CHENNAIYIL ORU NAAL ("A GOOD DAY IN CHENNAI")

Cast: Sarathkumar, Prakash Raj, Radhika, Cheran, Prasanna.

Director: Shaheed Khader.

Chennaiyil Oru Naal is the remake of the Super Hit Malayalam movie Traffic which was directed by Rajesh Pillai, inspired by true events that happened in Chennai some years earlier.

It is a casting coup of sorts with a lot of prominent faces from the Tamil Industry like Sarathkumar, Cheran, Prakash Raj, Prasanna, Radhika, Vijayakumar, Jayaprakash, Lakshmi, Mallika, Ineya,....it’s a big list! But the refreshing and good thing about Chennaiyil Oru Naal is that it cannot be termed as the film starring any of the above actors. Chennaiyil Oru Naal is a film where the screenplay is the hero, heroine and the villain. All the above actors and the rest of the cast just support the screenplay by acting out their parts.

The original screenplay written by Bobby-Sanjay has been retained. But even the dialogues(though written by Ajayan Bala) are almost the same as in Malayalam. The fabulous multi – layered screenplay which must be the first of it’s kind for the Tamil audience is sure to be appreciated.

Though not on par with Rajesh Pillai, director Shaheed Khadar has done a fairly good job in trying to retain the essence of Traffic and most of the time he actually succeeds in it. But having watched the original, it’s a bit hard to overlook the fact that the masala element creeps in at some scenes.

Coming to performances it’s a job well done by most of the cast except for a few scenes involving Prasanna, the newcomers and the junior artists. When certain scenes involving Prakash Raj are really funny, others involving Lakshmi, Jayaprakash and Radhika are touching.

But what really works for the film is the portrayal of wide ranging characters having different dreams about their lives with conviction without causing any deceleration of the tempo.

Iam giving a 3.25/5 for Chennaiyil Oru Naal. Get ready for a mixture of wide ranging emotions along with some thrill.

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2 to 2.25                      -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

3 to 3.25                      -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4 to 4.25                      -           Great.

4.5 and above               -           Extraordinary.