Spoilers ahead…
Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/tamil-review/vada-chennai-review-a-very-satisfying-gangster-saga-that-mostly-becomes-the-epic-it-strives-to-be/
For a while now, Vetri Maaran has been calling Vada Chennai (North Chennai) an epic, and it turns out he was right. The title design is epic. It has a big-screen quality, like the Cinemascope logo (narrow in the centre and broadening towards the edges). The narrative is epic, like, say, the Mahabharata. Arjuna may have been the most heroic — or the most “mass” — character, but the story is shaped equally by Karna’s loyalty, or Draupadi’s thirst for revenge. The character Dhanush plays in Vada Chennai is epic — though he’s a more reluctant hero. Even his name isn’t all that heroic. It’s “soft.” Anbu. (It means “affection”.) All he wants is to become a carrom champion. (There are shades of Chandan Arora’s Siddharth-starrer, Striker, which was also about a carrom champion in an urban ghetto who’s caught in gangland crossfire.) But life intervenes.
The dense texture of Vetri Maaran’s screenplay imagines existence as a carrom board, with every move causing collisions and ricochets. In the past, dressed up in ballooning pants like the ones Prabhu Deva wore in Kadhalan, Anbu meets Padma (Aishwarya Rajesh) — but the meeting is “caused” by Rajiv Gandhi. If he hadn’t been assassinated, anarchy wouldn’t have erupted on the streets, and Anbu’s mother wouldn’t have thought of using the chaos to rob things from a store, and Padma wouldn’t have had the same idea, and Anbu may never have collided with her. This is the structure of an epic: the macro casts a shadow over the micro. And if Anbu hadn’t met Padma, they wouldn’t have fallen in love, they wouldn’t have been caught kissing, and the ensuing shame wouldn’t have driven Anbu to murder, and he wouldn’t have sought refuge with the gangster named Guna (Samuthirakani)…
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2018 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
yesterdaysnewspaper
October 17, 2018
The lip sync miss(?) scene spotter:
Guna and velu discuss why anbu should be saved from ‘taking the case’.
Anbu questioning the development of the hood.
Did i feel these only because of the interview yesterday?
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Vigneshwaran (@drvicky2704)
October 17, 2018
Completely agreeing with you sir. I felt most scenes are shorter. Rushed. Could have made into a series. My biggest confusion is adrenaline rushing bgm for every violent scene. Is that meant to support the violence. Why murders are glamourised?
Also murder plan inside the jail felt like natural than actually planned. In one scene after anbu belonged to senthil’s block, he came out & moves his collar to be seen by pawan’s character. I first thought he was showing off. Now i feel like it meant to be telling plan is going correctly. Lot of misunderstandings because of concealing the plan to the audience
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Purple Sky
October 17, 2018
Sir, before the thread is flooded with comments about the movie, I would like to direct your attention to a small detail. In your YouTube video, you said that you can find the detailed video in the film companion website. it will boost your click rates, if you put the link in the description box and mention in the video that the link is in the description box. This is one of the most common tactics of Youtubers. Also mentioning check out my video with the director and putting that link on the description box will again boost clicks.
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Vigneshwaran (@drvicky2704)
October 17, 2018
What do you think of that cut on rajan’s face a psychological one ( due to guilt when rajan looked at them like ‘you too brutus?’) or symbolic one.
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Pato
October 17, 2018
I found it very difficult to follow the narrative. Screenplay was going back and forth in time, with too many characters, making it very difficult to get connected with the happenings. As you said , all the parts look good individually, but the way it all comes together made me somewhat disconnected with the movie.
I found dhanush’s transformation to be unconvincing. Initially it was about dhanush’s survival , but after rajan’s flashback , story transformed into something bigger, which was immediate and jarring.
This movie itself had enough story to be made into 2 separate parts.
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meera
October 17, 2018
BR: loved the detailed review but the video review is very rushed… the jerky edits are glaring there too… could you instead pick two of three main points and then discuss them without rushing through it all…
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therag
October 17, 2018
I don’t think Vada Chennai will make a great TV show because at its heart it is a masala film. Sure you can etch out the details in a TV show but then it has to become a procedural like The Wire, or a one-man character study like The Sopranos. Sopranos is way off from what Vada Chennai is, and even The Wire will not work in India. The Wire’s USP was its deconstruction of all levers of the government, how the system of government-politicians-police-drugdealers work to maintain the status quo. In India, this is not really kept under lids for a TV show expose, everyone knows and not too many care. What Vada Chennai does well is to integrate all this detail and vibe into a masala movie, and this is a big screen thing.
The movie works in parts because we weren’t served the whole. This had me feeling a little unsatisfied (that not all the arcs have closure), but Vetrimaaran gave me enough to work with . I was pleasantly surprised with Andrea in the film, didn’t have much of an opinion on here before.
I think some of the disjointedness in the film was because of SaNa’s music. The music stops at weird places and at times could not keep pace with the film. The songs might have been good standalone but they were not integrated into the film very well. And bruh you gotta do better than Apparat’s Goodbye. Chekka Chivantha Vaanam also felt like a 6 hour epic compressed to 2.5 hours and ARR did a much better job there.
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Akash Balakrishnan
October 17, 2018
Movie worked well for me except for a few parts. I found Anbu to be too passive. His motivations could have been more relatable had he suffered an emotional loss rather than being the correct guy. Also, personally, the expository dumps were too expository given that those were predictable(The dots were easy to connect). I took Chandra for a Schemer right from her introduction. Some scenes were rushed, sometimes the storytelling wasn’t gripping, especially in the first half. Apart from these, the movie was a good story told well.
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Adi
October 18, 2018
Did anyone find the reveal of Andrea’s ulterior motive a little lazy? I thought her explaining her plans to thambi seemed forced and just a few scenes for the audience to discern would’ve worked better. Also while dhanush’s presence helped in selling his character’s sudden rise , it also meant that the director was tempted to add slow mo masala moments towards the end to emphasise his mass image. This also raises the question: ifvetrimaran is making a film for the world audience and is showing his film in festivals, would the global audience who havent seen dhanush before buy it?
The hotel scene is the best of its kind I’ve seen since the jigarthanda theatre scene. This one is heavier with context.
