Vijay plays Ravi, a brave youngster from a humble fishing community who takes on an unscrupulous rowdy-turned-politician, Devarajan (played with menace by Salim Ghouse). When his lover Susheela (Anushka Shetty) and her family are threatened, Ravi transforms into the "Vettaikaran" — hunting down the system's corruption and violence. The plot is straightforward: good vs. evil, but the screenplay is designed as a Vijay showreel.
Released during the festive Diwali season of 2009, Vettaikaran (transl. The Hunter ) arrived at a time when Vijay was solidifying his position as a commercial mass hero with a social conscience. Directed by Babu Sivan, the film is a quintessential example of late-2000s Tamil cinema — loud, stylish, packed with punchlines, and unapologetically hero-centric.
