The first look of actor Suriya’s character from his upcoming Vaadi Vaasal with director Vetrimaaran was revealed on Thursday, right in time to celebrate the star’s birthday. Vetrimaaran shared the poster on social media, wishing the actor for his birthday. The team had previously shared that the film, to be produced by Kalaipuli S Thanu’s V Creations, will be based on acclaimed Tamil writer CS Chellappa’s novel of the same name.
#வாடிவாசல் #Vaadivasal pic.twitter.com/smEdgnavXL
— Vetri Maaran (@VetriMaaran) July 23, 2020
The poster depicts an angry-looking Suriya as a painting, with hieroglyphics in the background showing bulls and men wielding weapons. The reference to Tamil Nadu’s extreme bull-fighting sport, Jallikattu, is unmistakable, evident right from its title. Vaadivasal is a place in Madurai district where Jallikattu is celebrated with much fanfare, drawing thousands of spectators from across the state and even the country.
According to the poster, cinematographer R Velraj and art designer Jackie, both part of Vetrimaaran’s usual team, will also work on Vaadi Vaasal.
The novel Vaadivasal was released by CS Chellappa in 1958. According to reports, Vetrimaaran had acquired the rights for the book in 2017. After Visaaranai and Asuran, this will be Vetrimaaran’s third book adaptation for the big screen. Both the earlier films brought the director critical acclaim, Visaaranai winning the National Award for Best Feature.
Released in 2016, Visaaranai was based on M Chandrakumar’s Lock-Up and is considered one of the best Indian films on custodial violence. Asuran, released in 2019 starring Dhanush in the lead, was based on writer Poomani’s Vekkai from 1982. This film discussed caste violence and was considered one of the best films to come out that year. The commercial success of Asuran showed promise for caste-based narratives in Tamil cinema.
Vaadi Vaasal will have music by composer GV Prakash Kumar, who had shared his excitement to be a part of the project in earlier interviews. This film will be his 75th as a music composer.