Sethupathi (film)

Sethupathi (Vijay Sethupathi) is an honest police inspector from Madurai who is awaiting his promotion to ACP. He takes up a case involving the murder of a Sub-Inspector Subburaj, who was burnt to death by some thugs while on duty but was not the target. The actual target was another Sub-Inspector Kanagavel, who works in the police station where Sethupathi is the inspector. Kanagavel was off-duty on the day he was supposed to be murdered, and Subburaj, who is attached to another police station, was filling in for him. Sethupathi finds out that an influential don and politician Vaathiyar (Vela Ramamoorthy) is behind the murder. Kanagavel is married to Vaathiyar's daughter, but it is an unhappy marriage. Therefore, Vaathiyar had decided to kill Kanagavel. Sethupathi arrests Vaathiyar during a temple festival and forces him to travel to Chennai to apply for bail, earning his enmity.

Later, Sethupathi interrogates two adolescent school boys who had sold a stolen chain which was lost in a chain-snatching attempt. When they don't speak up, Sethupathi threatens to shoot them on the count of five. At the fifth count, he shoots one of the boys who tries to flee, leaving him critically injured. Sethupathi is charged with attempt-to-murder and is suspended. However, he had no intention of shooting either of the boys and realises someone had unlocked his gun, which he had thought was locked. He soon finds out that Kanagavel is responsible for unlocking his gun. Kanagavel unlocked the gun and replaced the bullets with dummy ones as part of a plan to put Vaathiyar in jail for life so he will be free to reconcile with his wife. Sethupathi and his senior official appear before an enquiry to prove his innocence. However, one of the members of the enquiry panel is an ally of Vaathiyar and she tries to influence the panel against Sethupathi, but her double-game is soon exposed, and Sethupathi is cleared of all charges. However, Sethupathi's troubles are still not over; Vaathiyar burns Kanagavel alive and starts targeting Sethupathi and his family. Sethupathi overcomes all the hurdles put by Vaathiyar and his henchmen. Vaathiyar then decides to silence Sethupathi once and for all by sending his henchmen to kill Sethupathi's wife (Remya Nambeesan) and two children, but Sethupathi's son, who is aware of the police work, drives away the henchmen with the help of his father. Infuriated with the failed attempt, Vaathiyar instructs his men to kill the school boy injured by Sethupathi and put the blame on him. However, Sethupathi, aware of Vaathiyar's plan, guards the hospital where the boy is admitted and saves him from Vaathiyar's henchmen.

With Sethupathi returning to work, Vaathiyar's henchmen accept defeat and warn Vaathiyar to leave Madurai for good, but he does not take heed. The film ends with Sethupathi killing Vaathiyar by setting his house on fire.

Shooting for the film began in late September 2015 and Arunkumar and his team shot the film aiming for a February 2016 release. The entire filming process took place over a single stretch of 50 days, in places such as Chennai, Madurai and Pollachi. The actor plays a law and order inspector and he sported a new look, shedding some weight to look fit and trim.[4]

The film's soundtrack album and score were composed by Nivas K. Prasanna. Song lyrics were written by Na. Muthukumar. The soundtrack album consist of seven tracks including 2 instrumentals.[5] The album was released on 20 Jan 2016.[6]

Vishal Menon of The Hindu said that it was a good thriller and a better family drama.[8] Latha Srinivasan of DNA wrote that there were no loud over-the-top dialogues and punchlines that were typical of all on-screen cops in Tamil films and Vijay Sethupathi outshone many other Kollywood heroes as the cop.[9] IndiaGlitz.com rated the movie 3.5/5 and wrote "You can welcome 'Sethupathi' with open hands for the brilliant performance of Vijay Sethupathi and the gripping screenplay".[10] Malini Mannath of New Indian Express wrote that it is another feather in the cap for Vijay Sethupathi, who revealing his versatility yet again handles his role with remarkable understanding.[11] Anupama Subramaniam of Deccan Cronicle wrote that Vijay Sethupathi's moves are full of energy and enthusiasm and his impeccable dialogue delivery is a treat to watch.[12]

• Sethupathi on IMDb