With Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, Mani Ratnam has yet again turned out a veritable feast for his fans. However, if you enter the theatre expecting the usual romantic fare, you may be in for a surprise. Chekka Chivantha Vaanam features bold new characters, guns, greed and grandeur. After two movies, O Kadhal Kanmani and Kaatru Veliyidai, that tanked in the box office, Mani Ratnam makes a U-turn; Chekka Chivantha Vaanam is chock-full of twists, turns and bloody power struggles.
The style of narration in the two trailers preceding the movie evoked The Godfather for many; Mani Ratnam has done justice to the comparison. A classy gangster tale, the plot unfolds rapidly. The movie begins with Senapathy (Prakash Raj) and Lakshmi (Jayasudha) in a car, on their way to offer prayers at a temple on their wedding anniversary day. As they drive out, they are shot and their car is bombed. The duo survive with injuries. Who was behind the assassination attempt on Senapathy, the most powerful man in the city? His sons, Varadan (Arvind Swamy), Thyagu (Arun Vijay) and Ethi (Silambarasan) try to zero in on the suspect. Chinnathambi (Thiagarajan), another gangster, enters the fray. Varadan’s police inspector friend Rasool Ibrahim (Vijay Sethupathy) joins the team.
As the plot unfolds, in the second half, the brothers get into a tussle over matters of succession. Here, the quest to discover the murderer of Senapathy takes a back seat. Everyone in the movie, from Chezhiyan (Siva Ananth), Senapathy’s right hand man and brother-in-law, to Varadan’s cop friend Rasool, is a suspect.
Varadan’s wife Chithra (Jyotika), a pillar of support for her husband, deserves a special mention. For the Mani Ratnam fans, the movie is definitely a throwback to his earlier Agni Natchathiram and the sibling rivalry on show there. Silambarasan is superb in his dialogue delivery, real and extremely honest. Arun Vijay is exuberant, edgy and confident; Arvind Swamy is indomitable and robust. Jyotika oozes power.
Aditi Rao Hydari plays Parvathi, a television professional, with only a guest role. Vijay Sethupathi, with his hilarity and strength, stands out among the cast. With Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, Mani Ratnam seems to have gone back to his Nayagan days.
Chekka Chivantha Vaanam
Director: Mani Ratnam
Cast: Arvind Samy, Arun Vijay, STR, Prakash Raj, Jyotika, Aditi Rao Hydari and others
Rating: 3/5