Film

Vikram Vedha

Name: Vikram Vedha
Genre: Action, Thriller, Crime, Adventure
Released: 2017
Cast: R. Madhavan, Vijay Sethupathi, Shraddha Srinath, Kathir, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar

Other titles called Vikram Vedha: the 2022 film.

A Tamil crime thriller built around a duel of wits between a tough cop and a charismatic gangster who surrenders to him. Vedha tells his life through riddles; Vikram must unpick truth from storytelling to catch him. Stylishly shot, morally slippery, it asks whether the line between law and crime is as clear as it seems. For anyone who loved the psychological chess in *Drishyam* or *Andhadhun*.

TMDb rating

3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy cat-and-mouse crime stories where the pleasure lies in sharp dialogue and a moral standoff between two well-matched men, the way you'd relish a Hindi-cinema take on a Michael Mann duel.

Skip it if you want a lean, fast thriller, since at nearly two and a half hours it lingers over conversations and backstory, and its style leans talky rather than kinetic.

What it asks of you: Settle in for close to 150 minutes of mostly talk and tension, with action arriving in bursts, and give your full attention to the riddles and the back-and-forth between the two leads.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Drishyam2013

A brilliantly constructed cat-and-mouse game between a man protecting his family and a relentless cop. Like Vikram Vedha, it's about hiding truth in plain sight and staying three moves ahead through cunning rather than violence.

But The Telugu original is paced more deliberately than Western thrillers; patience is mandatory, and the climax divides viewers on how satisfying the resolution feels.

Andhadhun2018

A blind pianist witnesses a murder and becomes entangled with a couple in a game of deception and counterdeception. Both films hinge on unreliable narration and the blurred ethics of survival over justice.

But Darker and nastier in tone; it can feel unnecessarily cruel, and some plot turns feel engineered rather than earned.

Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 12012

An epic Hindi crime saga built on family vendetta and moral compromise. Shares Vikram Vedha's fascination with how smart criminals think and justify themselves, across two generations and multiple perspectives.

But Nearly five hours across two parts, with regional dialect dialogue and a sprawling ensemble that demands real attention to track.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Vikram Vedha

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Branded2012

Both films treat the act of narration itself as the real crime. Vedha and the world he controls through stories; Branded's protagonist realizes the visual language that sells products is the same one that sells reality. Both ask: who controls the frame controls the truth.

A wildly ambitious Russian sci-fi thriller about advertising, perception, and reality. Like Vikram Vedha, it's obsessed with how stories shape belief and truth, but it weaponizes pure visual language instead of dialogue and riddles.

But Visually experimental and narratively fragmented to the point of alienation; most people find it either revelatory or nearly unwatchable with no middle ground.

Ratsasan2018

A Tamil thriller about a cop hunting a serial killer, grounded in procedural realism and psychological depth. The cat-and-mouse dynamic and moral ambiguity mirror what makes Vikram Vedha compelling.

But Deals with graphic child violence; it's unflinching and disturbing in ways some viewers will find intolerable rather than artful.

Thani Oruvan2015

A brilliant Tamil film about a hacker and the ambitious cop determined to catch him. Like Vikram Vedha, it's structured as a battle of intellects where the sympathies keep shifting.

But Paced with a 2010s tech-thriller energy that can feel dated now; some plot logic depends on coincidence rather than skill.

Singham2011

An action-cop thriller that became the template for a whole subgenre. If you're curious about the DNA of how Indian cinema does cops and criminals, this established many of the moves Vikram Vedha plays with.

But More straightforwardly heroic and considerably less morally complicated; it's also the start of a franchise that diluted the original's impact.

Kahaani2012

A Hindi thriller about a pregnant woman navigating bureaucracy and danger in Kolkata during the Commonwealth Games. Builds tension through misdirection and performance, much like Vedha's riddle-telling.

But Relies heavily on a final twist that, once known, makes rewatching less rewarding and some plot elements feel manipulative in retrospect.

Commando - A One Man Army2013

An action-thriller with a cop-and-criminal dynamic that influenced later Tamil and Hindi films. Solid technical craft and a grounded approach to violence if you want something in the same genre family.

But Less philosophically engaged than Vikram Vedha; it's more straightforward actioner that doesn't linger on the moral questions its premise raises.

Nayakan1987

Mani Ratnam's Tamil crime epic about a man who becomes a gangster. The granddaddy of the Indian crime film—if you want to see where the DNA of films like Vikram Vedha comes from, start here.

But Shot and paced in the 1980s; it's slower, longer, and the melodrama can overshadow the crime story for modern viewers impatient with that register.

Memories of Murder2003

Both films bury their critique of state power inside a genre frame. Vikram Vedha questions whether the law enforcer is truly the hero; Memories of Murder shows institutional failure and personal corruption rotting from the inside. The thriller is the vehicle, not the point.

A Korean serial killer thriller that asks whether intuition and violence can ever solve the case that logic cannot. Bong Joon-ho builds a procedural that deconstructs the cop-and-criminal binary entirely.

But Glacially paced with moral ambiguity that never resolves; it's a meditation on failure as much as a thriller, and that bleakness isn't for everyone.

Pushpavalli2017

Where Vikram Vedha asks 'is the cop the real criminal?', Pushpavalli asks 'is stalking romantic if the stalker is funny enough?' Both films weaponize genre expectations and likability against the audience's moral compass. Same engine, opposite register.

An Indian comedy-thriller about an obsessive woman who stalks a man she's decided is perfect. Absurdist, dark, subversive—it dismantles the romantic and moral certainties that Vikram Vedha plays with, but through comedy instead of crime.

But The humour is cruel and the protagonist thoroughly unlikable; it asks you to laugh at pathology, which many viewers experience as just unpleasant rather than cathartic.