Vettah - a movie that made me look forward for more than one reason - Manju Warrier as a lady cop. This movie was helmed by Rajesh Pillai, who kickstarted the new generation movie trend of malayalam and he can easily be termed as a saviour of malayalam cinema which was then fast reaching the zenith of mediocority and absurdness. Unfortunately Rajesh Pillai passed away on the day 'Vettah' hit the screens. So the movie got overshadowed by his death news and there was no coverage for the movie. 'Vettah' deserves a special mention in malayalam cinema annals.
The movie starts with the kidnap of the movie star - Uma Swaminathan and police nabs a middle aged man Melvin Joseph for the crime. Tough lady cop Sreebala IPS and her colleague Zylox Abraham are assigned to handle this case. Melvin claims that he had killed the actress in the high ranges of Charalkunnu and takes a lot of time to reveal the location where he disposed the bodies. Finally when he does, Sreebala and Zylox find themselves playing perfectly to the execution of Melvin.
Vettah is thrilling, engrossing and captivates your attention for its slick running time of 112 minutes. Scripted by Arunlal Ramachandran, 'Vettah' plays with the psychology of the protagonists and does the noble cause of exposing the corporal punishment in the schools. The pace slips a little in the second half where the reason for the crime takes over the mind games played between the protagonists.
Manju Warrier as Sreebala IPS is a revelation, considering she had been playing all the demure housewife kinda roled till now. Her stiff body language, crip dialogue delivery and an image makeover makes this role memorable.
Indrajit Sukumaran repeats his brooding act onscreen one more time. But it is Kunchacko Boban who completely overshadows everyone with his menacing smile in his first ever negative role onscreen. Lovingly called as Chackochan, the actor proves that he is more than the chocolate boy and given the right role, he can stand against any veteran actor. Sandhya, Prakash and Vijayaraghavan plays adequate.
Anishlal's brilliant visualization has created an absolutely glorious backdrop for the mystery-bound thriller. Abhilash Ramachandran's editing is up to the mark.
There were few clues thrown-in in the first half of the movie which we don't realise and finally explained in the climax.
'Vettah' will remain as a painful memory of teary adieu to the talented Rajesh Pillai. Chackochan can count this as his career best till date, whereas the fans of Manju Warrier will be thanking Rajesh for presenting her in a completely different avatar. The DVD of the movie is out and deserves a viewing.