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Anuja Chandramouli
October 18, 2018
Okay, I’ll come right out and say it. Vetrimaaran is overrated. Just like Mani Ratnam. For guys who like to broadcast their purported genius in every frame, their films are half – baked at best and tedious at worst. As for Vada Chennai, it is one of the most underwhelming films in Vetri’s less than overwhelming oeuvre.
I found the film reminiscent of Aadukalam, Visaranai, Madras and Kaala but without the affecting portions in the above films. The dude, even has an Anglo – Indian heroine playing a gangster’s slum dwelling wife which is every bit as ridiculous as Taapsee’s character claiming she will die if she can’t be with her gangsta lover in Aadukalam. And even if you can get past how badly this character is miscast, it is hard to swallow that she would marry the dude who murdered the love of her life. Sure, sleeping with the enemy is a tried and tested strategy but in this scenario given that her husband was killed in bumbling, blundering fashion by a bunch of almost buffoons it kind of felt like she was using a nuclear missile to kill ants.
As for Dhanush, it was hard to buy into his overnight transformation from the dude who looked like he was going to crap his pants when Selvam’s wife asked that his assailant be handed over, to badass with swag to spare. Admittedly, Dhanush rocked those scenes and most of the cast was super impressive but still… Vetri’s stylistic flourishes were quite impressive but I was less impressed with assorted quirks and affectations that indicate how self – indulgent a filmmaker he has become. I shudder to think there are two more films to go in this exercise in cinematic masturbation.
PS: I will never understand why female characters who emulate their male counterparts in terms of savagery or sewer mouths are hailed as empowered divas. It is not necessary to stoop to the level of your oppressors in order to conquer.
PPS: Given how irritated I was with the film it looks like this one is going to be a national award winner for certain. Sighs!
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therag
October 18, 2018
@Anuja, In what specific scenario is sleeping with the enemy a good strategy? You’re saying that the assailants were such idiots that she could have started her own gang and finished them off? The assailants were bumbling/blundering because they didn’t all want to kill Rajan. But once Senthil landed the first blow they had to finish what they started. Calling them buffoons is a bit much, especially when the rest of the film tells you they are dreaded dangerous gangsters.
You know, if a man were to comment that women smoking/drinking/swearing on screen does not mean female empowerment, the internet warriors would be all over him in about 2.3 seconds.
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Anuja Chandramouli
October 18, 2018
Therag: I just meant that there is precedent for the sleeping with the enemy trope where women who have been wronged (especially when these characters are written by dudes) feel the best way to kill the enemy is from between his sheets. And sure these guys do become dangerous gangsters but they weren’t really the brightest bulbs in the business when they killed Rajan. So I am saying if a resourceful woman were to put her mind to it, it wouldn’t have been that difficult to take them out. So this convoluted premise of her marrying the enemy, disgracing the memory of her first husband and explaining that she didn’t poison Guna because she needs him to kill the others felt like a bit of a stretch.
As for the swearing, smoking etc. I just feel it has become colour by the numbers brand of filmi feminism and hence my issue with it. Have no problem with anybody swearing, smoking or drinking but I see no reason for these traits to define the liberated woman or be considered the prerequisite to become one.
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Siva
October 18, 2018
BR: I started to write a comment on your views in this review — specifically about the usage of songs. Before I realized, it had grown way too lonnnng. So, I decided to send it in as my first #ReadersWriteIn. I just emailed it. Publish if it seems fit 🙂
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Anand Raghavan
October 18, 2018
Taking a cue from Anuja’s point reg showing smoking , drinking and swearing women as liberated women. More than showing, it is the glorification of these habits and stereotyping in the name of swag, gethu , the main problem.
Why can’t we have a sober, girl next door looking schemer in North Madras?
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Aadhy
October 18, 2018
A filmmaker decides to base his story on the fishing hamlets of Kasimedu & Royapuram, tries to stay authentic to the local dialect where people irrespective of their gender swear with abandon, passes the censor
moral policeboard with minimal damage, finds the entire process liberating because the censor does not have the same yardstick for the actions of men and women w.r.t certification (examples in history galore). In all of this, I don’t see where anyone anywhere intends women swearing to be a feminist statement.This logic sounds to me like the previous video of ‘she says she says’, extrapolating any depiction of women in movies to be a feminist (or righteous) portrayal, totally missing context of the story.
“Why can’t we have a sober, girl next door looking schemer in North Madras? ”
I’m quite relieved the censor board didn’t have the same question.
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srktugga
October 18, 2018
I want to know if Guna knew Chandra’s intentions towards Guna,Senthil and the others post Rajan’s murder.Im not sure Guna knew Chandra knew Rajan’s killers.
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Madan
October 18, 2018
Haven’t seen the film yet and am intrigued by the reviews. Just on the point of depicting women swearing, look at it as building a counter narrative to the loosu ponnu one in Tamil cinema. It’s about NOT assuming that a woman who swears and/or drinks is evil incarnate. Just as heroes have total licence to do this without being judged. Maybe Anuja is reacting from a Western centric point of view, where badassery for the sake of it is thought of as more valuable than quiet and dignified resistance.
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Amit Joki
October 18, 2018
No one is saying Chandra is an empowered woman, no one acknowledges her as one in the film, in no interview has she or Padma being called “empowered”.
Vettri just thought Padma speaking cuss words is liberating for him. I am sure that the audience felt the same because they were quite taken aback. Women drink, smoke in almost every respectable Hollywood films I’ve seen. It is normal there. But we aren’t at that stage yet, so complaining that the portrayal of women drinking, smoking, speaking cuss words is not empowerment, is futile.
Because it is not empowerment. It is the modern day normalcy. We are brought up to believe that women in India shouldn’t be as outgoing as Western World and this concept of “Kuthuvilakku”, so we want any kind of empowerment to include this “Kuthuvilakku” aspect.
When she has the easiest option to lure and seduce men and kill them, why does she have to work her brains off just so she could kill someone AND be a “kuthuvilakku” empowered girl in OUR eyes? Clearly she isn’t worried that she’s had sex with a man for it, why then should we worry if she seduces and kills him or works out a plan with no sex involved?
Chandra is an independent women who could have sulked her way and vanished with no means to have a life she had with Rajan, or, she could fake being a wife of her husband’s killer to scheme and avenge her husband’s death.
Chandra is staring at a miserable life ahead, men she could no longer trust; men who had murdered her husband. She becomes the young Anbu at that time, fighting for survival. She had to do what she did. Not because it was empowering but because it was about her surviving and have a chance at avenging her Husband and not fade away into oblivion.
