Vikram Vedha

Storyline

Written and directed by the husband-wife filmmaking duo Pushkar-Gayathri, 2017's Tamil neo-noir action thriller Vikram Vedha earned widespread critical acclaim and massive box office success, universally celebrated as one of the smartest and most gripping cat-and-mouse crime sagas in modern Indian cinema. Drawing brilliant inspiration from the ancient Indian mythological folktale of King Vikramaditya and the celestial vampire-demon Betaal, the narrative pits straight-laced, self-righteous encounter specialist cop Vikram (R. Madhavan in a steely, physically commanding performance) against Chennai's elusive, philosophical gangster kingpin Vedha (Vijay Sethupathi in a career-defining, charismatic tour de force). When Vedha voluntarily surrenders to police headquarters with disarming nonchalance, he challenges Vikram to listen to three allegorical parables from his criminal past before judging him. Each moral riddle shatters Vikram's rigid black-and-white perception of justice and morality, exposing deep-rooted police corruption, betrayal, and gray moral compromises within Vikram's own squad. Featuring Sam C.S.'s pulse-pounding, bass-heavy background score and P.S. Vinod's stylish lighting, Vikram Vedha is a flawlessly executed, intellectually stimulating crime classic that permanently elevated contemporary Indian genre filmmaking.