Vada Chennai Review: A gritty and raw tale set in North Chennai

When Vada Chennai was announced as a three-part film, it piqued everyone’s interest. For starters, Kollywood would have its own official gangster movie franchise, and the second reason was that it is winning combination of director Vetrimaaran and actor Dhanush who have previously delivered films such as Adukalam and Polladhavan. With their latest film, Vada Chennai, the duo can be proud, as their latest collaboration may well hit the bull’s eye.

At its surface, Vetrimaaran’s Vada Chennai is a gangster film where thugs are ruthless, violent and vengeful. They don’t have qualms about killing the person in power, to win his position – even if it means betrayal. This sounds like a familiar setting for a gangster drama. However, at its core, Vada Chennai is also about an underdog who challenges those in power, in the most unexpected ways possible. That’s also where we begin rooting for the film’s protagonist Anbu (Dhanush). With him, the film takes us to a world that’s fuelled by strong characters such as Rajan (Ameer), Chandra (Andrea), Vellu (Pawan) and Senthil (Kishore) who dictate and decide the fate of Anbu.

The story revolves around Anbu, who aims at becoming a National-level carom player. But trouble sets in for the aspiring player when he is made a middleman between two powerful gangs. The film travels between different time frames – 1987, 1991, 2000 and 2003. The film also brings in political references to dictate the time period of the film is set in – there is MGR’s death, Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and talks about Jayalalitha’s rise to power.

In the beginning, Vada Chennai is hard to connect with. The film takes its own time to introduce us to characters, but none of them convincing. The camera shuttles back and forth, giving a hurried feel and a sense of urgency. One can easily begin to lose interest and the conflict between gangsters simply just goes on. However, the story simply shifts gear when Anbu begins to take lead. Following this, the hurried (sometimes long) style of describing the characters sets to make sense, so do all the open ends. Just when the ulterior motives of two important characters begin to unfold, the film ends – therefore implying a new chapter to the story; this will mark the beginning to the second part of the film. The cinematography by Velraj captures the rawness of Vada Chennai, so does art director Jackson’s setting.

The film’s strength lies in Vetrimaaran’s dedication to deliver films with complex characters, and simplify it in the story. He makes a clichéd scenario superb; he brings to life an adept screenplay that’s gripping with rooted characters. The director is aided by a brilliant star cast who slip so easily in their characters which require them to get the north Chennai dialect and swear at the drop of a hat. Be it Kishore who delivered well in a restrained performance, Ameer as the crusader, Andrea as the bold and gutsy woman, the fearless Aishwarya Rajesh or the angry Pawan (His outfits in prison looked tailor-made – crisp and sharp) – Vada Chennai is incomplete without this fabulous cast. It was also quite a change to see Daniel Balaji in a role where is a calm.

Dhanush delivers the ballsiest performance till date. He brings different shades to Anbu’s character that requires him to be vulnerable yet fierce at the same time. Vada Chennai isn’t a star vehicle for Dhanush, it’s a film that has whistle-worthy moments for him, but the actor in him overshadows this factor.