Viduthalai Part 2

Viduthalai Part 2 (transl. Liberation Part 2) is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language period political crime thriller film directed and co-produced by Vetrimaaran under RS Infotainment and Grass Root Film Company. The direct sequel to Viduthalai Part 1 (2023), it is the second of a two-part adaptation of Jeyamohan's short story Thunaivan (transl. Companion). It follows the travels of a police constable amidst an operation to apprehend a revolutionary. Vijay Sethupathi, Soori, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Bhavani Sre, Rajiv Menon, Ilavarasu, Balaji Sakthivel, Saravana Subbiah, Chetan and Munnar Ramesh reprise their roles from the first film, with Manju Warrier, Kishore, Anurag Kashyap, Bose Venkat, Vincent Asokan and Ken Karunas joining the ensemble cast.
Viduthalai was originally announced as a single film in April 2021, while the principal photography had commenced in the previous December, shooting predominantly in Sathyamangalam and Chengalpattu. In September 2022, however, the film was announced to be split into two parts. The filming of the first part was wrapped by late-December 2022, while the filming of this part wrapped by early October 2024. The film score and music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, cinematography handled by R. Velraj and editing by R. Ramar.
Viduthalai Part 2, along with the first part, was screened on 31 January 2024 in the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film was released in theatres on 20 December 2024 and grossed an estimated ₹63 crore (US$7.4 million) worldwide.
Sunil Menon (Gautham Vasudev Menon) interrogates and intimidates the recently arrested Perumal “Vaathiyaar” (Vijay Sethupathi). Meanwhile Kumaresan (Soori) is suspended by Ragavendar (Chetan) on loose grounds for disobeying superior's orders and for not replying to a reprimand memo. He is also denied credit for apprehending and arresting Perumal. When Kumaresan is just about to leave to his village with the traumatised Tamilarasi (Bhavani Sree), he is called back to duty by Sunil to be the driver for escorting Perumal through the jungle to safer place.
Along the way, Perumal narrates his story and reveals his transformation from a school teacher to an empathetic revolutionary leader. The process of Perumal's transformation is due to the death of a farm laborer named Karuppan (Ken Karunas) and his wife. Karuppan was a young man from an oppressed community, who worked as a farm laborer under a cruel landlord. After his fiancée Maari was held captive and sexually harassed by the landlord, Karuppan and his friends stormed the landlord's house to rescue his fiancée. The landlord was killed by Karuppan. The naive Perumal intended to hand over Karuppan and his fiancée to the police for prosecution in court. But the corrupt police instead of arresting him for prosecution reported him to the landlord's son. The landlord's son brought his men to kill Karuppan and his fiancée. In the fight that ensues Perumal is also seriously injured by the landlord's son. This tragic event becomes a turning point for Perumal (Vaathiyaar), who was then a teacher, to transform into a revolutionary leader against social injustice. Perumal follows an influential figure named comrade KK (Kishore) who rescues him and teaches him politics. KK goes on to become a mentor and father figure to Perumal. One day there is an assassination attempt on Comrade KK. Perumal then replaces KK in trying to form a union at the sugar factory after the early disappearance of Comrade Rangasamy who also tried to form a union.
Perumal starts working as a laborer at the Mahalakshmi Sugar Factory under the name of Karuppan. Perumal begins to push for a union among the factory laborers. Perumal meets Mahalakshmi, a fellow comrade only to realize that she is the factory owner's daughter. Over time Perumal becomes inspired by her and fond of her. They eventually get married. Subsequently, Comrade Rangasamy's dead body is found in the river, which triggers the formation of the Union. After the formation of the union, farm laborers were able to fight for their rights, making it impossible for landlords to abuse them. One day KK was killed by the factory owner, causing Perumal to resort to violence and call their group the Makkal Padai (People's Army) to avenge the actions of the responsible. As a result of the violence, Makkal Padai was banned and hunted down by the police. Makkal Padai moves secretly and operates underground. Perumal's wife Mahalakshmi later gave birth to a daughter, while Perumal continued to fight for the people to get their rights. For th next few years, Perumal lived a happy life with Mahalakshmi and his child.
Back to present, during the journey through the forest, the police convoy gets lost and a series of events lead Ragavendar to accidentally slip and slide into a ravine, but Perumal rescues him, with the same chain that binds him. After the rescue, the police remove Perumal's handcuffs. At the prodding of Perumal, Ragavendar suddenly confesses that it is he who shot Raghu during a brutal incident that had occurred in the first movie. The police convoy continue their conversation with Perumal and it comes to the question about the train bombing. Perumal reveals his side of the story that initially they had only planted the bomb for opposition without intending to detonate it. They wanted to cancel the bombing by defusing it. But the defusing operation was mismanaged and the bomb explodes, destroying the bridge. The train accident becomes inevitable.