P.S I was way near the speaker and the screen and it was a disorienting experience. I am not able to discern the hotel murder scene that’s being talked about. When does that happen?
@Adi: Vettrimaaran is brilliant of what he takes from his films to the festival. The Visaranai we watched had romance sequence, songs, and BGMs so as to not scar us for life. The cut he showed to film festivals all had no background scores at all.
I am betting that the slow mo’s are added for the Tamil audience while it isn’t done so in the cut which was given to the film festivals. He knows how to make a film that can work in mainstream but also knows how to cut just enough or hold back so that it becomes an “Award” film.
@Anuja: I just think Vettrimaaran is a sucker for stories that are riveting to tell on screen. He loves movies that employ the grey shades in humans. None of his works are original in the sense they’re derivatives of stories he’s read or listened to.
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therag
October 18, 2018
@Aadhy, +1
@Anuja, fair enough but I don’t agree that Senthil/Guna are/were buffoons. At the time of the murder they were amateurs maybe, but they could still execute murders if they wanted. The fact that they capitalised on the murder of Rajan and become the biggest gangsters in the area is proof that they are not all brawn. Chandra’s manipulations and Dhanush’s transformation take years to come to fruition. The sloppiness when murdering Rajan was because of indecision. I don’t think it would have been easy to take them out of the equation.
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vijay vasan
October 18, 2018
BR: I watched your interview with Vetrimaran before watching the movie and I couldn’t overlook the many lip sync misses happening throughout the movie. At least some of them were not so glaring because of Dhanush’s overgrown facial plume but every time Andrea opened her mouth, there were many a slip between the dub and the lip.
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meera
October 19, 2018
Aadhy Exactly my thoughts on women swearing… it was more of a milieu aspect than about feminism.
Anuja: am curious to know who according to you is a good filmmaker in Tamil cinema?
(I haven’t watched Vada Chennai yet) according to me Vetrimaaran is fascinated about this part of the city. He has tried his best to portray it with full authenticity and embibing the commercial dictats… but I think with this excessive marketing promotion frenzied world so much of the movie’s thrills are spilled. That could have been the reason why we had certain pre conceptions …
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e221
October 19, 2018
What a Movie !!! This is a Rich movie that can be seen and enjoyed again and again and again. For some reasons, I am reminded more of Subramaniapuram rather than Pudhupettai while watching the movie. That may be because of the amount of detailing on the screen, period setting, production design, the betrayal etc.
The long segments of the key events are really the highlight of the movie. Whether its carrom championships inside the jail, Thambihis Daughters function, Anbus first killing and yes the hotel scene are so natural and immersive that the director puts you right in the middle of the action. I guess Vetrimarans success or trademark is to give that immersive experience through an amalgamation of writing, acting, camera, dialogues, and raw realism.
After Rajans killing, the movie loses a bit of steam. To me, that’s because Vetrimaaran cannot top himself after that. Even the climax looks bit underwhelming.
Coming back to Chandra, We are talking about 1987 and I believe the flim is set in kasimedu. One would understand the characters in this movie more if one visited kasimedu once. The people in that location are rawer than its depicted in the movie. If a police officer with his entire government machinery gets badly beaten by someone like Rajan, How would Chandra?
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doctorhari
October 19, 2018
This movie left me elated and exasperated in equal measure. Elated – by the terrific, jigsaw puzzle screenplay, the characters, the making (particularly, that final scene of Ameer… just wow!)
Exasperated: still how long are our directors going to keep giving us movies about rise of gangsters, pazhikku pazhi vaangal etc. How many wonderful themes are out there waiting to be explored? The final scene left me sighing, ‘Ithula part 2 veraya? Poi pulla kuttingala padikka vaingada..’ Or rather, ‘Poi pulla kuttingala padikka vaikiravangala pathi padam edungada..’ 🙂
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Amit Joki
October 19, 2018
doctorhari: Why do we always expect Cinema to teach us everything? Why turn to cinema for teaching your children? Are there not better ways to teach them?
Cinema is about story telling. Stories of gangsters are interesting because they have gray shades. Nothing’s normal with them, which creates lots of conflicts. Conflicts create drama. Normal is boring, at least in cinema. How did Saattai, Appa and all Samudurakani films turn out for you?
If Anniyan was only about Ambi would you have sit through the movie? How about do-gooder movies like Nimirnthu Nil, it shows us we shouldn’t flout any rules, are they good cinema? I don’t think so, because you can preach your way out of a screenplay. It’s going to suck after a short while.
Disney movies cater to the “imparting” children their knowledge. Why not watch them instead. I don’t think it is fair to be exasperated with a film that was “happy” to get ‘A’ certificate.
Let Vettrimaaran do his thing. Samudirakani is always there to teach and preach the values.
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shaviswa
October 19, 2018
After reading this review and the comments here, I am wondering if I should see this film. I am a bit bored of the gangster stories with murder at the drop of a hat movies.
Looks like there are only three types in Tamil films these days – the romantic films with a loosu ponnu heroine or the gangster movies. And then you have the myriad masala movies like Sandakozhi or Mersal or CCV in between.
Can somebody make a movie that is different AND interesting?
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doctorhari
October 19, 2018
@amit joki – You seem to have read into my comment things I have not said. My comment was not a plea to make more Appa or Sattai-like movies, but to make more good movies about normal people and the interesting / difficult / bitter conflicts they face. 96, 8 thottakkal, Anjali menon’s Koode, Nivin Pauly’s Nandukalude Naatil, all are some recent examples that come to mind. There’s clearly a dearth of that in Tamil cinema. I’m not denying Vada chennai is a terrific movie. It’s just that we are seeing too many gangster movies of late in Tamil cinema, and exasperation was the genuine feeling I felt walking out, even as I could appreciate what a well-made movie this was.
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Srinivas R
October 19, 2018
To add to Doctor Hari, gangster movies seem to fall into a template. Rise of the reluctant underdog, revenge, betrayal etc. Is there a new template possible. Would it be possible to make a movie about a gangster leaving a life of crime successfully? Just wondering aloud
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mrinalnarayan
October 20, 2018
Even if the material that’s worth five hours has been condensed to a two and half hours movie, Vada Chennai felt like a Chekka Chivantha Vaanam done right in terms of establishing the characters well. Two gangster based movies in a month — I couldn’t avoid comparing them. Felt “Anbu” and “Rasool” had things in common, destroying a bunch of power hungry goons for good. With lots of Ponniyin Selvan talks in the air (with CCV release), felt Andrea’s character here came closer to Nandhini’s who wanted revenge. She marries one of the powerful fellows who is responsible for her husband’s death. Coincidentally referred as “Maya” in the song with Ameer (Ennadi Maayavi Nee) ?!
