As the old adage goes, you can
write the story of this movie behind a movie ticket. A don is on his death bed
following an attack on his life and his three sons fight for his place. But
Mani Rathnam, the master that he is, weaves a screenplay (along with Siva
Ananth) so dense that he doesn’t let you
settle into a character or hang on to a moment throughout the movie. Only in
the end would you be able to sit back and think about the hows and whys. By
that time you are thoroughly entertained especially by the performances of its
lead cast and some stunning cinematography by another master of his trade,
Santhosh Sivan.
The way Mani chose to handle the
power struggle within the three sons was through violence. But you couldn’t but
help think about similar power struggles happening in business and political
families throughout the country. In here, the writer in him wakes up to portray
the complexities in relationships within those families and their friends.
Personal gains take precedence over family and how it affects the whole family
was shown through the women in the movie. The mother of the warring brothers is
helpless to prevent it from happening while the wives take the brunt of their
husband’s greed. Mani Rathnam doesn’t shy away from showing the women as weak
bystanders to the men’s power struggle because he isn’t showing something that
is not happening in that society. Simply showing them as strong also won’t make
any sense. Among the women in the movie it is Jyothika who comes up with the
strongest performance.
A multi starrer cast can be
detrimental to its own good if not handled properly. But this is where Mani
Rathnam comes to the fore. Of the four central characters none of them seems to
have come out the stronger or the weaker. They have all had equal importance
and all four had delivered performances worthy of it. Why Aravind Swamy remains
the go to man for Mani Rathnam is reflected in every movie he does with him.
From Collector Arjun to Varadha he has been an epitome of a typical Mani
Rathnam characterization who reflects the story rather than hogging the
limelight. That confession scene to Jyothika in the hospital is enough to write
about his performance. Arun Vijay is an honest actor ready for the big time and
it doesn’t get any bigger than Mani Rathnam. In a role which was supposed to be
done by Fahad Fasil he comes up trumps with his flair. Great to see him get a
level role which he has justified. Despite the frustrations that one might have
with Silambarasan and his choices as an actor and a not so famous temperament,
it is easy to see why he is still held in high regard. There is a great
character actor in Silambarasan behind the star that is STR and this is his
best performance since Vinnaithandi Varuvaya. The scenes with his mother and
the climax is where he hits top form. There aren’t many actors like Vijay
Sethupathi. In fact in Tamil Cinema he is the one and the only actor who could
fit into any role. And it’s not like he is all method. He simply lets his
personality slip through any character he plays and lets us travel with him
because he reminds us of someone we know. There are not stars to him. To be
honest this is not even his best work, but he is so effortless and easy on the
eye that I wish the great Balachander was alive today because if he was, he
would have loved to write great characters for this remarkable actor.
Prakashraj is also at ease in his role as the don, a role he could have done it
with his eyes closed.
Of the technicians the true
standout is Santhosh Sivan with some stunning visceral work, be it the grandeur
of Dubai, the beauty of Serbia or the dustiness of Chennai, Aditi’s and Vijay
Sethupathi’s house and capping it all in the climax at Gandikota, the backdrop
perfect for what unfolded in the end. A.R. Rahman is at his best while working
with Mani Rathnam and this is yet another example. Sreekar Prasad has also done
a great job in putting the scenes together not letting the galaxy of actors get
to our minds.
Despite staying honest to its
core of three brothers and their power struggle some of the questions regarding
the women in the family remains a mystery especially of Jyothika’s fate and the
killing of Silambarasan’s young wife. Also, it doesn’t escape the fact that you
can still hear the sound of bullets after coming out of the theatre. Mani
Rathnam is known to travel deep into his characters and yet in Chekka Chevantha
Vanam it feels like he has let the guns do the talking. May be he is balancing
it out as a commercial director (his own admission as one) from the previous
critically acclaimed but box office duds in Raavan, Kadal, OK Kanmani and Katru
Veliyidai. But despite all that he has stamped his class throughout the movie
which separates it from just another gangster movie.
