Vada Chennai is the first film of a trilogy, directed by Vetri Maran and starring Dhanush, Aishwarya, Andrea, Samuthirakani, Ameer and others.
As the title suggests, the film is set in North Chennai and revolves around the life of Anbu, a national level carrom player, who gradually transforms into a gangster. Vetri Maran admits in an interview that it is this story that has been the source material for the rest of his films. Vada Chennai is his bible, his epic, his omnibus.
Does he deliver, like he did in his four other movies over ten years? Read on.
Neither Drama Nor Grime
So what’s so different about a gangster flick set in North Chennai? That’s been a stereotype for over a decade now. Even movies set in Hyderabad or Switzerland will have rowdies imported from North Chennai, if the movie is in Tamil.
The difference, is in the balance. There’s no romanticisation. Vetri Maran doesn’t tell you, through sepia filled montage that the people of North Chennai are large hearted and more honest than those in the rest of Chennai. Nor are the characters and settings dirtier, bloodier and more drunk than believable.
They just are.
In Polladhavan, there’s a fifteen minute sequence of Dhanush searching for his stolen bike, that flows like a documentary. Vada Chennai is no different. It’s like walking into a slice of daily life in Tiruvottiyur or George Town or Tondiarpet. Imagine watching a young romance unfold in all its messy clumsiness, or a domestic fight. What if you’re witness to a murder while you walk along the harbour at night?
The drama isn’t in the edit or the histrionics. It’s in the story.
No Single Hero
Dhanush rises as the ‘hero’ only at the very end. Until then, the story doesn’t belong to him alone. In fact, it doesn’t revolve around any one person for longer than a few scenes. Like Crash or Babel, the plot lines intertwine and diverge and pummel together. But unlike them, it is impossible to see any one story or character in isolation.
Isn’t that how real life is? While you may be at the centre of your story, the strings and knots flow endlessly.
Music: Good and Bad
Santhosh Narayanan seems to have taken a liking to the ethos of the working class, and now thinks like them while composing music. Govindan Mavale, the romantic OST in the film is inseparable from the lyrics. The background score, when Andrea Jeremiah mourns Ameer’s death is what you hear in the teaser. It is a sound of death and loss, with an unmistakable undercurrent of seething revenge. That’s what Andrea’s character is all about.
But the background music around the climax, when Dhanush rises as the new saviour of the block is too similar to Kaala and Kabali’s hero entry themes. The same heavy electronic guitars jamming ears and signals all around. You’ll love the music in some places, and cringe at others.
Pacing and Part II
Vetri Maran said the first cut was 5.5 hours long. It was brought down to 2.45. No scenes were cut, but literally every scene was shortened, to quicken the pace. Despite the complicated timeline (1980-2003) that goes back and forth, Vada Chennai makes for a riveting story without a single breather in the middle. Except for the Quentin-esque title cards in between.
That Vetri Maran drew his stories and films from the omnibus of stories of Vada Chennai, which are fully fleshed in his mind, is believable. I’ve never looked forward to a part II in Tamil cinema more eagerly than now.
- Rating: 3.5 Quints out of 5
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