Did the scene where Ameer gets killed remind anyone of the pub scene from Inglourious Basterds? with the way the sequence has been executed.. the motive is different. I’m not saying it’s a copy, may be an inspiration. I liked the way it played out.
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Abc
October 20, 2018
@shaviswa “Looks like there are only three types in Tamil films these days – the romantic films with a loosu ponnu heroine or the gangster movies. And then you have the myriad masala movies like Sandakozhi or Mersal or CCV in between.”
I cannot comprehend how someone can conjure such a comment in the present situation of Tamil Cinema.
How do the recently released Pariyerum perumal, 96, Ratchasan, Merku Thodarchu malai fit into your stereotype?
Or if you want some examples of early films, we had an array of successful films made by first time directors. Films which cannot be boxed with your labels. Off the top of my head i can think of Aruvi, Koranga Bommai, Maanagaram even Power Paandi for the matter. I can go on with more examples, but I guess I have made my point.
The thing is even I am exasperated with the type of movies you are talking about. They are still releasing and are high in number. But when at a time when we are getting more of quality films, I feel we should be busy celebrating more instead of ranting and generalising things.
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Honest Raj
October 20, 2018
I can draw a lot of parallels between VC and Polladhavan/Aadukalam. The portion in the hotel scene – where Ameer pleads to Samuthirakani and Kishore: “andha aala (Radha Ravi) nambatheenga da” – reminded me of the scene in Polladhavan where Kishore gets killed by Daniel Balaji. It was interesting to see prominent cast members of Polladhavan and Aadukalam in this film.
Btw, Samuthirakani has to come up with at least 10 Appas to make up for the amount of swearing. 🙂
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adarshvee
October 20, 2018
@Honest Raj : I felt the same about Pollathavan too. In fact, the similarities run deeper. In Pollathavan, Daniel Balaji is a brother growing up in the shadows of his more charismatic and authoritative brother. When Kishore gets arrested, a drug dealer takes this opportunity to encourage Daniel Balaji to smuggle drugs, and this creates a schism between the brothers, ultimately leading to Daniel Balaji killing Kishore. This is very similar to Vada Chennai where Radha Ravi encourages Kishore to smuggle without the knowledge of Ameer. Both situations deal with spurned brothers, but Vada Chennai has 4 brothers instead of 1.
There are undercurrents of similarities with Aadukalam too, I felt, especially with the character of Pettaikaaran’s wife. In an expanded version of Aadukalam, one can imagine her occasionally influencing Pettaikaran’s decision. One can easily see what Vetrimaran means when he says Vada Chennai has been his bible. Ultimately, Vetrimaran is on the mould of a classic author who dramatizes emotions. I would even say that he aims at a Dostoveyskey kind-of universe where he can delve in psychological motivations of people.
Btw, I rarely comment here, but read the comments regularly. I am surprised to see that the comment section for Vada Chennai does not have as many comments (yet). Looking forward to more viewpoints from other, more perceptive viewers.
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Ab
October 20, 2018
Felt a little strange that BR has not commented on some of the finer aspects of the film like the marvelous use of scene and dialog echoes between Anbu and Rajan. For example,
1)Rajan roughs up a cop who attempts to assault him,
Cop remarks deprecatingly on Rajan’s dimunitive stature and Rajan replies “it only takes a small anchor to stop a huge ship”
similar scene follows much later for Anbu with the same dialogues.
2)Rajan turns on his political patrons in a meeting with public representatives to discuss a infrastructure project that threatens to displace the localites, Similar scene with similar setup follows for Anbu later on
3)Rajan casually gifts a binocular to a small child Hamid saying that “it will help you to clearly see things that are far away”. Hamid later on passes it to his friend Anbu who is shown to use it in a few scenes. Interestingly, it is these two people who “far-sightedly see” the perils of corporate-establishment sponsored ‘development’ and start to mobilize people to stop it.
There are more such examples. Am just mentioning those that came off the top of my mind.
Can’t help but conclude that BR tends to notice and mention such fine detailing much more for Kamal and Mani Ratnam films.
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the crustacean
October 21, 2018
Some successful directors become like haemorrhoids, they can neither be ignored, nor enjoyed. From what I see of Vada Chennai, Vetrimaran is there, and is beginning to bleed.
Vada Chennai is epic, nay a blow out. So said many reviewers, but this is a movie whose A certificate can easily stand for ARUVAI certificate.
This is easily the most juvenile story telling by a director much admired. There are people I know who have flagged this as their status, in the run up to the much awaited release, and they are strangely quiet post the release.
What is good about Vada Chennai? The casting, perhaps, everything else is downhill.
The story first!
There is no story, this is more a documentation of a accidental lifestyle journey, something that Subramaniapuram attempted with far more success, and even a modicum of style. Then there is that irritating plug in narration, many over the top, as in Anbu, Guna and Orru…ayyayyo uchakattam…
You don’t feel invested at all, either in the story, or its characters, but for the mild gore, and a few swear words there is nothing here, even the motivations of its characters are not strong enough, there is no character you want to root for, or cherish. I think a D certificate is the best this story deserves.
Dhanush is someone who even if he doesn’t light up a screen is careful to see that he does no damage, and here he is at his lamest best. He emotes in lackadaisical fashion, you don’t feel what he is supposed to feel, and if you don’t root for your leading man, then what else do you root for. Also given that there is no climax too, there is nothing left to root for.
Good gracious, the entire Tamil loving school master crowd is here, including Ameer, in what is supposed to be a son of the soil role. He comes, he disturbs, he is disturbed, he disappears, and then is made out to be the raison d’etre for the entire movie.
This gives him and the entire team a chance to mouth their supposedly emotive call to a third (and final?) (Tamil?) revolution. It doesn’t work, one hopes it doesn’t too, if this is where Tamil is going to, post Periyar and Annadurai, it better not go anywhere.
Oh, there is Andrea, looking like she has had too many roles, and husbands too, as the script hints at. In a rare concession to festival audiences, she gets to emote with her back too.
