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THR India's 25 in 25: A Powerful, Unsparing Procedural In 'Visaranai'
The Hollywood Reporter India picks the 25 best Indian films of the 21st century. Vetrimaaran's 'Visaranai' is a raw, unflinching procedural exposing systemic brutality and power.
This is a film that perhaps ticks all the right boxes, both in terms of craftsmanship and social impact. Written and directed by Vetrimaaran, Visaranai is based on auto driver and human rights activist M. Chandrakumar’s memoir Lock Up. The movie made much of Tamil Nadu — and eventually the world, following its Oscar run — take notice of the custodial deaths and police torture that make up the hard realities of India.
The film was India's official entry for the 89th Academy Awards (2017) in the Best Foreign Language Film category, but did not receive a nomination.
Led by Dinesh, Samuthirakani, Murugadoss, and Kishore, the film largely revolves around a group of Tamil labourers who are incarcerated in a Guntur jail for a crime they didn’t commit.
Vetrimaaran on Making Visaranai
The film was supposed to be a film in between films, Vetrimaaran says. Visaranai is produced by Dhanush, the actor and Vetrimaaran’s frequent collaborator. “I was shooting for another film with Dhanush and Parthiban then. But after shooting the film for a while, I felt I was repeating myself in terms of emotions and shots. I didn't like it. So, I told Dhanush that I didn't want to do this. At the time, he was also getting ready to shoot for Shamitabh (R Balki’s 2015 film).” So, the filmmaker decided to make Visaranai in the meantime. “I told him I will finish a film in four months, before he comes back.”
This is when a friend of his recommended that he read Lock Up. “I realised that the book has the first half in place. I needed to work on the second half. I just said, "Let me go shoot this." Even without knowing what my second half was going to be, I went and shot it. Once the first half was done, I realised how the second half had to go.”
Visaranai was shot in 39 days. Vetrimaaran notes that considerable effort was invested in making the audience resonate with the pain of the undertrials. He also had to make sure the team recovered from the intensity of the subject matter. “Once the film got over, I brought a meditation coach to my office and had all my actors and assistant directors go through breathing exercises and meditation practices to take this out of their system. It was so traumatising.”
The director also recalls screening the movie for magistrates following its release. “Justice PN Prakash, a High Court judge, watched the film and wanted me to screen it for 150 magistrates. After [watching] the film, I made Chandran (M Chandrakumar) go and address the magistrates, and he was emotional. Then, PN Prakash said, ‘Public interaction with judges is very less, but when it comes to magistrates, it is their responsibility to make sure that every person who stands in front of them is heard properly’."
Apart from acclaim for its social relevance, the director also received appreciation for Visaranai’s aesthetics. One such moment he treasures is the renowned German filmmaker Werner Herzog's recognition at the film's Oscar screening. "He told me that I've given him a sleepless night. ‘Although I might be thinking of a different edit for this film, nonetheless, I'm going to be sleepless,’ he said. I told him how, in '99, when my friends and I watched his Aguirre, The Wrath of God, we were discussing the film through the night into the morning."
For Vetrimaaran, who has since gone on to make several socially relevant films, Visaranai taught him sensitivity. “More than anything else, it taught me to be responsible and be able to voice what you feel is right and stand up for what you feel is right. I don't watch my films once I'm done with them. I wouldn't want to watch a film like Visaranai in particular because I will start feeling inferior now. It was a fine, true film.”