[SPOILERS AHEAD…]

Official Teaser:

We get a Tarantino style opening with 4 guys tossing their weapons on the table with fresh blood stains and flesh pieces, wondering what is in store for them in the future, now that they have eliminated the big man. Whatever happens, they decide to stay together. We are not shown the victim. This opening sets the premise for a gripping gangster drama for next 2 hours 44 minutes where Director Vetrimaran takes us through a non-linear narrative that keeps us hooked. Story is nothing new: plot revolves around how a carrom loving young man living in a slum, surrounded by crooks and gang lords, gets sucked in to rowdyism and thrust in to leader role. What makes this movie nearly an epic (I would wait for part 2 & 3 to call this an epic but my confidence is high on Vetrimaran) is the attention to detail, getting the right mood with lighting & colour palette, perfection from all actors, dialogues, music, and narration.

On the attention to detail, I guess this is the first time in Kollywood that we get to see a real prison life. Each and every frame is filled with details that leaves you wondering, do these things really happen in prison – how drugs get peddled, block wars, gangs, corruption, murder. It is hard to figure out who is good or who is bad. The whole prison chapter leads to a well-choreographed fight under a canopy – a pole gets pulled out, canopy collapses on one side, fight starts with weapons inside the canopy, few hold the roof from further collapse. Fight ends in a betrayal. The twist came as a good surprise and served as a good intermission cut. Post Jigarthanda and Angamaly Diaries, you get to see a single shot hotel scene with 4-5 characters conversing, there is movement across the room, there is tension, there is dilemma, there is apprehension, there is a misreading, and a tragic end. Great performance from Ameer, Samudhrakani, Kishor, Pavan, and Daniel Balaji. I got my value for (ticket) money 😄

Dhanush has a tough role of portraying Anbu, a carrom loving youth with long hair and bell bottoms slowly getting sucked in to violent ways and transforming in to a sharp and gritty gang leader. He has done a great job. Just look at the contrasting ways he portrays Kokki Kumar from Pudupettai and Anbu from this movie. Add Kodi to this and we have a brilliant actor in our midst.

Carrom board is used as a metaphor. Similar to an external finger that strikes and changes the positions of coins on the carrom board in an unpredictable way, here MGR’s and Rajiv Gandhi’s death trigger a chain of events. One leads to a gruesome murder while another inflicts a crucial turn in Anbu’s life. A carrom competition is used as a setup to settle a score and that leads to a tense moment (this scene reminded me another tense moment from movie Cape Fear (1991) where Max Cady seduces Danielle) for Anbu and the audience in a later scene. Brilliant and Creative writing by Vetrimaran👍

Non-linear narrative adds another layer to story-telling. While we go through the prison chapter, you do wonder about Anbu’s decision to hand over the mobile to cops knowing well he will get beaten up. But when you replay the scenes in your head post the reveal which comes later in the movie, they fit perfectly like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. Rajan’s story clearly ties the non-linear storyline including why Anbu looks up to him. Coming to Rajan, Ameer as Rajan gets the best masala moments in the movie, when he stands up for the people and when he gives it back to the cop.

Women in the movie, while screen time is less, play crucial roles. Aishwarya Rajesh as Padma gets the whistle worthy introduction scene. Which leads to swear words which are not beeped. I didn’t even notice the swear words, meaning I didn’t find them jarring or stand out like a thorn, they just went with the flow. It added weight to the characters and content. Similar to swear words, I didn’t notice the BGM, meaning it went with the flow and worked great.

There are few things that didn’t work for me. The movie avoided heroism for most part, but for last ten minutes. Found the music also to be louder than required in those scenes. Avoiding that heroism would have taken the movie to a perfect docu-drama. Thambi’s amicable relationship with Guna and Senthil not explained well considering he should be the one most unforgiving. While whole Vadachennai knows about the kiss, it became hard to believe Senthil and gang didn’t know who killed Jawa Pazhani. Are they that stupid? Would have preferred to have scenes that shows formulation of Chandra’s strategy rather than being told. But these are minor quibbles and doesn’t dampen the movie.

Considering the big canvas, and number of characters, movie does feel rushed, you feel the movie would have been more satisfying with another hour. I felt few scenes are abruptly cut, like in hotel where Anbu goes to cabin to get Padma’s bag. An extra hour would have given the time to show the reason for Thambi’s amicable behaviour or formulation of Chandra’s strategy.

There are comparisons with Godfather and Goodfellas. Vadachennai is more like Godfather. It would be good to see how Anbu gets the youth out of vicious cycle and cleans up Vadachennai like Michael in Godfather, in upcoming parts. I am Waiting 😄