Vadhandhi The Fable of Velonie review: It's a show that feels tiring in terms of pacing, but it's well worth the time invested as the payoff is truly rewarding.
Husband and wife filmmaking duo Pushkar-Gayatri have successfully championed the long-form narrative space with their shows. After the huge success of their first Amazon Prime series, Suzhal: The Vortex, the couple returns with their latest creation, Vadhandhi, another small-town thriller that centers on the murder of a girl and the search for her killer. Created and directed by Andrew Louis, Vadhandhi is a riveting show that rarely lets up on tension and makes excellent use of the setting in which it takes place. It's a show that feels exhausting in terms of pacing, but it's well worth the time invested as payoff. off is truly rewarding.
Stars: S.J. Suryah, Sanjana, Laila
The series begins with the mysterious death of young actor Mamtha, who is found dead on the sets of his latest film in Kanyakumari. As news of his death spreads like wildfire, the film's director, who is in the middle of a police investigation, is shocked to receive a phone call from Mamtha. To everyone's surprise, Mamtha informs them that he is absolutely fine and that the body they found on the set is someone else's. Shortly after it was learned that the body is that of a 17-year-old girl named Velonie, who belongs to an Anglo-Indian family. The case is rushed to SI Vivek (SJ Suryah), hours before he is set to go on a family trip with his family. As Vivek deepens the investigation, he becomes so obsessed with solving the case that it affects his personal life. The more he learns about Velonie's life, the more he is convinced that there is more to her and the people around her take her for granted.
Vadhandhi builds on the riddle that lies travel faster than the truth, especially in an era where news channels are more concerned with TRP ratings than anything else. The writing plays a key role in making the show largely riveting, particularly its use of the Rashomon effect to present different and conflicting views of the same incident. With each episode, the show narrows down to a new suspect, just to fool the viewer and it's a tactic that works strongly in the show's favor. In parallel, the show, without ever going into preachy mode, shifts the focus from the media's role in sensationalizing the news for the sake of viewers' excitement. The show also talks about how critical we've become as a society, especially when it comes to how we view women. There is also a subplot about politics and how power is used to twist the truth.
The casting plays one of the main roles in the success of the show. Each actor is properly cast and each has ample room to shine in their respective roles. SJ Suryah, who is very popular for his over-the-top acting style, gives a calm and subdued performance that is very refreshing to watch. It is indisputably one of the best interpretations of him. The biggest surprise in terms of casting comes in the form of Laila, who recently returned to acting with the Tamil film Sardar after almost a decade. Playing an Anglo-Indian mother of a teenage daughter, Laila shows her untapped potential in a role that is one of the highlights of the show. Simon King's music, especially the score for the title track, really stands out and suits the overall mood of the show quite well.
Vadhandhi is a true blue slow burner. The small town setting helps make the narrative quite interesting as the story presents us with multiple suspects and this naturally arouses the viewer's excitement.
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