Chennai 600028 (2007)

Title meaning: The pin code for Mandaveli, a region in Chennai  

Director: Venkat Prabhu

Story: Venkat Prabhu

Cast: Jai, Shiva, Premgi, Nithin Sathya, Aravind Akash

Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja, Premgi 

Time: 141 minutes

Bottom-line: Not a great film, but a terrific source of laughter

 Every Indian child loves cricket, whether or not he is good at it. So, Venkat Prabhu chooses cricket as his main theme for his debut film Chennai 600028. Taking place mostly in and around Chennai 28 a.k.a Mandaveli, this film tells the story of two rival cricket teams, and the friendship and rivalry between the players. 

The cast members: 3rd from left is Premgi. Third
from right is Shiva

The two rival teams are Sharks and Royapuram Rockers. The Rockers have just defeated Sharks, and this increases the rivalry between the teams. One member from Rockers, Raghu’s (Jai) family moves from Royapuram to Mandaveli. Due to his moving away into the territory of the Sharks team, his team mates ignore him. The members of the Sharks team also make fun of Raghu. The film mainly tells several incidents about the lives of the members: their love interests, friendship, some comic incidents related to cricket etc. The film finishes with a match between Sharks and Rockers.  

There is no real story. The film consists of several things that take place in the lives of the players over a period of time. What makes this film interesting is that all the cast members are fairly new to the world of cinema, so we can think of the film as the story between any groups of friends, like yours and mine. If you see Vijay or Kamal Haasan in the lead role, it looks very awkward, but because of this fresh cast, the film is more realistic in terms of portrayal of friendship and cricket. 

My favourite character, and probably the funniest
of the lot: Premgi

The acting is average, and in my opinion, the actors have not really acted well in any of their future films either. However, the comic timings and dialogues are excellent. Plenty of catchy lines and memorable jokes are there in the film, and in particular, Premgi’s comic actions are awesome. His famous line that occurs here and there throughout the film is ‘Enna koduma sir idhu?’ (Meaning ‘what torture is this sir?!’) One of the best scenes in the film is the cricket match the team plays with a bunch of school boys in the beach. Few scenes in the final match between the Sharks and Rockers are also very funny. Another funny sequence is the ‘stylish’ introduction by Jai. Few scenes may seem unnecessary, but you can call them ‘unnecessary’ or you can them ‘making the film more realistic’. As I said, this is not a great story, but by the time you finish watching it, only the comedy stays in your mind.  

However, like Thamizh Padam, this film also is favourable only to the locals, and among the present generation youth. Many scenes can be understood better by the locals, and many actions done by the characters in the film can be understood better by only Tamilians. Adults may not like the fresh cast, or may not like the jokes of the modern times. This film set the foundation for several actors, especially Shiva, Jai and Premgi; so some people who like the films of say, Shivaji Ganesan and actors of that era, may still feel that actors need to know proper Tamil; they need to be able to express emotions well and such like. Children, or any one who loves cricket, will like the film somewhat. People of the modern generation are used to seeing some specialist comedian, like Vivek or Vadivel, who don’t need to act well, but only need to make the viewers laugh. To them, the jokes in the film are very funny and so, this film will win some good feedback from the people of today’s generation. 

To sum up, Venkat Prabhu’s Chennai 600028 is a fun filled entertainer, which will any day make you laugh, if you are willing to watch the modern heroes and modern type of Kollywood films. If you are still a fan of the films of the era of Shivaji Ganesan, you may or may not like this film. There is no story and the acting is average, but you must watch this film if you are ever in need of a good laugh. If you are a fan of Jai or Shiva or Premgi, then watch Chennai 28 to see how it all started.  

My Rating: 3/5