Vetrimaaran's Viduthalai Part 2 Commences Filming

Vetrimaaran’s critically acclaimed film Viduthalai Part 2 has commenced filming. The first installment of the film, Viduthalai Part 1, saw the stellar cast of Soori, Vijay Sethupathi, Bhavani Sre, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Rajiv Menon, and Ilavarasu, among many others. The film had opened to commercial success, with critics and the general public highly praising the direction, plot, and astounding performance of Soori. The film is based on the short story Thunaivan by the renowned writer Jeyamohan, who has also written, along with Vetrimaaran, the screenplay for the film. The plot of the film revolves around the Naxalite Maoist insurgency that was intensively active in Tamil Nadu around the 1980s. It also gruesomely details the forms of violent abuse that villagers had to endure at the brutal hands of the police force. Actor Soori shared on Twitter a brief video of him preparing to play Kumaresan. Soori’s performance in particular had been monumental to the success of the film, for the actor had previously only played comedic roles; this was the first time that the Tamil audience had seen Soori play a serious and sentimental character.

குமரேசன் ரெடி!#ViduthalaiPart2 Shooting In Progress #vetrimaaran @rsinfotainment pic.twitter.com/aW7fzaOG77
— Actor Soori (@sooriofficial) July 17, 2023

The crew has continued shooting in the Sirumalai forests near Dindugal. In the first installation, the cinematographic work by Velraj had been immensely praised as he brought together the feeling of infinity and claustrophobia through the desolating shots of the large and engulfing forests. The film had perfectly captured the character of the forest as an essential presence on screen. The near perfection of the cinematography elevated this political drama into a whole other aesthetic realm.

The film was also scored by the legendary Maestro Ilayaraaja, who delivered a phenomenally brilliant album. Ilayaraaja had created a score that precisely captured the depth of the film and the breath of the characters emotions. The most celebrated song in the film Kaattumalli had its lustrous lyrics written by Ilayaraaja himself and sung by him and Ananya Bhat. The music was also scored in Ilayaraaja’s brand new music studio in Kodambakkam; it was in fact the first project he had worked on in his new studio.

The second part of the film has been stated to be about the rise of Vijay Sethupathi’s Vaathiyar character and how the Naxalite political mobilisation of the region began. Sethupathi had only appeared very briefly in the first film, where prominence was given to the characterization of Soori, the villagers, and the police force. Many have expressed a lot of excitement to witness the second part of the film, as the first part has placed their expectations on an incredibly high pedestal.