Even this she pulls off barely, not with the chump that a betel stained Varalakshmi carries off in Vikram Vedha. The heroine is Aiswarya Rajesh, can’t blame her, she has tried her best to be interesting.
However the romance she is given is both flat and unspectacular, this is a script with a few buttons missing, more that what was missing from her shirt. I hope no one spoils her cinematic journey by giving her an award or something…
The biggest problem with many recent films is that the motivations are too labored.
Here the problems start with the first murder itself.
The Vada Chennai guy in question is at his explanatory casual best, he is not the least bit malicious as villains usually are. He is merely having fun, and he ends up being murdered for this. As if having a bit of teasing fun were the greatest crime Vada Chennai has ever seen.
From here on, the action continues, sans logic, so does your pain.
If that were precisely the point, that things happen, they veer off, carrom board fashion, as BR puts it, then Vetrimaran’s directorial skills fall short of knowing how to tell it. That there has been philosophical crap built in to the narration is another pain point. Make cinema buggers, goes my mind voice.
That Velraj has done the cinematography is no help, he is easily the most unimaginative of the current crop. He captures the grime rather ineffectively, whether the intent of the image be to shock or to document, he is spectacularly inefficient at both.
Compare this to Mahanadhi, where you quickly got into the prison, its menace and mood. Also compare the prison fight scene in Aaranya Kandam, a spectacular single shot that effortlessly evokes the violence within.
This movie takes too much effort to show so little.
But for that Dhanush led twistu where he makes his alleigances clear, the staging is not only lame but ineffective. The one where Ameer get’s killed is supposedly the best, but compare this to the staging of the plan in Subramaniapuram, and it pales in comparison.
The music is fine, it does impel you to feel when there is nothing to, and should be considered a success. Were there any songs? Nothing worth remembering anyway.
If editing is about retaining the soul while cutting off the waste, then this edit manages precisely the opposite, it cripples the story’s soul while keeping the activity intact.
It is a pity that some directors get better press than their work actually warrants.
One thing seems sure, Vetrimaran will soon become another Bala or Maniratnam, directors to whom people give good openings to, but which they cannot make use of.
What use skill without substance?
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bart
October 21, 2018
Vadachennai as a plot is a straightforward revenge saga. A good man is killed. A distant protege who took after him, takes revenge.
So Vetrimaran choses to sketch individual character arcs to add muscle to the story. He has done some justice to Senthil and Guna’s arcs. He has done well even for Rajan, which is straightforward. The character arcs of Chandra and Anbu falls short though. To some extent Thambi’s too.
Chandra – what is her backdrop and why is Rajan ready to marry her? What is her connection with that sooth-saying woman? Where’s the build up behind Guna’s crush /lust for her? It all feels rushed.
Anbu – The man is not shown as a weapon wielding able fighter. Even the murders of Java Pazhani and Senthil weren’t with much command. He doesn’t talk to anyone on his love for the place etc before except the words to police who come after the loot post the Rajiv. So the sudden transformation towards the end where he stands for his Oor etc and fights dozens of people doesn’t look organic.
Thambi – he is an accomplice for the murder. Was he really sidelined or pushed to a corner enough to be in support to the murder of his own brother? Why is Chandra believing in him while telling her side of the story?
We can further talk of Muthu and Padma’s poor character paths.
All of the above might be due to the editing that Vetri talks of – 5 and a half hours to 2 and a half. But what I see is what I take. Parts 2 and 3 might give answers to few of the questions above and others.
Inspite of the above, it is a good movie that lacks the solidness it needed to become a classic. There’s enough raciness and smarts to keep you engrossed while watching and not be bothered about these insufficiencies.
P.S.: I would’ve liked to see a longer version of Govindhamma atleast 🙂
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JalabulaJugs
October 21, 2018
“The dude, even has an Anglo – Indian heroine playing a gangster’s slum dwelling wife which is every bit as ridiculous as Taapsee’s character claiming she will die if she can’t be with her gangsta lover in Aadukalam. ”
@ Anuja Chandramouli: Just curious here, by pointing out Andrea’s anglo indian look, are you insinuating that slum girls do not look like how she looks? If so, I am pretty sure you have not seen or interacted with many girls living in North madras.
If it is the anglo-indianness of Andrea that irks you, just to clarify, she is arakkonam born, chennai brought up girl who speaks good tamil, dubs for herself and even for few other heroines. She has none of the north indian heroine negatives like not knowing the language or unable to lip sync/dub.
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Amit Joki
October 21, 2018
@Anuja I had not noticed it till now but now that I come to think of it, there are two points.
Dhanush wasn’t a “gangsta”. Nobody in the film was a “gangsta” by profession. He was just a poor guy good at cock fighting who got into things he shouldn’t have.
Taapsee’s character claiming she will die is NOT a proof of love. I think I’ve commented on the same on the Aadukalam thread. She knows Dhanush is in danger and wants him to know. She asks her parents to allow her to go see him which they flatly refuse and then as a last resort does she throw such tantrum which works.
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amarravikumar
October 21, 2018
Was any one able to figure out how Raju ended up joining Senthil’s label after clearing being a part of Guna’s (Mani) label earlier (recall Shankar’s episode in jail)?
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Aadhy
October 22, 2018
“The portion in the hotel scene – where Ameer pleads to Samuthirakani and Kishore: “andha aala (Radha Ravi) nambatheenga da” – reminded me of the scene in Polladhavan where Kishore gets killed by Daniel Balaji.”
Adding to what Honest Raj said, you can find the similarities between Vettrimaaran’s previous work and Vada Chennai both at a macro level ( tropes & themes) and also at the micro level (dialogues, shots, gestures).
At a thematic level, You have innocent young dude pulled into the thick of a gang war from Polladhavan, the ego clash between a master and his protege exploding towards the climax from Aadukalam, the constant running theme of the system turning the common people a.k.a janam against each other from Visaaranai.
