The Unemployed Graduate), popularly referred to as VIP, is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action drama film[3] written and directed by Velraj, in his directorial debut, and produced by Dhanush, who also enacts in the lead role alongside Amala Paul, Vivek, Saranya Ponvannan, Samuthirakani and Surbhi.

The film's album and score were composed by Anirudh Ravichander.The stunt department of this movie was handled by Hari Dinesh.

Raghuvaran falls for his neighbour's daughter, Shalini who hates him initially, but warms up to him after hearing about the difficulties he is facing and eventually reciprocates his love.

Anitha's father Ramkumar is the chairman of a civil engineering company in Chennai and offers Raghuvaran a job as a token of his gratitude for saving his daughter's life.

Six months later, Raghuvaran is offered an assignment on a government project to construct high-rise flats to re-house people living in a nearby slum.

Arun Subramaniam, a business novice who took over his father's company's Chennai branch, bids for the same contract, even by using illegal methods.

Fearing that the video could tarnish his reputation, Arun's father, Venkat, sends his son to the hospital to apologise.

Raghuvaran takes Arun to the site on his moped, where the state public works minister and Anitha inaugurate the flats.

During the production of those films, Dhanush suggested Velraj to make his debut as a director and promised to play the lead role.

The film was planned as a "message to the youth with some comedy on rising unemployment and the growing frustration for jobs with love".

[8] When Velraj showed Dhanush the script for the film, he was impressed by it and immediately offered to act in it as well as bankroll the venture.

[10][11] Velraj later commented about the requirement of a muscular appearance for a fight scene in the film's climax, resulting in Dhanush toning his body for the sequence.

[17] Hrishikesh, who plays Karthik, Raghuvaran's sibling, received an SMS from Dhanush's production office, which asked him to audition for the role.

[7] Director Subramaniam Siva, who had earlier collaborated with Dhanush for Thiruda Thirudi (2003), helped with the post-production work involved in the film.

[25] One scene shows Raghuvaran delivering a speech about the difficulties in finishing an engineering degree only to remain jobless, with some of them having to take jobs not related to their fields to make a living.

[24] Dhanush's characterisation was similar to his characters from his previous films like Polladhavan (2007), Yaaradi Nee Mohini (2008) and Padikkadavan (2009).

[citation needed] Both Baradwaj Rangan of The Hindu and M. Suganth of The Times of India compare Dhanush's and Amitash's characters and their encounters with each other to those that took place between the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah, David and the Philistine warrior, Goliath.

[26][27] The film shifts from exploring self-pity to proving a point, where the protagonist overcomes all hurdles and outwits a rich adversary, as well as building a successful relationship.

Amala Paul's character, Shalini, is shown as Raghuvaran's confidante though he feels jealous when she interacts with his brother.

[citation needed] The album was launched at the Suryan FM 93.5 radio station with Dhanush, Amala Paul and Anirudh Ravichander in attendance.

The songs "Velaiilla Pattadhari", "Poo Indru Neeyaga", "What a Karuvad" and "Udhungada Sangu" topped the Radio Mirchi South charts for 31 weeks.

[34] The theatrical rights of the film in Tamil Nadu were sold to Madhan of Escape Artists Motion Pictures.

[37] Some of the posters depicting Dhanush smoking were removed, followed by the complaint raised by the authorities, as this did not conform to the Tobacco Control Board's guidelines.

[39] Velraj explained that they never contemplated such a huge opposition and did not want to hurt the sentiments of anyone, hence it was decided to remove the dialogue from the film.

[44] M. Suganth of The Times of India gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote, "[...] Velraj (the cinematographer making his directorial debut) superbly manages to strike a balance between the emotional and mass hero moments.[...]

"[26] Anupama Subramanian of the Deccan Chronicle gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Dhanush has chosen a befitting script for his 25th milestone film and in the company of his favourite cinematographer turned filmmaker Velraj, who has churned out a mass family entertainer with Velai Illa Pattadhari [sic]", calling it a "wholesome entertainer".

[45] S. Saraswathi of Rediff gave the film 3 stars out of 5 and concluded, "Velaiyilla Pattathari [sic] is two hours of pure entertainment, definitely worth a watch".

[47] Gautaman Bhaskaran of the Hindustan Times gave the film 2 out of 5, saying "Although Vellaiyilla Pattathari [sic] presents a grave social malaise – that of joblessness among engineering graduates in Tamil Nadu with 3000-odd colleges turning out hundreds of thousands of degree holders year after year – the script plays goodsport.

[citation needed] Sreedhar Pillai stated that the film had made ₹100.6 million on its opening day in Tamil Nadu alone.