Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu

DCP Raghavan opens an investigation into the killing of Rani, the daughter of a police officer. Similar murders follow, and the trail does not stay in Chennai; it runs abroad, and Raghavan has to follow it. Written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, the film sits in the noir vein of Tamil cinema. Menon does not construct the police procedural as a display of heroism. Raghavan tires, makes mistakes, and lets the job damage his private life. Kamal Haasan makes that exhaustion visible and won Best Actor at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for the role. Jyothika plays the female lead, with Prakash Raj and Daniel Balaji in the cast. It opened on 25 August 2006 and succeeded with both audiences and critics. Who it's for: Viewers who like serial killer thrillers, character-led police stories, and Tamil cinema of the 2000s. Who it's not for: The violence is explicit and most of the victims are women, and how the film uses that material may be uncomfortable.