Coming to the micros, when Thambi asks Anbu why he beat the shop owner, he says he beat him because the shop owner pushed his mother down. “En amma va adchan tirpi adchen”, harking back to the his Polladhavan dialogue – “En appana adchavana tirpi adchen”. And who does Anbu say this to? Thambi played by Daniel Balaji, who was the subject of the blows in Polladhavan. Another line from Polladhavan, “Tambiya porakala na idayelan koodaye vechinurkamaten” manifests itself in VC as “Kooda porandadukaga koodaye vechikinu” ( Rajan to Thambi). This kind of a colder sibling dynamic permeates into the Guna character as well, the way he thrashes his brother, suspecting him to be Jawa Pazhani’s killer. Only the Velu-Siva relationship seems to be have a relatively warm sibling dynamic. Padma gets a loving brother who is brash on the outside and doesn’t hesitate to slap his father. Adding to these we also get the mirror shot from Aadukalam where Danush strikes a pose looking into the mirror, the intensity on the faces surrounding a seemingly non-consequential game (in the scheme of things), a number of shots in the jail sequences. like the one inside the toilet, make its way into VC from Visaranai.
My whole experience of watching VC became about keeping track of these easter eggs, that a few missing pieces in character arcs (notably Anbu’s) didn’t matter to me so much. I first thought Andrea would be the weak link in this stellar cast, but I liked something about her performance- she has the poised look, the body and an air of mystery around her that makes her a good femme fatale. Her distress with the dialect was very evident at first but I warmed up slowly. She really sells the emotion when she says “Kootnu varuven soltu dane itnu pona” to Thambi after Rajan’s murder. I didn’t understand the need for a lot of fade-to-black transitions. I also found VM’s voiceover annoying, especially the way VM keeps telling 3 or 4 times the death of Rajan will change all these lives. It’s for the audience to savor the rush when things slowly fall into place. By constantly telling what will lead to what (he also does this in the Anbu-Padma chapter), he strips the audience of any retrospective high when the consequences take place. But then he chooses other methods to keep the adrenaline flowing, methods that he has solid control over- mounting finales of each chapter in spectacular fashion. The writing and staging is phenomenal right down to the barest detail – Jawa Pazhani gets stabbed in the same bodyspot as where he had stabbed Rajan, Senthil gets stabbed from back just like how he first stabs Rajan from the back. Even as a compressed version that feels all rushed, the movie gave me to so much to takeaway and go back to. Bring on the sequels, prequels, longer cuts or whatever is next, already.
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Amit Joki
October 22, 2018
@Aadhy: Excellent observations there. Was it fade to black though? It was irritatingly fade to white in the theatre I was in. Very off-putting, I know censors wanted it, can’t think of any good rationale behind it, though.
Also, I noticed this: In Aadukalam, Tapsee is asked to choose between two. I think the scene plays out the same here with Padma asked to choose between her father and Dhanush.
Also sad Tamil Film Industry doesn’t have the Home DVD concepts. We could label Vada Chennai Director’s cut and happily chew on 5 and half hours of this epic. I hear a prequel is on cards, with Dhanush missing I guess, it was titled “Rajan Varigal ” or something along those lines. It tells the backstory of Rajan. Quite an interesting watch it would be.
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Srinivas R
October 23, 2018
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/vada-chennai-director-vetrimaaran-delete-scenes-offensive-fisherfolk-90388
I am surprised by this.
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Aadhy
October 23, 2018
” Was it fade to black though? It was irritatingly fade to white in the theatre I was in.”
Just got to know the version I watched (heard, rather) is quite different from the one playing in Indian theaters. A friend I watched the movie with, is in Chennai now, and noticed some significant differences in the versions on the second watch.
1) The title card bgm I heard is the ‘how how howa theme’, which is apparently replaced by rock-ish guitar riffs in the Indian mix.
2) The guitar riffs apparently also play in the Indian version’s pre-climax machete fight. Whereas again, the how how howa theme played in my version for that sequence. The fight felt gritty for me and not really heroic, whereas I can see now why people who watched the other version might have felt it was ‘massy’.
3) When I read BR talking about the violin score at the pre-interval sequence, I thought I should get my ears checked cos I only heard some percussion +ambient sound playing (still effective though).
4) There were a couple of dozen Otha(s) in my version , which I came to know were muted in the Indian print.
5) Some of the lip sync fails were glaring, but I guess that’s the same with Indian versions too, especially after Vetrimaaran elaborated on his process.
Does this happen normally, where a different mix is sent overseas while people in India watch and hear something different? In the case of VC, I must say the differences are not trivial and it could result in totally different movie watching experiences. I think they did this for Kabali cos the Malaysian govt wanted a pro-police climax.
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Ruminating Aesthete
October 25, 2018
I think people are much bothered about content, and attach undue importance to it when evaluating a work of art. Of course content has its role in shaping the aesthetic appeal of any art work. However, formal elements and stylistic features, of a work, play a critical role in shaping our emotional reactions, and most importantly they are the key determinants of art’s psychological impact. I needed to voice this before commenting on Vada Chennai.
Vada Chennai is a work that was cinematically engaging and intriguing. Formally and stylistically fresh and effective. This is one Tamil film that I got to see in the recent past, after Savarakathi and Kaatruveliyidai, which left me with a deep after-taste.
Some scenes/ sequences left me speechless, like any other film it has its drawbacks. Its not the best film I have seen but it sure has its occasional moments of cinematic brilliance. When all the elements of filmmaking blend seamlessly (Vetrimaran mentions this in his interview) to produce a moment in cinema, they are powerful enough to kindle the embers in the deepest corners of your soul. After all this is one reason we assimilate art for. You have quite such moments in Vada Chennai.
The whole jail portion of the first half borders on Cinéma vérité. Story is highly researched and there is so much of content and dense story writing, all cramped up into too short a time period. The cuts are jarring, and often have the dialectic (Marxist/ Hegel) effect that Eisenstein talks about in his books on Film form/ Film sense. I am not sure if these effects were intentional though.
Towards the end of the first half comes this scene, which I can only say was visual poetry. Even the build up to that scene and the cuts were interesting. The tent collapses, lighting is through the holes in the tent, the chaotic movement within is choreographed beautifully, the music is this wonderful flourish (never unduly loud) and finally comes the stab. Just as mentioned before a seamless blend and effective.
The almost Shakespearean moment is the killing of Rajan. Its the heart of the story and has been shot with such classical heft – one feels like saying “that my friends is cinema”. The framing from the wash area of Rajan (in fact he is literally caught within a frame there – metaphor?) and in the foreground are the 3 gangsters discussing wether to kill or not to kill. This for once shows how Rajan who had been strong all along is vulnerable now and the guys in the foreground are this shallow minded, non assertive gangsters – whom u know will eventually fail without Rajan. I for one felt the entire sequence should have been shot from that one wash area angle.
There is also a sequence (if I can call it that – as it is discontinuous) that is cut like a montage – it starts with Aishwarya asking Dhanush to have a clean shave, there is a dream like salon scene, then cut to him being called by Samudhrakani, then there is this scene where his beard has grown thicker, post jail, u see him teaching carrom. These shots and scenes are not all strung together, in fact I think a vada Chennai chapter separates the last scene I mentioned with the one before. But in a montage like style using the beard as the common motif they illustrate Dhanush’s issues – was not just great in an academic sense, but is really classy art. U get what has happened to him, even though probably a lot of his character build up was cut, u sense it.
There were multiple other scenes and sequences ( such as in the dhobi ghat, action scene in the carrom club, samudhrakani car scene when Dhanush holds a knife to Andrea’s neck) which were absorbing. However, the editing as some of it has been done just to reduce the play time, appears jarring. This is the primary problem I have with the film. Why not just retain the original playtime and just increase the number parts, make it a 4 part series instead of a trilogy. Some of the scenes felt like someone is trying to tell u something and is getting hushed in the middle. Surely disconcerting.
I think the film was mostly well cast, Dhanush’s performance and the way he gets into this simple yet layered character and makes it believable is commendable. Andrea, to me, was cast against the grain. She surely didn’t appear to belong there, not just talking about her complexion here. But I have doubts if she was intended to look like an outsider bringing in this kind of a surreal tone to a film which is otherwise hyperreal. Even if u see – there is something surreal about the old lady who accompanies her at times, she prophecies like a Shakespearean witch. But even then the mourning scene at Rajan’s death missed something. Andrea when cast well can be a good actor.
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Sanjay Shankar (@sanjayshankar)
October 25, 2018
I finally watched it last night. I’m glad I watched a director’s cut. All the swear words intact and no warnings about smoking or drinking on screen. I thought it was pretty good. I had stayed away from all the reviews and videos. It’s been fun catching up on all the comments.
I wish Vetrimaaran had not talked about his dubbing process. I noticed that lip sync was off in a lot of places. I felt Andrea was miscast. She didn’t fit the way Aishwarya Rajesh or the actress who plays Senthil’s wife fit in the milieu. She probably was an outsider to the area initially, but there’s almost no screen time devoted to how she got together with Rajan. There’s a fleeting reference to how her parents are not involved anymore. We also get nothing about how she gets together with Guna. Trying to make the whole thing a story about her revenge is perhaps the weakest part of the movie. It didn’t work for me at all.
I hope that we get a Netflix/Amazon multi-episode cut that fills in all the blanks. IMHO, ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ worked far better for me as a 8 part series that appeared on Netflix.
I also thought the jumps in the timeline were not done very well. Sure, there are historical mile markers like MGR’s and Rajiv Gandhi’s deaths, but even a slight shift of tone in the cinematography would have helped.
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Amit Joki
October 26, 2018
@Aadhy:
I know the white cuts were asked by censors. I am guessing the first cut was sent to all other overseas market to be censored there. In India, they had time to work out some tweaks here and there.
So what you guys got to see is more original version than what we got to see. Also, Anurag Kashyap just tweeted that the cut shown in Pingyao Film Festival was 3.5 hours long and was way better too.
I am hearing rumours that Hotstar is bringing up a 6 part series of the original 5 and a half hour cut of the movie. Exciting times ahead!
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brangan
October 26, 2018
Ruminating Aesthete: What a terrific comment. Of course, plot is the enemy of pure cinema and its least “relevant” asprct– but one thing you have to consider is that Vetri Maaran, Mani Ratnam etc work in the mainstream space. So some amount of “I should tell a STORY” is not only ingrained into them but also absolutely necessary in order to reach an audience.
Regarding the Shakespearean element, one thing I forgot to mention in my review is the Hamlet angle — of a father’s “ghost” hovering over an angst-ridden son and influencing his actions.
Formally and stylistically fresh and effective. This is one Tamil film that I got to see in the recent past, after Savarakathi and Kaatruveliyidai, which left me with a deep after-taste.
I’m glad you said this. Formal experiments within the mainstream are — even today — all too rare, and even yesterday I found myself holding forth on why Vada Chennai is not “same old characters, same old plot” (as the person I was chatting withbtold me) but invigorated by the cinematic elements.
And that beard touch is fantastic, no? When I saw it, I was like… boom, that’s something I have to write about in my review 😀
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Ruminating Aesthete
October 26, 2018
@Sanjay Shankar: So is there a 5 hours director’s cut playing somewhere.
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jitsu210815
October 27, 2018
Can someone tell me why Daniel Balaji let’s the four guys finish off Ameer’s character? Was it something I didn’t hear or is he an accomplice to the murder?
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jaga_jaga
October 27, 2018
@jitsu210815 – That was not at all made clear, in an otherwiswe well-connected movie. But I don’t consider it to be a flaw (even a trivial flaw) because, I presume that more will come out in the sequels. If this aspect remains untouched even after the sequels, then of course, i will consider it a loophole!
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Phoen1x
October 28, 2018
@Sanjay Shankar: can you let us know where have you watched the directors cut ?
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Ram
October 28, 2018
Vada Chennai. Original. Flawless. Thara local. The most authentic masala movie I’ve seen in decades
The movie moves in 2 parallel tracks. One track is in the present. The other is in the past. There is intercutting of scenes between the present and the past. This helps explain some of the incidents that happen in the present. Its a screenplay trick similar to the ones used in Roshomon, Momento, Virumaandi and Tarantino’s movies like Kill Bill…. and yet its very originally done here.
The story itself moves so fast and the scenes are interlinked so well – but keeping the viewer guessing whats next the whole time. In my viewing experience, only the Godfather had an amazing flow of scenes from start to finish…. where one scene naturally fed into the next. This movie comes very close to that.
The movie has dozens of characters. The characters are introduced without much ado. Dhanush is just another character in the movie. There are no wasted characters… and each character seems to exist for a reason which is revealed as the plot goes. Most of the 30+ support cast will stay in your mind long after the movie. Extremely organic. I thought Andrea was miscast… but she steals the limelight with one dialog in the 2nd half and she rocked that scene. Vijay Sethupathi was to have acted in Ameer Sultan’s role – that would’ve taken the movie to even greater heights.
