Vetri Maran and Dhanush are the Scorsese and DiCaprio of Kollywood they say, at first I got offended hearing this, but after watching this masterpiece I feel like there was absolutely nothing wrong about that statement. Starring Dhanush, Andrea, Radha Ravi, Daniel, and Samudra Kani comes a movie set in North Chennai that connects the lives of these characters.
It's not uncommon to hear people say that the best Hollywood movies are too structured and that we need to focus on every single scene to understand it. We also hear people say that Tamil movies are too immature, that they're merely popcorn flicks and family films targetting the general audience just to make a few bucks. Here comes this thrilling Vetri Maran epic rated R which cares about nothing but the plot. I found myself focusing so much that it made me lose myself inside it. Such is the work out into making this. I'm happy to note that there was actual swearing in this and a bit proud that it was from my mother tongue. It's really satisfying to see how much mature Kollywood has become.
Dhanush has outdone himself with another award-worthy performance as Anbu. I just adored the character development here. Starting off as a carrom board player and rising to his position overcoming so many obstacles, being forced into difficult circumstances but still managing to stay sane and awesome. Aishwarya Rajesh is Padma, Dhanush's love interest in the movie. The acting is something that everyone nailed completely. Not a single complaint here and almost everyone has their golden moments.
Another thing I was totally in love with was the camera work. So many mindblowing longshots, I'm not sure how they managed to get it to work with so many actors. The makers decided to embrace the tradition of North Madras, be it the beach scenes, coming-of-age ceremonies, death ceremonies, showing the audience what it means to be a part of North Chennai. We all love the scenes where we get a glimpse of the whole of Paris when the camera is panned from the top of the Eiffel Tower or Dubai when the same is done from Burj Khalifa but little did I know that I can get the same feeling when the camera pans out from the top of a simple water tank, such was the creativity and the simplicity of some scenes which made this a visual spectacle.
This movie also qualifies as a thriller because of the twists in the plot. This movie really makes the audience look like a pack of fools because we really don't know what's coming our way. In the end, there's no single hero here, this is just an amazing story with many people and different motivations in it, no particular hero or villain and that's why I feel this is one of the most mature films of Tamil cinema. I'm happy that this is a trilogy and the hype for the second part has begun.
The background score is great but in some places, the sound editing could have been better because the dialogue isn't clear with loud scores. The fact that there wasn't any song to distract us from the plot is another one of the many reasons to applaud this movie. I'm sure that I've failed to cover other amazing aspects of the movie, I also don't want to go into spoiler territory. I can say without a doubt that you won't be disappointed to see this in theatres and that missing this would be nothing less than a sin on your part.
One of the many reasons for the success of modern Tamil movie masterpieces like Thani Oruvan, Vikram Vedha and Vada Chennai is the audience's response. We've matured so much now and we really shouldn't use Hollywood movies as a yardstick for comparison. Sure, we can compare this in some ways to 'The Departed' but should we? It's time to accept the fact that there are sensible people all over the world who can capture our attention for a couple of hours by directing a great movie but the reason Hollywood is standing out is simply due to the of the number of people watching those movies and their massive budgets. English is the universal language but it doesn't mean that it's the highest form of language there is. It's not the language, but it's always about the message and the message we take from Vada Chennai is that sometimes, Kollywood is just better than Bollywood and Hollywood. It's time to put a stop to wasting time defending who is better and time to appreciate the beauty that lies everywhere.
Verdict
9.8/10
9.8/10
2018 has undoubtedly been one of the best year ever for Tamil cinema, we've had a great year so far, let's hope Sarkar and Endhiran 2 can live up to their hype as well.
