Director Vetrimaaran's Vada Chennai (literally - North Madras) is the first part of an ambitious trilogy of epic proportions wherein he intends to present a story, spanning roughly 3-4 decades, of a locale and its people, that - quite literally as well as figuratively - dwell on the edge of a big city .
The director, over multiple interviews, had said that there was so much material in the plot that it could not be contained in a single movie and deserved a trilogy. He had even said that his earlier movie Pollaadhavan was just an episode spun off from this plot while the national award winning Aadukalam was also largely cut from the character universe of this very plot.
Nevertheless, even for an episode of a trilogy, this is a plot that is already dense with characters that could easily inhabit a voluminous classical literary work. And.. almost every one of these characters are dense with their own motivations that drive them and set the plot in motion .. motivations - that are quite obvious and often, the not so obvious.
Dense with a capable cast that includes Dhanush, Samuthirakani, Kishore, Aishwarya Rajesh, Andrea, Ameer, Daniel Balaji, Radha Ravi and many more - acing their individual substantive parts to bring these characters alive.
Dense with context in terms of historical events and political undercurrents happening at the macro scale that crash on these troubled shores like nasty tides that rise and fall, chiseling away at the contours of the shore as well as the lives of its inhabitants at the micro level.
Dense with crime that is commonplace and soaked in blood..
Dense with emotions of every kind - love, hatred, rivalry, rage, revenge, pathos, brotherhood, betrayals, black humour and much more ..
Dialogues that are dense with the choicest profanities which are delivered without any gender bias (liberation, indeed)
Every frame oozes excellence in technical competence from every department - background score, production design, cinematography, costumes, editing - that are pressed at the service of the plot without in anyway attempting to be a stand-out seeking attention to oneself.
When all of this and some more is condensed into a movie that runs a tad less than three hours, it feels like an appetiser which, despite being a wholesome meal in itself, whets your appetite for what is to follow. I left the viewing with a heart dense with satisfaction and expectation for the next part which cannot arrive a day too late.
Overall, kudos to ace auteur Vetrimaaran, Dhanush and their team for a movie that is dense with ambitions of an epic which it delivers.
AN EXCELLENT WATCH !!
RATING - 4/5
True that... A wonderful film to watch.. every artist has contributed immensely. Waiting for the sequels and prequel that's been promised.
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