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Writer is an police drama written and directed by Franklin Jacob and produced by Pa Ranjith under the banner Neelam Productions, in association with Golden Ratio Films, Little Red Car Films and Jetty Productions. The film has Samuthirakani playing the role of a writer in a police station, while Harikrishnan, Dileepan, Ineya, GM Sundar and others play crucial supporting roles. 

Samuthirakani plays the role of Thangaraj, a writer in a police station, who also fights in the court for a union for police officers. This enrages his senior officer, who transfers him to Chennai. He is involved in framing an innocent youngster under the UAPA act, as a result of which his guilt gets to his head. Will he come out of it and save the youngster is what the story is about. 

Usually our police dramas that criticize the police department show the protagonist to be a good cop who always fights for the justice while the rest of the department, barring a couple of those standing by the hero, is corrupt. He would take on the mighty department single handedly and bring justice to victims. However, the writer inside Franklin Jacob says no to any of these tropes.

He chooses to focus on the most powerless people inside the police department and shows how they are all mere pawns in the bigger game. He accurately depicts the extent to which the department goes in order to save its image and serve the ruling classes, while the sub inspectors and constables face the wrath of both the public as well as the higher officials. Franklin Jacob also brings in an interesting perspective where he puts forth the idea that, if there is a police union, not only will the lower ranked police officers be benefitted, but the relation between the police and the public will also become friendly and better. 

The writing is supported ably by Samuthirakani and Harikrishnan's startling performances. It's rare to see a film where Samuthirakani speaks so less... with lesser dialogues. Instead, his eyes take the front seat here and what a performer he is. In the scenes towards the climax, the way he emotes after being traumatized by a shooting, at the same time reeling from the guilt of killing an innocent, the expression changes are done beautifully. 

On the other hand, Harilkrishnan brings out the pathos of his character and makes it resonate with the audiences. Actors like GM Sundar, Lizzie, Ineya and Dhileepan also chip in with useful contributions. Following films like Pariyerum Perumal and Irandam Ulagaporin Kadaisi Gundu, this is another solidly written, fairly engaging film from Neelam Productions. This shows how much scrutiny and editing the script would have gone through to become this tight. 

The music by Govind Vasantha and cinematography by Pratheep Kaliraja amplify the film and make sure that the director's vision is fulfilled. A sample for their collaborative work would be the scene where a woman on a horse confronts the DC while he's inside a car. Or even a death in the climax is more effective with their technical work.

Save your best for the last is something we hear often. It's not sure how many people follow that, but Writer, which was released in the last week of 2021, ends up as one of the best films this year. It doesn't portray the victims as people who surrender, but as people who revolt and resist. With lots of self-respect to the characters, the film's politics are also on point. Try not to miss it in theates!

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