Before anything at all, the all-star casts of Chekka Chivantha Vaanam is clearly the most important reason why you shouldn't give this movie a miss.
Now, let us begin. Mani Ratnam once again proved that age is just a number. A man of his caliber, you certainly can always expect blockbusters on screen, and this time around, he nailed with the likes of Arvind Swami, STR, Arun Vijay, Vijay Sethupathi, Prakash Raj, Jyotika, Aditi Rao and many star-studded casts.
Chekka Chivantha Vaanam is a masterstroke by Mani Ratnam! The type of engagement that he promises his audience is something to really admire about. CCV was simply mind-blowing and it almost looked like he was directing his first ever film again. So fresh and so much conviction in story-telling.
Only Mani Ratnam is capable of pulling off such a masterpiece! For us, as general audience, it is always a beautiful sight seeing top stars on the screen together, but the daunting task lies in the hands of the director and his team. When you have the likes of STR, Arun Vijay, Vijay Sethupathi and Arvind Swami together on a single screen, you know you've got a tough task to handle. Equal screen presence is one of the greatest achievements Mani Sir succeeded in this movie, and he definitely deserves to be applauded.
Not often you see Mani Ratnam take a stroll down the gangster genre, except for two of his golden films, Nayagan (1987) and Thalapathi (1991), which starred the two icons of Tamil Cinema, Kamal Hassan and Rajinikanth. It's like he found the energy he once had when he made those two blockbuster films, and to top it all off, AR Rahman as the music composer! It was Mani Ratnam who gave AR Rahman his major breakthrough with the terrorism-themed drama, Roja (1992). Ever since, they have been one of the most dominating forces in Tamil Cinema and have been an inseparable team.
Given the numerous characters involved, the film does take a while to get going, as the initial scenes of every character is more of less exposition giving us a brief about their past and their motivations.
If you've watched the movie, you will notice that each and every scene tremendously stresses character development at a level you will believe is sufficient to carry the plot towards the twist-filled climax.
Mani Ratnam has given us a hard hit content by throwing all rules outside the window and I can say, it has been a while since I last watched a gangster drama set against family dynamics, greed and the need for power and deceit.
Personally, one man who stood the best among the rest and one who has gone beyond all expectations set is none other than our very own, STR! What a comeback by the Little Superstar! Being the least favorite in the family, STR outperformed the rest except for one man, who I thought outperformed everyone including STR, Vijay Sethupathi. Man was such a class in the film and his additional standalone comical role was a huge relief.
This is also more or less a 'guy film', preferring guns over girls, like most gangster films. The female characters were reduced to supporting players - they provide more of an emotional angle to the dominating male characters - a mother heartbroken seeing her sons fighting among themselves, a wife who stands by her husband knowing his unfaithfulness to her, another wife who has to pay the price for her husband's evil ambitions and a newlywed who meets a tragic end.
Although there may have been some noticeable mistakes like blurry drone shots and quick scene transitions, Santosh Sivan, without fail, mesmerized us with his amazing camera works. There will be scenes in the movie that will give you so much peace to the mind and soul, something to compliment the racy, heart-throbbing, action scenes!
A must watch Mani Ratnam film! 3.5/5
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