Vikram Vedha is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language neo-noir action thriller film[4] written and directed by Pushkar–Gayathri and produced by YNOT Studios.

The film, which is inspired by the Indian folktale Baital Pachisi, stars R. Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi in titular roles, alongside Shraddha Srinath, Kathir, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Prem, Achyuth Kumar, Hareesh Peradi and Vivek Prasanna.

Vedha asks Vikram if he should respect Cheta and carry out the order or disobey him and support Pulli and Chandra, thus inciting a gang war.

The duo planned to make their next project, which would be titled Vikram Vedha, with a more serious tone where emotions like anger, hatred, and pain drove the characters' motives.

[7] The duo initially considered setting the film either in politics, business or journalism before finally deciding on a police-gangster background.

[9] In a January 2015 interview with journalist and film critic Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu, S. Sashikanth, the owner of production house YNOT Studios, confirmed that he would produce the project.

[19][20] In October 2016, Shraddha Srinath was cast as Vikram's wife after her performance in U Turn (2016) made an impression on Pushkar and Gayathri.

[8][21] The same month, John Vijay was signed to play a gangster but later opted out due to scheduling conflicts with the Malayalam film Comrade in America (2017).

[2][24] Principal photography began on 16 November 2016 in Kasimedu, North Chennai with Varalaxmi Sarathkumar joining the team as the second female lead.

[8][35] In an interview with S. Naagarajan of The New Indian Express, Prabhat said that Pushkar and Gayathri wanted her "to adapt the theme of the [Baital Pachisi] for the opening credits".

After drafting the initial sketches of the animated characters, the duo then gave Prabhat "a scene-by-scene picturisation" of their perspective of the tale in addition to requesting she make the entire sequence "look aesthetic".

[35] According to Jose, the colouring for the sequence was mainly grey, black, and white and shades of red for Vetala's eyes, in keeping with the film's theme.

The sequence was traditionally animated as Prabhat and Jose believed that "complex graphics and multi-layered effects" would distract the audience from understanding the film's main plot.

[36] As the film is inspired from Baital Pachisi,[8] it consists of an animated sequence involving Vikramaditya and Vetala, on which the main characters Vikram and Vedha are formed.

[42][43] Sharanya CR from The Times of India noted in her review that Sam "brings out the essence of the film’s plot" with "Karuppu Vellai", and used the term "stylish, yet flawless" to describe Anirudh's and Shakthisree Gopalan's rendition of "Yaanji".

Sharanya concluded her review by stating that "the composer hits the high-note" with Vikram Vedha, writing further that "the film's narrative is sure to up the experience through music" with the instrumental tracks.

[52][53] After the state government reached an agreement with the Producer's Council to set up a committee to look into the issue, screening of films at theatres resumed on 6 July.

[68] Karthik Kumar of the Hindustan Times labelled Madhavan's performance "good" and believed Sethupathi played Vedha with "unmatchable swag", adding he was "unarguably the best thing to have happened to the film".

[69] Srivatsan of India Today compared the interactions and mind games between Vikram and Vedha favourably to those of Batman and the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008); he termed the film a "smartly-written thriller, which has a texture, well-developed character arcs and filmmaking gimmickry".

[1] Anupama Subramaniam of the Deccan Chronicle said that Sethupathi "oozes of charisma" and Madhavan gave "a whole-hearted" effort while making the audience relate to the character's emotions.

[71] Ragesh Gopinathan from Malayala Manorama thought the film "a work of sheer brilliance" with "the perfect blend of style and substance".

"[72] In his review for Firstpost, Sreedhar Pillai described the film as "a triumph of smart writing, superb characterisation and terrific performances by the lead actors Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi who make it crackle".

[74] A reviewer from Sify pointed out that Madhavan's "subtle" and Sethupathi "inimitable" performances were the "real strength" of the film, adding that Srinath was "brilliant" and Varalaxmi appeared "audacious and innocent" throughout.

[75] The Quint's Vikram Venkateswaran called Madhavan's performance "flawless" adding that the actor "simply eats up the screen" with his presence.

[78] Likewise, Sudhir Srinivasan, writing for The New Indian Express praised Pushkar and Gayathri's "beautifully written, incredibly well-made" contemporary adaptation of the Baital Pachisi.

[79] Mythily Ramachandran, in her review for Gulf News, believed the "powerful writing" of Puskhar and Gayathri's screenplay, the "well defined" characters and "flawless performances" from the entire cast, were the film's main highlights.

[80] Several critics found Vinod's past experiences in shooting gangster films such as Thiagarajan Kumararaja's Aaranya Kaandam (2011) a contributing factor towards the success of Vikram Vedha.

[81] Pillai and the Sify reviewer found Vinod's cinematography and camera angles helped create the appropriate "tension and mood" and perfectly capture the environment of North Chennai.

[74] At the 65th Filmfare Awards South, Vikram Vedha received nominations in seven categories, including Best Film (Sashikanth) and Best Supporting Actress (Varalaxmi), winning four.

[83] The film won four of its fifteen nominations at the 10th Vijay Awards,[84][85] including Best Director and Best Screenplay Writer (both received by Pushkar–Gayathri), Best Actor (Sethupathi) and Best Background Score (Sam).