Vanakkam Chennai

With the confidence and boldness of a pro, Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi storms into Kollywood as she makes her mark as one of the most entertaining woman directors the industry has witnessed – all this in her debut. Chennai is a city for all. How does this city of variety treat two people from different backgrounds, interests, livelihoods and genders? ‘Vanakkam Chennai’ is all about appreciating these basic differences.

Hero Ajay(Shiva) and heroine Anjali(Priya Anand) set out to the city of assortment with a varied ambition each and their lives get tied up to one another’s inevitably as they get cheated into the same rental accommodation by the comic fraudster Narayanan(Santhanam). With Ajay having come from his native land down south near Theni for livelihood and Anjali having carried her camera along to shoot the south Indian culture, all the way from London, against her father’s wishes, the two are forced to stay in the same apartment. They fight and eventually fall in love.

‘Vanakkam Chennai’ is a comeback of sorts for Shiva, as his genre and forte of acting have been explored aptly. Shiva is rightly attired and comes around convincingly as a lad new to the city of variety. Priya Anand on the other hand is pleasant to watch as she has effectively brought out the emotional waveries of an Indian brought up in western culture, returning to homeland to trace the beauty of her roots and capture them in frames. As an adamant daughter, ambitious woman, accommodating small girl and an understanding partner, She has played the role of Anjali beautifully. Santhanam needs no introduction but his entry on screen gathers mass attention as it always does. Although the face of the false landlord is revealed only in the second half, Santhanam has entertained his best throughout his performance as Narayanan and occasionally Billa. Acting in the role of a smart fraudster, Santhanam doubles up as a good friend to the hero, helping him join hands with his lady love, in the later part of the movie.

Though a rather predictable story, the knack of this success lies in the way it has been wrapped and presented. As you sit through the movie, it is natural for anyone to forget that Kiruthiga is a debutante director for, she has worked this movie to perfection in every frame. Since a considerate share of the film revolves around picturesque captures, it calls for an exceptionally talented cinematographer to capture the right moments in the right eye; and Kiruthiga has the right person in her band – Richard, who has captured every scene in sheer beauty and the right mood for the situation, further edited to precision by Suresh. All of us have been in awe with Anirudh’s music ever since the audio of the movie was launched and if you are already his fan, the background score will only make you like him all the more. The composer has used violins extensively and beautifully. Yet another plus of the movie is that there is not a single song that is pointlessly wasted, and every note falls in the right place.

As the film in entirely comedy based story, the only fight sequence comes with an unexpected twist. Everything cannot be perfect; that way it would be unfair to say that everything about the film was flawless, but the team has worked very intelligently in covering up the minor hitches here and there. However, it is to be noted that the hitches were, really, only minimal. Also, though Santhanam and Shiva have entertained intensively, there are not many one liners that you can carry home and use in your everyday conversation. But that is no deterrent to the rib tickling comedy throughout the story. In all, ‘Vanakkam Chennai’ is a thorough family entertainer to chill out over.