‘Veduvan’ review: A timid debate on encounter killings

The new Tamil series Veduvan (Hunter) on ZEE5 is a story within a story. The actor Sooraj is approached to headline a promising film project: a biopic based on a Tamil Nadu police officer who fearlessly went undercover to take down gangsters. Much of Veduvan is about Sooraj (Kanna Ravi) playing Arunmozhi, who starts to doubt the extent of crookedness in his latest target Aadhi (Sanjiv Venkat).

Aadhi appears to be a sheep in the guise of a wolf, leading the flock of his small town to prosperity rather than crime. Complicating matters for Arunmozhi is the fact that Aadhi’s wife is his old sweetheart.

Veduvan is part of ZEE5’s recent pivot towards mini-series. Writer-director Pavan’s show has six episodes of barely 20 minutes each. The show could arguably have been wrapped up even sooner, since the drama is mostly tepid despite a solid performance by Kanna Ravi.

Pavan approaches the real intent behind his premise a bit too late into the narrative. Sooraj’s own doubts about the gangster’s culpability mirror Arunmozhi’s, allowing Pavan to comment on the truth behind police encounters. The commentary is as timid as Arunmozhi is bold, making for a show that be speed-watched without fear of losing the narrative thread.