Sethupathi (film)

Sub-Inspector Subburaj, who is on night rounds in his C3 Station limits, is lured into a trap and burnt to death by a group of henchmen. Despite being burnt inside his station, he stumbles across a small bridge and dies inside C4 Station's limit. This causes tension to the planner of the attack.

Sethupathi (Vijay Sethupathi) is the police inspector of C4 Station in Madurai who is awaiting his confirmed promotion to ACP. Subburaj's case is given to him. Sethupathi finds out that an influential don and politician, Vaathiyar (Vela Ramamoorthy) of Melur, is behind the murder. Kanagavel is married to Vaathiyar's daughter, but the marriage is unhappy. Therefore, Vaathiyar had decided to kill Kanagavel. Kanagavel was off-duty due to minor injury on the day he was supposed to be murdered, and Subburaj, who was attached as Crime SI in same police station, was filling in for him. 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 schoolboys who had sold a stolen chain which was lost in a chain-snatching attempt. When they do not speak up, Sethupathi threatens to shoot them on the count of five, albeit using a non-glocked gun. At the fifth count, he accidentally shoots one of the boys in the neck when the other 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 covertly bribed constable Kathiresan in C4 Station to unlock the gun and replace the bullets with dummy ones, so that Sethupathi will be defenseless when attacked by Vaathiyar's men. Kanagavel assumed that if an inspector (who is investigating brutal murder of a sub-inspector) is attacked, the department would retaliate harshly to either kill or to put Vaathiyar in jail for life, so Kanagavel will be not be separated from his daughter.

Sethupathi and Kathiresan appear before an enquiry of three officials to prove the former's innocence. However, one of the members of the enquiry panel is an ally of Vaathiyar and she tries to influence the panel against Sethupathi. Kathiresan's daughter is kidnapped minutes before enquiry, and he turns against Sethupathi. The same evening, the City Police Commissioner and Regional Civil Commissioner visit Kathiresan's home and discover all the truths. Since these two officers are in the committee, Sethupathi's job is saved. 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 Malarvizhi (Remya Nambeesan) and two children, but Sethupathi's son, who is aware of the police work, wields Sethupathi's armed revolver to ward them off. Infuriated with the failed attempt, Vaathiyar instructs his men to kill the schoolboy 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 next day, Sethupathi kills Vaathiyar by setting his house on fire and closes his case.

Shooting for the film began in late September 2015 and S. U. Arun Kumar 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 two 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 at IMDb