Vadachennai is a recent crime action flick in K-Town from the successful combo of
Director Vetrimaran and Actor Dhanush,who gave us 'Polladhavan (2007)' and 'Aadukalam (2011)'.This is the third collaboration of the actor and director.The film also holds a huge star cast in it like Director Ameer,Samudhrakani,Pawan,Kishore,Daniel balaji,Radha ravi,Andrea jeremiah and Aishwarya Rajesh and music composed by Santhosh Narayanan.The inception knot for the story was made in 2003 and it took 15 years of time for the film to get transformed from paper to the screen.This long await has been well paid with humongous response by the audience which is evident from the way the film is being received though the film has nudity,brutality and vulgarity in it.The guts of the director and producer in making this kind of movie with no compromise in content is applaudable.
The BGM that comes along with the title card of the movie reminds us the glorious vintage gangster era and sets the interesting mood to watch the film. Vadachennai is a kind of film on which one can't write a review just like that by watching once (well,I'm writing it after my third watch). It's a life to be experienced.
The film is completely character driven,the characters and the conflict between the characters has been sketched and worked organic.The narration follows a non-linear style which holds the complete attention of the audience and glues them to the screen.The run time of the film is about 2 hours and 44 minutes yet engaging.
A thorough research work and hardship of the technical team in bringing out the life style of people at Vadachennai in 80's,the tonality,costumes,linguistics,Prison setup,the sexual abuse and the drug distribution in prison,the way it has been pictured is spellbound,every minute aspects have been concentrated and worked out well.Especially the way the death of former chief minister M.G Ramachandran has been blend into the story is stupendous.
Vadachennai deals with people and the political game played on them,how the murder of Rajan (Ameer) has it's direct and indirect impact on the characters,how Anbu (Dhanush) a skilled carrom player gets locked into the gangster's world is beautifully portrayed. Padma (Aishwarya Rajesh) breaking the grammer and redefining the stereotype of heroines in Tamil cinema grabs attention as a foul mouthed slum girl. Chandra (Andrea) stands out of all as a bold lady in the most strongest role. Kannan,the guy who comes as Padma's younger brother also garners a huge applause in a sequence where Anbu seeks permission from his father-in-law to marry Padma. The notion when the audience realizes the history getting repeated where Anbu faces the same situations that Rajan had faced and uttering the same dialogue "Dhammathundu anchor dha da avlo periya kappalaye niruthudhu"is completely a goosebumps moment.Every scene when the characters exhibiting megalomania it is supported and upraised by the background score.Santhosh Narayanan has played and proven in his forte.
The film is nothing new with the plot (an another revenge story) but the way it has been narrated,the choice of actors,the dialogues and the geographical landscape that has been chosen to tell the story elevated the whole idea.Usage of words like "Moonji pudikradhu - (earning money)", "Ookadikradhu - (looting)","Root edukradhu - (murdering someone)","Sala poika da - (Compromise)" gets us into the real world of Vada chennai. The film has set a benchmark and stands as a reference point for the aspiring film makers. Vadachennai will always be remembered as an epic gangster films made in Tamil cinema.
Nice writeup..!!