When director Prasanth Pandiyaraj set out to make Vilangu in 2022, starring Vemal in the lead, little did he know that the web series would become a massive hit among audiences. Cut to 2026: Prasanth is re-entering the world of Vilangu with Warrant, which is set to begin streaming on ZEE5 on May 22. Interestingly, this time, he is not the director, but the lead actor. “Like Kitchaan (Ravi) in Vilangu and my son Prageeth as Laddu in Maaman (2025), we wanted someone unfamiliar to play the lead. Since we were short on time, my friend and series director Vignesh Natarajan suggested that I take over,” he explains.
Prasanth assures that Warrant wasn't made to cash in on the success of Vilangu, but it was an idea that was there right from the beginning. “We started writing for Warrant while working on Vilangu. Vignesh was a co-director on the original, and we spoke to a lot of police officers as part of the research. We heard many cases and unheard stories besides the grim one we used in Vilangu," he shares. They revisited the stories after Maaman (2025) and decided to execute them on a larger canvas, with Vignesh in the director’s chair and Prasanth as co-writer. “We are friends, but it is his vision at the end of the day, and I was ready to act for innumerable takes to get scenes right,” he says.
Comparisons between Warrant and Vilangu are inevitable, given that they are set in the same universe, and Vilangu is still considered among the best Tamil web series. However, Prasanth believes the psychological themes explored in Warrant will set it apart. “The story revolves around the evolution of my character, Koattai Karuppasamy. From him not knowing the job of police, to observing and learning it and gaining power, forms the crux of Warrant,” he says, calling the series an “experiment” which doesn't move in one particular plotline. “In Vilangu, you had one investigation to invest in, but here, you will see a police station's routine unfold, and it will be a combination of various incidents," he adds.
Prasanth's fascination with the khakhi world peaked during his research for Vilangu, and it also challenged his confirmation bias about the profession. “We are told to go bathe when we come back from a police station, but I saw them bringing their kids back from school, interacting with them lovingly, feeding them, and playing with them. We have been seeing them as aliens, but their lives are very simple, yet interesting. I was amazed,” says Prasanth, adding, “In movies, we often see police officers going all out to solve a high-profile murder or a massive heist. But reality isn’t quite like that. Whether it is the theft of a two-sovereign chain or a 200-sovereign one, officers approach every case with the same seriousness and commitment. That is what I wanted to portray."
It was this everyday ordinariness — the routine grind of handling hundreds of cases with equal weight — that changed Prasanth’s perspective. Perhaps that is also why he assures us the series avoids dramatic twists and exaggerated turns. “Unlike Vilangu, you won’t see grand murders or large-scale crimes here. This is a simple, ordinary story, but it explores what happens when something seemingly small triggers an intense reaction in the protagonist.” At a time when audiences expect the extraordinary from every story, director Vignesh’s approach to writing a 'simple' tale is an extraordinary choice. “Isn’t that what makes our job interesting and challenging?” probes Prasanth, before saying, “If you are already expecting a hook and twist at the end of an episode, how will it be interesting? There is no point in sticking to existing templates. I could have made Vilangu in a way where Kitchaan is shown committing those murders, but I chose to reveal it through his confession. Isn’t that what made it interesting?” he asserts, revealing how Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (2017) served as a major inspiration for Vilangu. “Dileesh Pothan would have made a story so close to reality that I was surprised at how he understood a thief’s mentality and the ordinariness of police procedures. He focussed on Fahadh Faasil’s emotions rather than indulging in cinematic highs. I am trying to make such films,” he says.
It is the season of Karuppasamy, and the deity plays an important part in Warrant. Expressing happiness about the coincidence with the recent blockbuster, Karuppu, starring Suriya, Prasanth says, "We wanted to use the title Karuppu for their series. However, the name was already registered by RJ Balaji, and we had to move to Warrant."
If Vilangu was unanimously praised, Maaman was a commercial success that also attracted its fair share of criticism. Reflecting on the reactions to the film, Prasanth says, “When Bruce Lee (2017) failed in theatres, everyone criticised me. Then, when Vilangu became a success, the very same people celebrated my work. When criticisms came in about Maaman, I listened. But there’s a fine line between criticism and mockery.” Taking particular offence to the criticisms against his son, who played an important role in Maaman, Prasanth adds, “I wrote Maaman from my perspective of how I viewed a family. But people called my child ‘poison’. What I actually wanted to show was the toxicity a child absorbs from the environment he grows up in. Perhaps people didn’t fully understand that, and maybe, that’s my fault. Somewhere, I seem to have missed conveying that point clearly enough.”
That honesty and willingness to reflect on criticism also explain why Prasanth remains refreshingly straightforward about what lies ahead. A self-confessed non-believer in surprises, the filmmaker confirms a Vilangu crossover in Warrant. “We already have Vilangu 2 coming up, and Vemal appears in a cameo role in Warrant. There’s nothing to hide there,” he says with a laugh. “Towards the end of the series, we set up the sequel to Vilangu. You’ll see me, Vemal, Bala Saravanan, Munishkanth, and others coming together to solve a case,” he signs off.
