Vijay Sethupathi | The Philosophy of | Video Essay Script

Hi, my name is Kishor and this is MOVING IMAGES. Since making a splash with his first few movies as a lead, Vijay Sethupathi has embodied a very particular kind of acting that comes across as “coolly distant” and a bit “ironic”. In a very few years Sethupathi has transcended from a promising lead to that of a star and one of the busiest actors in the business today. But releasing back-to-back movies and still remaining fresh and distinct is truly a challenge, and in Sethupathi’s case, a constant criticism on his alleged lack of differentiation among the characters he plays. Today, we are exploring the acting philosophy of Vijay Sethupathi where we try to understand how he approaches each role and why the audience never seem to get enough of him.

Have you ever noticed how in many Vijay Sethupathi’s movies, he doesn’t seem to be taking the plot seriously? He stands slightly at a distance from what is happening around him, to maintain a dry and sarcastic commentary. This was very apparent in Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom, where the whole plot revolved around Sethupathi being removed from his reality, or especially when he played Das in Soodhu kavvum. Das lives in a world of his own that is detached from the plot of the movie. VJS is attached to his characters but is also detached from the plot that he can deflate an otherwise serious scene. In most characters VJS plays, he seems to acknowledge the absurdity of the plot the character is put in. He deflates the climax in Vikram Vedha by being nonchalant about enemies shooting him. His character has lost everyone he loved and hence he finds it absurd that he has to live on. This approach to each of his roles follows the philosophy of “Absurdism”.

In philosophy, “the Absurd” refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any in a purposeless, meaningless universe. As a philosophy, absurdism furthermore explores how individuals, once becoming conscious of the Absurd, should respond to it. The absurdist philosopher Albert Camus stated that individuals should embrace the absurd condition of human existence while also defiantly continuing to explore and search for meaning. The characters Vijay Sethupathi plays in each film, acknowledges the absurd nature of their worlds and yet still tries to find meaning in it. This by itself, is something of a subplot that VJS creates, a character arc if you will. Not only does the film revolve around a main story but we get to see how his characters deal with the story. This is why VJS is one of those rare actors who is such a treat to observe both on and off-screen. His ironic acting is unique. Irony traditionally means that the character’s words or actions are clear to the audience but not to the character. VJS takes it a step further. His ironic performances are such that the character doesn’t realise the meaning of his words or actions, but the audience know that Vijay Sethupathi knows. For instance, in his latest outing as Rasool, a cop caught in the middle of brothers warring against each other in Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. His character’s reaction to one of the brother’s war-cry is. VJS sees his character as almost God-like who knows how the story is going to end. He uses his knowledge of the entire plot and how the movie is going to end to play the Rasool. So the motivations and aspirations of each brother just comes across as a joke and absurd to him since he knows he is going to kill them all at the end. So Rasool doesn’t know how the film is going to end but we know that Vijay Sethupathi knows, hence it is a fun watch to see VJS play his wise-cracking, nonchalant self in an otherwise serious movie.

The undistinguishable nature between VJS and the characters he plays have actually paved a way for his audience to identify with those characters. They understand without much explanation why his character “reacts” a certain way as they have come to realise this is how VJS would react. The actions and motivation of the on-screen characters VJS portrays are determined by the writers, but how his character reacts is entirely Vijay Sethupathi.

Until next time, this is Kishor signing off saying…