Vallan Movie Review: A regular cop procedural that works in parts

A nonsensical plot can detail a thriller, while a smart film with promise can be undermined by information overload. Most of the problems in VR Mani Seiyon's Vallan arise from the latter. However, this issue doesn't bog down the film completely, thanks to some interesting investigation portions.

Vallan begins with a suspended cop, Divakar (Sundar C), in a hunt for the prime accused in a case that entails both professional and personal losses for him. This non-linear film shifts back and forth between the future and present, revealing crucial details, unravelling mysteries, and showcasing how Divakar cracks the case.

The strength of the film lies in the first 30 to 45 minutes, where we are shown the murder of Joel (Kamal Kamaraj), an affluent businessman and the son-in-law of Christian preacher Arockiaraj (Jayaraj). The screenplay, which is initially neat and features meticulous crime scene reconstructions and the introduction of new leads and suspects, falters with an underdeveloped and ultimately superfluous money laundering subplot. Similarly, concepts like forensic palynology and a doppelganger are introduced but not effectively integrated. These elements fail to contribute meaningfully to the plot and are not even used as decent red herrings.

This film also suffers from the convenient writing that places no mind-numbing roadblock in Divakar's probe that challenges his wits. He breezes past one obstacle after the other with little to no hindrance. And no points for guessing; these obstacles also come in the form of henchmen, who are cleaned up with a typical Tamil cinema slow-motion fight scene. An investigative thriller should offer something more cerebral. 

Cast: Sundar C, Tanya Hope, TSK, Hebah Patel, Kamal Kamaraj, Jayaraj

Director: VR Mani Seiyon

On the performance front, thankfully, no role is so demanding. Every actor is functional in their respective character and since that is the only expectation in most films of this genre, there are no winners or losers in that respect. With Sundar C and Hebah Patel (who plays a model, Priya) occupying the major share of the screen time, both actors do a good job of keeping us engaged for a decent amount of it.

With the major part of the first half working, the second half slumps with numerous subplots, with each one of them feeling rushed. The flashback portions featuring Divakar and Aadhya (Tanya Hope) could have been a bit crisper, but this is forgiven because of how Mani deftly ties this subplot with the main plot. The film regains momentum towards the climax, only to stumble once more. Burdened by too many red herrings, the director runs out of options to point out the real culprit and real intentions behind doing whatever they do and ends up settling for something suggestive of the overused blackmail trope. The director has pulled off an unexpected revelation in the final act, but whether it is satisfactory given Divakar's deduction throughout the probe is a different question. The answer to it is a big no. In order for this revelation to be acceptable, we will have to disregard the protagonist's intelligence, as he misses the most basic information about the family in question. The antagonist's chosen course of action to achieve their goal is glaringly absurd. There are countless less convoluted ways to achieve the same objective. Despite all of these follies, they do not spoil the fine parts of the film for us, especially Sundar C, who more or less compensates with his steady composure and anchoring performance.

Vallan is a watchable cop procedural, but it could have been significantly better with a more refined approach to writing and direction. This includes prioritising key elements, understanding the necessary level of detail for each aspect, and recognising where less attention would have been more effective.