Perumal tells the convoy that he is ready to show them the path that leads them back to the barracks or to the check post, based on their wish. As they discuss, Makkal Padai members ambush the police convoy and manage to free Perumal. As Perumal leaves with other members, a shot is fired at Perumal wounding him. Meanwhile, the news about the leaked photos of Perumal's capture and the tortures performed by the police, and the communication from Ragavender that Perumal has escaped, forces A. Subramaniyan (Rajiv Menon) to decide that Ragavendar should be arrested to save face, and Amudan (Tamizh), the SI, promoted as the new OC, to recapture Perumal. There is a bloody confrontation between the police and the Makkal Padai men. Ragavendar is plotting to kill all members of his convoy, fearing that they would reveal his action of killing driver Raghu. During the shootout, Ragavendar shoots one of his fellow police officers in the back at close range, breaking his head and making it look as if he was killed by the Makkal Padai troops, which caused Amudan to lose his temper and kill all the Makkal Padai members who surrendered. While about to kill another convoy member, Ragavendar is caught and stopped by Kumaresan. Amudan and other policemen later learn of Ragavendar's actions after checking his revolver. Pressured by the police siege, Perumal decide to surrender peacefully, but Amudan shoots him at point blank. Kumaresan is driving Amudan, Ragavender and 2 other policemen, and Perumal's body back to the barracks. Amudan keeps applauding their victory and talking about awards they are about to get. Kumaresan gets progressively enraged to the point of crashing the jeep into the edge of a ravine. He then starts walking down the ravine into the jungle and pens a final letter to his mother, stating that if he never returns, she should know that he is either helping someone in need or has died while trying to do so.
Viduthalai was originated to be a single film. However, in July 2022, it was reported that it would be split into two parts due to the film becoming overlong and not wanting to trim the film tampering the story, which was officially announced on Vetrimaaran's birthday (4 September 2022). Both parts were shot back-to-back, with the first part's shooting wrapping up in November, and the film releasing on 31 March 2023, but with the second part still having to shoot a few portions, which resumed in July. As of July 2024, the filming was in its final stages. The dubbing process began on 10 October with a puja. On 6 December 2024, the makers announced that the background score work had been completed.
The film's soundtrack is composed by Ilaiyaraaja, who also composed the first part. He had composed the songs for the film in his newly launched music studio in Kodambakkam, after his fallout with Prasad Studios where he recorded songs for nearly four decades; It marks his first work being recorded at his new studio where music composition of the film began in February 2021. As of May 2021, Ilaiyaraaja recorded three out of eight songs being planned for the film and are touted to be "situational numbers" as per sources. The music rights were purchased by Sony Music India. The first single "Dhinam Dhinamum" sung and written by Ilaiyaraaja was released on 17 November 2024. The second single "Manasula" was released on 27 November 2024. The third single "Poruthadhu Podhum" was released on 28 November 2024.
The film along with its predecessor had its world premiere at 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam on 31 January 2024.
Viduthalai Part 2 was theatrically released on 20 December 2024. The distribution rights for Tamil Nadu were acquired by Red Giant Movies.
The film began streaming on Amazon Prime Video from 19 January 2025 in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages. The Hindi version began streaming on ZEE5 from 28 March 2025.
Desimartini reported that Viduthalai Part 2 received positive reviews from critics, who praised the film's "gripping narrative" but were critical of the dubbing. OTTPlay noted that they were more mixed, with criticism towards the "preachiness".
Risha Ganguly of Times Now gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Viduthalai Part 2 is a bold attempt at closing an ambitious story, with Vetrimaaran’s signature storytelling and strong performances standing out. However, the uneven pacing and lack of narrative clarity prevent it from reaching the heights of its predecessor." Avinash Ramachandran of The Indian Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote "This Vetrimaaran-Vijay Sethupathi film is mostly grim that drives home the weight of a decision, and the weight of choosing a path, and how it is the path that makes a revolutionary decide their weapon." M Suganth of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Where Viduthalai: Part 2 feels underwhelming is in not being a truly compelling film. Like the cops circling about the same places inside the forest, the film keeps reiterating the same points [...] but it cannot provide a permanent solution."
Janani K of India Today rated 3/5 stars and wrote "Viduthalai Part 2 gives proper closure to the characters and the story, and it is a commendable effort. With some recurring lip-sync issues and a dialogue-driven storyline, the sequel ends the story with many progressive ideologies and opinions on display." Sudhir Srinivasan of Cinema Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Viduthalai Part 2 leans too heavily on theorising and sloganeering. Vaathiyaar’s lectures feel more academic than emotional, with utilitarian arguments often preferred over poignant silences." Anusha Sundar of OTTPlay gave 3/5 stars and wrote "In a Vetrimaaran film where political ideologies are not just laced but outspoken, Viduthalai 2 may come of disjointed in parts but still carries a tale to be told."
Kirubhakar Purushothaman of News18 gave 2/5 stars and wrote "In essence, Viduthalai Part 2 is Vetri Maaran constantly finding ways to tell you the uninspiring story, which he couldn’t show." Gopinath Rajendran of The Hindu wrote "Despite a strong political core that puts out a message that’s unfortunately relevant even in today’s world and strong performances [...] Vetri Maaran’s sequel lacks the emotions that worked wonders with the first part." Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "Unfortunately, Vetrimaaran, the astute writer, seemed to be missing in this film and that was disappointing. Viduthalai Part 2 carries a strong ideological theme and is another socially relevant film from Vetrimaaran."
Mohit Dixit of Pinkvilla reported that the film grossed around ₹25 crore (US$2.9 million) after four days of release. It concluded its run in mid-January 2025, with the worldwide gross estimated to be ₹63 crore (US$7.4 million).