella project-um seekaram than mudikaren,” he says, with a laugh. The team had to battle severe weather conditions while shooting for the film and Vetri Maaran terms D h a n u s h ’ s dedication as ‘phenomenal’.

“He is an actor who commits himself to anything he does. But the effort he put in to play Sivasami is extraordinary.” Dhanush, for his part, shares high words of praise for the team and its commitment. “I must say the technicians faced tougher ordeals. After finishing a shot, I had the liberty to rest for a while. But they had no breaks,” he says, and adds that he feels “embarrassed” to say that he has worked hard for the film. Dhanush’s career betrays a few patterns. Among them is a tendency to work again with the same directors. “I keep working with Vetri Maaran because of the results he has produced earlier. Avara naa endha alavukku nambirukkeno, andha alavukku result kuduthurukaaru. He is also a dear friend. This combination is rare to find.”

A versatile actor who has played many shades with ease, Dhanush admits to relying on directors to reinvent himself on screen. “Vetri always gives me new challenges, ups the ante each time with characters that have tremendous scope. It makes working with him exciting. I hope it’s the same for him.” Dhanush’s filmography indicates another pattern: Many of his projects have brought in actors from across industries.

We got Premam-fame Anupama Parameshwaran in Kodi, Sai Pallavi in Maari 2, and now, Mayaanadhi- fame Aishwarya Lekshmi is set to feature in his upcoming film with Karthik Subbaraj. Asuran, meanwhile, marks the entry of Mollywood actor Manju Warrier in Tamil. Ask Dhanush if this indicates that he follows other industries keenly, and he instantly refuses with an air of humility. “I suggest names only when I am asked. The final call is always made by the maker who chooses the actors. Frankly, I only know what happens on the sets. Enakku konjam knowledge kammi than.” Manju Warrier calls Dhanush ‘a dear friend’ and remembers when he called her to enquire about Asuran.

“Dhanush and Vetri Maaran are beloved names in Kerala; so when I got the call, I had nothing to think about.” She quotes their great track record and shares that she was excited to work with them. “The combination has always given good cinema. I was sure this wouldn’t be any different. I didn’t know what to expect in the first week. It felt like I was joining a new school. But the unit made me feel so comfortable.“ Dhanush returns the compliments by calling Manju ‘a phenomenal performer’. “It is easy to perform with someone when you can sense that they are acting.

But what do you do when you don’t even realise they are performing? That’s scary. Right from day 1, I was just looking to learn from her,” says Dhanush. Manju shrugs it off, modestly. “I go to a new film as a blank page, so I can do justice to however the director wants me to portray my character. I don’t think too much.” Ask her why it took her so long to agree to do a Tamil film, and Manju says it was just about getting the timing right. “I got a few Tamil offers in the late 90s, but for some reason, they didn’t work out. But now, I feel it was all for the best. This film was meant to happen, and I am happy that Asuran is my first Tamil film.”

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Dhanush, Vetrimaaran to reunite for another project before Vada Chennai 2: report

Actor dhanush and director vetrimaaran were last seen together in tamil gangster drama vada chennai..

Actor Dhanush and filmmaker Vetrimaaran, who have worked together on multiple projects, are all set to reunite for a yet-untitled Tamil project which will be bankrolled by producer Elred Kumar. Last worked together in Tamil gangster drama Vada Chennai, the duo was to reunite for the film’s second part. However, latest reports suggest that they will be coming together for another project.

As per a report by Tamil entertainment portal Galatta, the project is already in the discussion stage and might happen even before Vada Chennai 2.

Producer Elred Kumar recently announced he’s bankrolling Vetrimaaran’s next Tamil project with actor Soori in the lead. In a recent media interaction, Soori said that he agreed to be a part of the project after hearing just one line of story from Vetrimaaran. “It’s every actor’s dream to work with Vetri sir. When he called and told me he has this story which he’d like to make with me, I didn’t even think for a minute to give my nod. We go on the floors from November.”

Also read: Kangana Ranaut says Ankita Lokhande told her Sushant Singh Rajput suffered ‘so much humiliation’ and ‘could not take it’

Soori didn’t divulge any details regarding the film’s genre but he confirmed that he will be seen in a very different character. Apparently, Vetrimaaran’s film with Soori will be based on Meeran Moideen’s novel Ajnabee, centered on a man who sells balloons for a living.

Vetrimaaran also has a project titled Vaadivasal with Suriya in the offing. The film will go on the floors next year and will most likely materialise after Suriya finishes his film Aruvaa with director Hari. Vetrimaaran will also soon resume shooting Vada Chennai 2, which will be about the rise of Dhanush as an accidental gangster from north Madras.

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Vetri Maaran and Dhanush help create new record with Asuran

Vetri Maaran's Asuran , starring Dhanush and Manju Warrier, had opened to critical and commercial acclaim, turning out to be one of the biggest blockbusters of 2019. This was Vetri Maaran's fourth association with Dhanush after Pollathavan, Aadukalam, and Vada Chennai.

Asuran , based on the Sahithya Academy Award winning-writer Poomani’s novel  Vekkai , is about farmer Sivasami (Dhanush) and his fight to save his land from the most affluent family in the village. Apparently, after the release of the movie, Vekkai has been read by many, who wanted to know how Vetrimaran has adapted the book. Now, Amazon's ebook service Kindle India has made it official that Poomani's  Vekkai is its most sold ebook (in Indian languages) in the year 2019.

Asuran also stars Ken Karunas, Ammu Abhirami, Prakashraj, and Balaji Sakthivel, and is still running successfully in a few screens. Vetri Maaran has a project with Soori, and another with Suriya, in the pipeline.

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