The 2009 Tamil film Vettaikaaran , starring Vijay and Anushka Shetty, follows the journey of Ravi, a determined young man who moves from Thoothukudi to Chennai with a singular dream: becoming a police officer like his idol, Encounter Specialist DCP Devaraj IPS. Plot Summary

The story follows Ravi (Vijay), a youth from Thoothukudi who moves to Chennai to pursue his lifelong goal of becoming a police officer. He is inspired by his childhood role model, Encounter Specialist DCP Devaraj IPS (Srihari).

1. Introduction: The Myth of the "Mass" Film

Tamil cinema’s "Mass" genre—characterized by an invincible protagonist, stylized action, and a subjugation of realism to star power—reached a zenith in the late 2000s. Vettaikaran arrived at a crucial juncture in Vijay’s career. Following the relative underperformance of Kuruvi (2008), Vijay needed a definitive return to form. Rather than experimenting with narrative structure, Vettaikaran doubled down on the core tenets of the star vehicle. The film asks its audience to suspend not just disbelief, but the very demand for psychological realism, replacing it with a spectacle of wish-fulfillment.

Vettaikaran cleverly subverts this. The protagonist, Ravi, arrives in Chennai not as a destitute orphan, but as an ambitious entrepreneur. He wants to run a "parcel service" (logistics/delivery). His antagonist, Deva, is a flesh-trade (prostitution) kingpin. On a thematic level, Babu Sivan sets up a clash between the formal/legitimate aspirational economy (Ravi’s parcels) and the informal/exploitative underworld economy (Deva’s human trafficking). Ravi’s transition from a parcel delivery boy to a vigilante is positioned not as a fall from grace, but as a hostile corporate takeover of the underworld, replacing an illicit monopoly with a moral dictatorship.

The Bad: Critics at the time noted that the plot was highly predictable and followed a formulaic pattern seen in many of Vijay’s previous hits like Ghilli or Pokkiri. The villain’s characterization was also seen as somewhat stereotypical.  Verdict 

• Stylized Violence: The fight sequences are less about realism and more about rhythm. Vijay dispatches goons with belts, ropes, and his bare hands, all choreographed to punchy background music.
• Effortless Comedy: His chemistry with co-comedian Sathyan (as the bumbling constable 'Thambi') provides genuine laugh-out-loud moments, balancing the film’s grittier tones.
• Emotional Core: The father-son track with M. N. Nambiar (in one of his final roles) gives Vijay room to act, not just posture. The scene where he breaks down holding his father’s uniform is surprisingly moving.

The Transformation: This intervention sparks a deadly feud. When the corrupt police and the underworld target Ravi, he takes on the vigilante persona "Police Ravi" to deliver justice and dismantle Vedhanayagam’s empire.