Writer review: A hard-hitting police procedural with a heart

First-time director Franklin Jacob’s Writer (2021) will go down as one of the most important films of Tamil cinema. Cut from the same cloth as Vetrimaaran’s Visaranai (2016) and Jai Bhim (2021), the Pa Ranjith-produced film shines the spotlight on different aspects of the police department while touching upon common themes that are usually explored in cop dramas. Tamil cinema has always used the police force as a medium to glorify its heroes as powerful men who almost lack a humanitarian side. Writer turns this mainstream cinema trope on its head and gives us a protagonist who has been in police service for over 30 years and hasn’t raised his hand on anyone even once. 

Writer is centred on head constable-cum-writer Thangaraj (Samuthirakani), who’s due for retirement in a few months. In his police station in Trichy, everyone looks up to Thangaraj. He’s duty-bound but at the same time caring and pragmatic. He’s not fit and can barely run a few metres before he gasps for breath. He’s the anti-police hero we are so not used to watching on the big screen. For years, Thangaraj has been working towards setting up a police union, despite facing stiff opposition from his department and seniors. When Thangaraj gets transferred to Chennai and crosses paths with Devakumar (Hari Krishnan), a Dalit Christian PhD scholar, his life takes an unexpected turn and what follows forms the crux of the story.

Unlike most cop movies, Writer isn’t just about the corrupt police officers in the system; it also focuses on the price some men in the force must pay for the recklessness of their seniors. As a line in the movie goes, ‘Anyone without power in the force is a servant’. As much as Writer is about some power-abusing police officials, it also talks about the mental health of policemen and the amount of constant pressure they are under on a day-to-day basis. The film tries to humanize policemen instead of turning them into crime-fighting, never-tiring heroes. The film also addresses the issue of caste-based discrimination, a recurring theme in films headlined by Pa Ranjith, and one that deserves to be discussed more often and openly. Thankfully, this isn’t a film only about the men in the department. There’s a powerful subplot involving a female officer (Ineya in a solid cameo) from a lower caste aspiring to become a mounted police rider. 

Samuthirakani brings so much of life into the role of Thangaraj, and it’s a performance that truly stands out. He makes Thangaraj not just a helpless police constable but one with a conscience, and I doubt any other actor could’ve pulled off this character as effectively as Samuthirakani. Hari Krishnan as the helpless Dalit victim who’s detained without a reason is another performance that will stay with you for a while. The entire stretch involving his character is both haunting and heartbreaking. The helplessness that Hari Krishnan brings out through his performance will leave you gutted. Kavin Jay Babu as the North Indian deputy commissioner is the kind of villain Tamil cinema has rarely seen, and he’s brilliant from the first frame. His heavy Hindi-accented Tamil is the icing on the cake. Ineya, too, shines. 

Writer is the kind of film that goes beyond entertainment, and it leaves you enlightened. It makes you question the very department that’s meant to protect us and be at our service.