In the 25 years of his career, director Bala has created quite a niche for himself. His films are far from the ‘ideal’ moral compass or political correctness. Violence or murder is a form of justice in most of his films, while death acts as a liberation for some of his characters. With 10 films to his credit, director Bala is back with Vanangaan, after the disastrous Varmaa, which is a remake of the Telugu superhit film, Arjun Reddy. Vanangaan follows the story of Koti (Arun Vijay) and Devi (Ridha), a brother-sister duo living a content life in Kanniyakumari. While Koti, who is hearing and speech impaired, does odd jobs to put money on the table, Devi works at a tattoo studio. Koti joins as a security guard at an orphanage where many visually impaired people live. An untoward incident happens and Koti gets to know about it. He takes up violence to offer justice.

Bala probably forgot that he is Bala. Why else would a director with an obsession for the same pet themes begin a film with a song like ‘Irai Nooru’? The song composed by GV Prakash, isn’t the issue. It’s another one of those mirthful songs about a brother and the unending love he feels for his sister. They have fun, they go to the beach, they go to temples, they go to church, and they are obviously very happy. The year is 2025 and by now, we have a 100-year history of movies telling us that something terrible is going to happen when a film begins with such a lazy, happy montage. And then we must remember that this movie is being made by Bala, a man who has built his brand around tragedies. The remaining runtime of Vanangaan, then, isn’t so much about what’s going to happen and why, as much as it is about how many people are going to die and if we will care when they do.

A woman decides to make fun of a man. Honestly, it is all in good faith. However, the man isn’t quite happy about being the butt of collective humour. Honestly, it is okay for the man to get riled up. Now, he decides to beat the woman. And it is not just a push or a shove, but an active beating that leaves her clothes in tatters, lips bleeding, and marks of the assault very visible on her face. Now, the hero sees her in this condition. Plus, she is the heroine of the film. What should the hero do? What can he do when he is the man who beat her up. And we are asked to laugh at the predicament because she is used to being ‘playfully’ beaten up like this, and when asked for an apology, all he can manage is a fart? These are the protagonists of Bala’s Vanangaan, but there’s no need for judging them for this, simply because in the worlds the filmmaker has been creating for 25 years now, this is par for the course. But then, we can’t really move past this either, because Vanangaan tackles the theme of sexual violence against women, and this dichotomy is rather jarring.