Director Vetri Maaran’s Viduthalai Part 1 has been dubbed into Telugu as Vidudhala Part 1. The dubbed version will be released by Geeta Arts on April 15. The film, which is based on a book written by Jeyamohan, stars actors Soori, Vijay Sethupathi, Bhavani Sri, and Gautam Menon among others. The Telugu version’s trailer was released on April 8, Saturday. It shows actor Soori as a low-level police personnel, who is part of a team formed to capture Perumal (Vijay Sethupathi), leader of Praja Dalam, an armed people’s movement. Perumal is declared a terrorist by the State for blowing up a train. The film’s music was scored by Ilaiyaraaja, and the cinematography is by R Velraj.
Viduthalai Part 1, produced by Elred Kumar under the banner of RS Infotainment, has been declared a box-office hit after its theatre release on March 31. The film is said to be a visceral political spectacle that deals with the police’s brutal suppression of an armed people’s movement through extrajudicial methods. However, some critics have also questioned director Vetri Maaran’s graphic and often insensitive use of violence and sexual assault to tell the story.
In her review for The News Minute, Bharathy Singaravel wrote, “The director’s heart appears to be in the right place with this movie, but his gaze continues to be questionable. Like in his previous work, including the hit movie Asuran, Vetri Maaran still relies heavily on the shock and spectacle of graphically represented trauma.” Vetri Maaran had earlier made a similar movie, Visaranai (2015), which too dealt with police brutality.
Viduthalai is Soori’s first film as a main lead. Even though he has mostly been popular for his comedy roles so far, the actor’s performance in the film is garnering appreciation from the audience and critics alike. The film also has Vijay Sethupathi playing an important character. According to the film unit, Vijay Sethupathi will have a bigger role in the second part. The producer has not announced details about the second part yet.
Watch the Trailer here: