Cast: Dhanush, Aishwarya Rajesh, Samuthirakani, Kishore,
Pawan, Andrea Jermiah, Ameer
Music: Santhosh Narayanan
Direction: Vetri Maaran
Vada Chennai, Vetri Maaran’s dream project started its
production stage in 2016 and it’s a trilogy about a group of people living in
North Madras (Vada Chennai) spanning over 15 years. The first part of trilogy
starts with a murder done by Guna (Samuthirakani), Senthil (Kishore), Velu
(Pawan) and Pazhani. A narrative voice, by Vetri Maaran himself, narrates that
this murder is going to affect everyone involved in it and persons who are
indirectly involved, Anbu (Dhanush). The narrative is chapter wise, where each
chapter establishes the relationship of Anbu to the murder.
Vetri Maaran is brilliant in not revealing who was murdered.
He takes us through the lives of the people and how the murder was done, why
was it done and mainly who was murdered. He is genius in casting. The casting
choices from Pollathavan to Vada Chennai is spot on. Director Ameer, who plays
as Rajan, is magnificiant in the role. It’s one of my favorite casting pick by
Vetri Maaran. Another interesting casting choice is Andrea for the role
Chandra. She nails her performance.
The other female character, Padma (Aishwarya Rajesh) is an
interesting character. She is foul mouthed and she is amazing when she bullies
Anbu and his friend. She apparently connects Anbu to Guna and eventually to the
murder. Anbu is driven by love. He first involves in a fight because of his
mother, then for Padma and then for Guna, who saved his life. Anbu goes to jail
for him and the whole prison sequence is reminiscence of Kamal’s Mahanadhi. The
latter’s focus is on prison politics while the former has gang rivalry.
This gang rivalry with raw action scenes, unmuted cuss words
make this gangster saga a classic. One interesting plot of this film is how
Vetri Maaran intervenes politics into the narrative. The political plot of
laying road by clearing houses is so much effecting especially the scene where
Anbu opposes the building new house plan. This scene worked better than a
similar scene in Kaala (Where Kaala opposes the new Dharavi plan).
Verdict: A classic in gangster genre.
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