Hunter) is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by T. J. Gnanavel and produced by Subaskaran Allirajah's Lyca Productions.

The film stars Rajinikanth as Athiyan, a senior police officer, who accidentally shoots an innocent person during an encounter killing, while investigating the murder of a teacher.

Athiyan, a Superintendent of Police in the Kanyakumari district, is a renowned encounter specialist known as "Vettaiyan" for taking down criminals with the help of his team and "Battery" Patrick, a thief-turned-police informer who is also a tech genius.

Athiyan receives a complaint from Saranya, a middle-school teacher, from Pechipaarai about marijuana being stored in classrooms, leading to student drug abuse and disrupted classes.

Following the tip, Athiyan and his team arrest Kumaresan, the man behind the drug production, and kill him in an encounter, earning public approval but drawing the scrutiny of the human rights commission.

SP Harish Kumar and ASP Roopa Kiran lead the investigation, uncovering Guna, a software engineer and sibling of Saranya's school student Chitra, as the perpetrator due to his alleged addiction to pornography.

Devastated by his mistake, Athiyan reopens the case with Patrick, Roopa, and Harish, uncovering gaps in the original investigation.

With Patrick's technical expertise, the team uncovers Harish's corruption; he had tipped off Hanu about the police's pursuit.

Investigations with Swetha, a Nat Academy employee, revealed their Chairman Natraj Shanmugam's scam of luring parents and students with promises of 100% pass rates in competitive exams through online courses.

Many families took loans to join, but Nat Academy refused refunds when they discontinued or could not pay, and those who complained faced threats and violence.

To gather evidence, Athiyan with the assistance of his wife, Thara, a social media influencer collects complaints from parents across the state who claimed to have been defrauded by Nat Academy's online courses.

Six months later, Natraj is sentenced to life in prison, and Athiyan steps back from his encounter-driven methods, choosing to let justice take its course.

[12][13] In July 2022, director Cibi Chakravarthy, was reported to begin work for his next, which would either star Vijay or Rajinikanth, with the latter being the top contender.

[19] In January 2023, sources claimed that due to Suriya's commitments with Siva's Kanguva and Vetrimaran's Vaadivaasal, Gnanavel began work on another script.

[24] On 4 October 2023, the technical crew including cinematographer S. R. Kathir, editor Philomin Raj and stunt choreography duo Anbariv were announced to have been retained by Gnanavel, after they previously worked in Jai Bhim.

[25][26] Art director K. Kathir, make-up artist Pattanam Rasheed and costume designer Anu Vardhan were chosen as crew.

[30][31] In October 2023, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan joined the cast,[32] making his debut in Tamil cinema, as well as in his reunion with Rajinikanth after Hum (1991).

[45] Principal photography was scheduled to begin on the third week of September 2023 in Chennai,[46] but ultimately began on 4 October in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

[62] The music and background score was composed by Anirudh Ravichander, in his fourth collaboration with Rajinikanth after Petta (2019), Darbar (2020) and Jailer (2023); maiden with Gnanavel.

Subsequently, the makers decided to replace Raj's voice with Bachchan's own for the final cut and all other language releases, enhanced via artificial intelligence.

[75] Vettaiyan was the first Tamil film to be released with closed captions and audio descriptions,[76] although they were previously used in preview shows for Love Today (2022) and The Greatest of All Time (2024).

"[87] Sridevi S of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "The movie is a predictable investigative thriller-social drama that packs several ‘Rajini moments’ for fans to cherish".

"[89] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Vettaiyan is a Rajinikanth film all the way but it is by no means only for fans of the Thalaivar.

[90] Kirubhakar Purushothaman of News18 gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "TJ Gnanavel’s simple and predictable film leaves us wondering why it needed such supergiants in the first place.

"[92] Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu wrote "Vettaiyan is a brave attempt to do something the moral compasses of Tamil cinema have long been wishing for, and it’s arguably one of the best Rajinikanth films since Kaala.

"[93] Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "Vettaiyan is a mixed bag and doesn’t do justice to either Superstar Rajinikanth and his legacy or to director TJ Gnanvel who gave us the powerful Jai Bhim.

[100] Post release, reports stated that Lyca Production asked Rajinikanth to compensate for the loss by doing another film with them with a reduced remuneration.