Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018)

English translation: Crimson Red Sky

Director: Mani Ratnam

Story: Mani Ratnam, Siva Ananth

Cast: Arvind Swami, Arun Vijay, Silambarasan, Jyothika

Music: A. R. Rahman, Qutub-E-Kripa

Time: 143 minutes

Bottom-line: Poor writing and bad acting compensated by a surprise climax

Mani Ratnam is back in action with this multi-starrer drama. The film features an ensemble cast featuring Arvind Swami, Silambarasan (aka STR), Arun Vijay, Jyothika and Vijay Sethupathi in the lead roles, with Prakash Raj, Thiagarajan, Jayasudha and several others in the supporting cast. Despite the overwhelming hype preceding this film, I wasn’t so “awestruck” as others claimed to be. I still believe that the last film of Ratnam that I enjoyed was Guru, way back in 2006.

 

Arvind Swami as Varadan and Jyothika as Chitra

“Do you have any old friends? Don’t trust them.”

Among the most feared gangsters of Chennai is Senapati (Prakash Raj), who has built an empire for himself. He has three sons: Varadan (Swami), Ethi (STR) and Thiyagu (Vijay) and one daughter. One day, Senapathi and his wife are attacked by thugs disguised as cops, but they escape alive, sustaining injuries. Following this, the entire family comes together. Varadan calls his friend in the police department – the recently suspended Rasool (Sethupathi) – to get some intel on the attack. While the main suspect is Senapati’s rival gangster, Chinappadasan (Thiagarajan), Senapati reveals to his wife (and the viewers) that he knows one of his sons was actually responsible. Senapati dies soon after. Each son becomes greedy to take Senapati’s place, and this results in a bloody and messy war that rips the family apart. Who actually attacked Senapati? Who wins the empire?

 

STR as Ethi

I think this is one story that Mani Ratnam started out saying, “I want a dozen major characters and big stars in the film (for whatever reason)”, and halfway through, he changed his mind to, “Oops, too many people. Let me start killing them.” Beyond a point every scene is just about ‘who dies next?’ – sort of like a Tarantino film where people are eliminated like swatting out flies. And I don’t see why Tarantino does this either. The story gets derailed several times just to introduce characters (or kill them, of course). I am happy we were at least spared of cheesy romantic songs. Of course, the songs that were played in the background are often drowned by a clamorous shootout, so I don’t see the point of having them.

 

Vijay as Thiyagu

The best parts of the film? One, Jyothika’s acting. Highly under-used for her talent, her character of Varadan’s wife seems to be the only sane person in the story. The performances of Prakash Raj and, to some extent, Arvind Swami – though I still feel he does a far better job playing a romantic, like he did in Roja, or a cool, stylish villain (Thani Oruvan) rather than the crass, loud and violent character of Varadan – were good too. STR and Arun Vijay have numerous instances of overacting, while Vijay Sethupathi provides the balance with a constant deadpan expression. All three of them have a number of failed attempts at humour (if that was the intention). 

 

Sethupathi as Rasool

The other highlight of the film – and the only reason why the 143 minutes were worth something – is the climax. The twist is certainly unexpected, even though there wasn’t really any clue leading towards the conclusion. On the other hand, the ending could make you question the film even more (why go through all this drama for this?!) I don’t think any other Mani Ratnam film has a plot twist at the end, and certainly, no film is known for it; looks like this is a first, but it may be for the better or worse.

Long film short, Chekka Chivantha Vaanam is Mani Ratnam’s way of saying, “If you are a man (or woman) in power, please follow the one-child policy.” Some good performances and the climax are the only things worth watching, in an otherwise overhyped film.

My Rating: 2.5/5