A tense thriller with real heart
INTRODUCTION you’re looking for a nail-biting thriller with substance, look no further than Shaheed Khader’s Chennaiyil oru Naal, the Tamil remake of the hit Malayalam film Traffic . The film has a huge and impressive cast, including Raadhika Sarathkumar, Prasanna, Cheran, Radhika, Prakash Raj, Parvathy Menon, Iniya, Jayaprakash, Manobala, Devan, Vijayakumar and Jayaprakash. There is also a special guest appearance by Surya. STORY
WITHOUT revealing the story, Chennaiyil oru Naal is a multinarrative thriller that deals with a myriad issues, including the importance of organ donation and the strength of family values. The film deals with how a precious delivery has to be made across heavy traffic from Chennai to Vellore — against seemingly impossible odds — in order to save a 13-year-old girl’s life. Whether or not the delivery succeeds forms the basis of the story. PERFORMANCES
WITH the exception of newcomer Sachin, who plays Karthik Viswanathan, the other performances in Chennaiyil oru Naal are polished and faultless. Raj, who sometimes strays towards melodrama, maintains a tightly controlled performance and Radhika is stunning as his wife. Cheran is the pick of the actors as the disgraced policeman who volunteers to be the driver for the special mission. Prasanna and Jayaprakash are both in challenging and moving roles. DIRECTION
KHADER has done an excellent job of improving on a hit film, but his true test will come with an original project. He shows great flair and promise with his debut film and it would be interesting to see how he handles his next. CINEMATOGRAPHY
SHEHNAD Jalal’s cinematography and Mahesh Narayanan’s editing combine to give some of the most spectacular scenes seen in recent films. The second half has some enthralling scenes that extend the use of light, angles and tracking to extraordinary levels.
SCREENPLAY AND SCRIPTING
SHAHEED Khader has greatly improved the screenplay of the original by making it crisper and racier. The verbal exchanges between Radhika and Raj form the highlight of the script. MUSIC
MEJO Joseph scores the music and greatly impresses with the background score. OVERALL
CHENNAIYIL oru Naal is a tense and absorbing suspense thriller with moving drama, credible characters and a heart-warming message.