"Chekka Chivantha Vaanam"...What were you thinking Mani Ratnam? [Spoiler Free]

If you are a fan of Tamil cinema fan, you can rest well. The industry has just received a sure shot winner for the box office.

But if you are a Mani Ratnam fan, you would be asking yourself, "What were you thinking?"

For starters, Chekka Chivantha Vaanam is unlike any Mani Ratnam movie you have come to expect in modern day cinema. It doesnt' have the story depth of Thalapathy, the multilayered hyperlink screenplay of Aayutha Ezhuthu or the cinematography magic of Kaatru Veliyidai.

But...It has it's story set on a platter, performed by an array of actors (stars in their own right) who sometimes remind you why Mani Ratnam is possibly the greatest director of our times whom can handle multi-star films, even in his sleep.

CCV is essentially set up as a modern day adaption of Ponniyin Selvan, the epic folklore depicting of Raja Cholan, and after his demise talks about the fight for the throne by his sons. Mani takes the epic saga and gives it a touch he has so often given to the likes of Mahabharata and Ramayana - and the trick works, to an extent with this as well.

The movie opens with establishing the kingdom (Senapathi, played ruthlessly by Prakashraj) and an assassination attempt on the King goes wrong, sending Prakash Raj and his wife (Jayasudha) to the hospital. With the King bedridden, we immediately get introduced to the three prince who are next in line to the throne - Varadan (Arvind Swamy), the short tempered first son, Thgayu (Arun Vijay), the suave businessman living in Dubai and Ethi (STR), the sneaky yet emotionally distant last son. All three make their way back to their house in Chennai with one main question.

Who wanted Senapathi killed?

To add on to that, enter Rasool (Vijay Sethupathi), Varadan's old time school friend who is a police officer with an air of mystery about him.

Mani plays this situation fairly well. All three sons gets a terrific introduction scene (Simbu's one is the pick of the lot) and the story rushes through the first 30 minutes in solely establishing the core story. By the time the intermission happens, you barely had the time to settle in on your seat. Take note of the way Santhosh Sivan places the camera solely on the chair when there's a huge commotion outside the frame - brilliant!

But, there's where the problem lies. The film's biggest strength before the release was it's promos online, especially it's very well cut trailers and teaser. The trailer, aiming to establish the core plot of the movie unfortunately gave too much away - we had already known that Senapathi will have an attempted assassination, Aditi Rao has an affair with Varadan, Simbu's will shoot when VJS asks him if the gun is loaded, Simbu and Arun Vijay will come after Arvind Swamy with revenge for something he did.

With all these major suspenses in the movie already being laid out to see before the movie even starts, the high points in the first half merely resorts to the fact that it is a well crafted scene, but one dont' get the excitement of watching a 'mass' scene.

The second half of the movie though provides some relief as the story takes a complete revenge mode saga between three brothers and how one works against the other. Mani uses the idea of 'Karma' and how it is a vicious circle (he literally makes the characters drive around in a circle in the climax to drive home the point). Each of the character suffers from Karma, with them paying for the sins they caused in the past. Each one of them also suffers from some 'daddy issues'.

In regards to the performance, Vijay Sethupathi, Arun Vijay and Silambarasan all perform incredibly well with Arvind Swamy's shade somehow reminds you of Madhavan in Aayutha Ezhuthu.

Vijay Sethupathi continues to show why he is the future of Tamil cinema. Actors needs to watch this man and understand how one could make an impact in a film without much screen time. His delivery, as much as it reminds you of his previous films suits the character of an always drunk suspended police officer perfectly. He adds the right amount of humor to a film filled with blood and violence.

STR on the other hand finally performs on a level that we know he can. Mani Ratnam's ability to have an actor act in their most natural state but yet provide his own touch is astounding to say the least. Watch out for the scene between Simbhu and his mother towards the end.

The biggest dark horse of the film has to be Arun Vijay - what a performance! In a film that has Arvind Swamy, VJS and Simbhu, Arun Vijay is easily the best looking actor in the film and that says a lot. His costumes are brilliantly picked and his physique adds an incredible amount of value to his characterisation.

Although all the other characters in the movie are largely made to fill in the gaps, Jyothika's characterisation is something that will be talked about. Here is a woman who knows her husband is cheating, yet is willing to accept that knowing that her husband will be the next Senapathi - intriguing.

AR.Rahman's music is experimental to say the least with none of the songs used in its entirety. Mani's decision to use the songs as background music instead of a standalone songs is understandable considering it could have been a speedbreaker. That being said, Bhoomi Bhoomi is the pick of the bunch and comes at the right time in the movie.

Both Santhosh Sivan and Sreekar Prasad (editing) compliment their job perfectly with the vision for the movie. The lack of budget shows with most of the scenes are shot in a set (the Dubai jail scene is an example), and the frames are constantly in a tight space. The lighting patterns are noteworthy with Santhosh continuing to use the sun as a major character in the movie - with sunlight constantly being part of the narrative regardless of the scene.

In summary, Chekka Chivantha Vaanam is Mani Ratnam's way of showing that he too can make a generic gangster movie and still make it his own. The biggest drawback of the movie is the lack of depth in the story - we still dont' know what Senapathi does as part of his criminal activities, why Varadan is treated the way he is, the relationship between Ethi and Chaaya, the relationship between the brothers (we know they are brothers but were they close?). That being said, this is by far the best Mani Ratnam movie experience for a general audience in the longest time. It's like he is saying "You guys dont' seem to like something like Kaatru Veliyidai, so I'm going to give you what you want." We are still not sure if that is a good thing or not - but till then we will take this with open arms.