The action is at its most authentic. It is just relentless. Reminded me of Raid Redemption which had no holds barred action from start to finish. But Vada Chennai in addition to the action has a great story as well.
The set design. No words. Its like you went to the North Chennai area. You could practically smell the place.
I heard 10 seconds of the music track when it was released and knew this would work better with the movie and stopped listening. None of the songs stand out, and yet they move the movie forward. Once again, it shows how effectively how even the music has been integrated into the movie. I would prefer seeing the movie again to listening to the songs. That’s unheard of for an Indian movie.
Vada Chennai – a must see for any movie fan. An experience for the big screen
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null_pointer
October 28, 2018
Caught it at-last after staying away from all the social media reviews which is impossible at this stage! BR has given an apt review. The film might not be perfect, but there is a lot of high quality film making and textured writing. Vetrimaran has tried to give vadachennai the essence of a lived in world, one with all it’s warts, and he has succeeded.
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Viv
November 1, 2018
Dhanush was bloody brilliant. His body language while playing carrom shows how much he was invested in this role and its nuances. Having already played roles of the rise-of-a-commoner-to-gangster or taking on one in his previous films, I was sceptical about the variety he would bring to a similarly themed movie but he was as usual excellent.
Vetrimaran’s ability to portray different layers of a character and his staging acumen result in an epic. There was a Tarantinoesque feel to the movie (or was it just me) but I guess emulating Tarantinos use of music in action sequences is too much of an ask. Lastly the chaptering of the movie reminded me of the Game of Thrones novels.
Felt Andrea was a miscast. She did her best though.
And the inital scenes seem rushed but when you whittle down 3 hours of a 5 hour plus movie , bound to
happen.
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Manoj Kasthurirangan
November 5, 2018
As a vetrimaran fanboy I was disappointed. Saving few scenes like the marriage hall(Anbu literally gets tossed like a carrom coin.with lot of respect showed to whr other chars are located and how they move),tarantinosque stretch at the hotel i felt adukalam was still his vetris best.
A. Few things which I liked:
Respect for objects and their spatial relation to the rest in the universe of VC that Vetri creates. For eg. .1.The Bino given to Anbu in his teens is still available with him . He aids him spot Aish. And a chain of events start from that.
2.A part of The stone compound wall which runs aside the hood’s stretch is broken to accomodate the mortuary van to quickly bring rajans body to the hood. The dent made to the hood post his death is still unrepaired in present period . Police enter the hood with vandalism and theft complaints thru same hole.
B. Respext for characters’ lives outside of the script. Example in various scene. Especially the Hotel: The way characters interact show lot of respect for the lives they lead outside of the script. It is not like they took birth and directly entered this scene in the script – like how an avg movie scene plays out. Rajan exhbits knowledge of the fact that liquor doesn’t sit well with Velu. Rajan acknowledgs senthil’s political ambitions.presence of Liquor bottles are acknowledged in humorous manner(excellent continuity). We also learn thru muffled voices (as the focus has faded away and entered into the wash area) where rajan advises jawa pazhani to be independent and not entirely tag along with senthil.
There were also places where a character recognises another character through a common contact (either thru father’s jaadai etc). Many touches like these acted as Nice character strokes for the hood as a whole!
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Manoj Kasthurirangan
November 5, 2018
Had in mind..Missed out on few more..I liked the chilling sympathy and respect Guna shows to his guru. Thudikka vidatha Da avara..ozhunga vettu. Gives a glimpse on the characters life and behaviour outside of the script. It could be anything but that shade gives more life to character than js being a puppet driven by script.
Also usage of english like compromizasun.. improvement etc sat wwell with the milieu ..just like aadukalam.
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sabman
January 5, 2019
While I agree that a longer tv series version might work better, I have to say that one aspect of the screenplay that worked for me was the recurring theme of power breakdown and restructuring that seems to repeat every decade. Again, this not something new and movies like Madras has addressed this before. But a story told with characters who relive this theme across time makes it more interesting than it should be. So I wonder if having it play out like a longer tv series might affect this overarching view of the storyline but in times of binge watching maybe not.
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krishikari
January 16, 2019
One of the best movies i have seen. Just amazing, even Andrea’s casting did not bother me once I was drawn into this world, although it would have been interesting to know where she came from as she is obviously meant to portray an outsider, but that’s just nitpicking. This was truly epic and deserving of every acolade. The details are cleverly layered to build up the whole saga. Dhanush has a birds eyeview of the settlement from the watertower and giving him (and us) this perspective make me buy into his ability to step into Rajan’s shoes and make the speech at the end.
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Amit Joki
January 22, 2019
Just wanted to break this here! Manju Warrier is coming to Kollywood opposite Dhanush in Asuran helmed by Vettrimaaran and GVP back to being the music director.
Hope Asuran becomes as much of a phenomenon as we have come to expect of Dhanush and Vettrimaaran combination.
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Rohit Aradhya
July 6, 2020
BR, the review link is showing an error. Please look into it. Thanks.
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brangan
July 6, 2020
Link fixed, thanks.
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Srinivas R
November 22, 2022
Watched it only recently. Really worked for me, but the storyline was too compressed imo. I wouldn’t have minded a few more scenes abt Chandra and how she works her manipulation with Guna. Would have liked some scenes of Senthil’s wife. Would have liked to see more of Padma as well. Even Anbu’s character is convincing because it’s Dhanush, the leap from being a carrom player to being THE guy to attack Senthil inside the prison is not drawn out well, but Dhanush sells that wonderfully. Some wonderful action & drama bits that give you a high.
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Srinivas R
November 22, 2022
I liked a lot of echoes that BR also observed …Pazhani saying “Naanga unna podalanna, nee engala potruva” while killing Rajan and Anbu saying the same thing while stabbing Pazhani. Ofc the Rajan & Anbu echoes.
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Jayram
November 22, 2022
Srinivas, you probably know that most of us want Vetri Maaran to release that 5 hour cut if and when he gets around to it. But with his busy schedule, I don’t know if it’ll happen.
In the meantime, is anybody anticipating the prequel Rajan Vagaira?
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Srinivas R
November 22, 2022
@Jayaram – eager more for the sequel than a prequel tbh. Really want to see how Chandra completes her revenge.
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Jayram
November 22, 2022
Same here, Srinivas. Can’t wait for the sequel.
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Jayram
April 2, 2024
If the sequel happens, Thambi sadly won’t be part of it. Farewell, Daniel Balaji!
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