Kuttram 23 movie review: This crime thriller belongs to Arun Vijay and edge-of-the-seat action

Arun Vijay and director Arivazhagan have come out with an edge-of-the-seat, medical crime thriller with lots of twists and turns. The intelligent thriller is based on a novel written by popular crime writer Rajesh Kumar, and has been adapted well to the screen by the director. Arun Vijay as the convincing cop, and the addition of a good supporting cast, makes the far-fetched story line believable within the commercial format. [caption id=“attachment_3313352” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The poster of Kuttram 23. Image from Twitter.[/caption] The film opens in a church where a woman is making a confession to a priest, and both get murdered. The woman’s husband is an influential person, which makes the police appoint Vetrimaaran (Arun Vijay), an upright IPS officer and Assistant Commissioner, in charge of the investigation. Vetrimaran tries to unravel the mystery and stumbles on a deadly gang in connivance with a reputed city hospital doing IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation), which forces three women including his own sister-in-law to “commit suicide”. Vetri soon realises that an organised gang is behind the artificial insemination and subsequent blackmail; he then tries to bring them to book. For a commercial film, Arivazhagan has dared to deal with a subject like artificial insemination, sperm banks, and the social issues and stigma connected with it. According to many reports, Chennai has the maximum number of upmarket fertility clinics in south India shrouded in secrecy. The director has also brought out subtly how our society looks down upon childless couples. The film belongs to Arun Vijay, who is known as an action hero (interesting he has played a deadly villain in Yennai Arindhaal) and is ver convincing with his intense looks and terrific action scenes. One of the highlights of the film is the action choreography of Stunt Silva, which is fast and realistic. Mahima Nambiar as the hero’s love interest and a key witness is perfect in her role. Arvind Akash and Vamsi Krishna are aptly cast as the villains. Vishal Chandrasekhar’s background score soaks in the atmosphere along with Bhaskaran’s stylish camera. On the downside, the film could have been trimmed a bit more. The climax is a bit contrived especially the way the villains and their motives are revealed with some logic loopholes. Kuttram 23 has a compelling story and is packaged in an entertaining format by Arivazhagan. It is one of the better movies in recent times.