Chennai-28 part 2- boys are back

The best thing about the first part of the movie, Chennai-28, that came like a decade back was its originality. The pin code had a role to play and was right in the scheme of things which made the movie a hit. It was a nostalgic walk through for people like me who grew up near that area and all those cricket grounds and lanes and streets had ready recall value. Bonus was the simple story with tongue in cheek one liners and the climax twist that was a roftl howler on the team. Even the songs were memorable and everything clicked well in first part. Very rarely do we get sequels which are a literal continuation with almost the same cast playing their age per the story. A big kudos to the director for the setup. Nothing seems artificial and he has played to the strength of the story pretty well. The cricket crazy boys in first part have all become adults, with none, but for one, are bachelor. They’ve their daily routine life, which other than many things, is totally devoid of playing cricket. They have their kids to take care and all of them have a settled job as well. The heartening aspect of the movie, to me personally, was to see all those carefree set of lovable rogues in well settled life. Felt as if was looking at my own group of friends and all of them are on relatable jobs. Nothing cinematic here as well on their characterization. Their level of interaction, within the thick as thieves group in part one, is also at a believable level for a mature set of people, they are now. And their response to their friend’s wedding and how they use the occasion to rekindle their drunk bouts and how miserably it fails are all told in an utterly believable fashion. There is a throwback to the famous “sopana sundari” character from venkata prabhu’s  previous movies, a legacy inherited from his dad, which allows for an item song in otherwise tight setup storyline. What happens post the song and the twists and turns in the story makes it venture into cinematic storydom. The cricket matches and the way they are covered as exactly similar to how local league matches are covered and is a throwback to the previous version, which made it as its usp. The climax twist is a tribute to vadivelu comedy “but antha dealing enakku romba pudichirunthu” from Giri, where the hero ditches the finals and kidnaps his lady love. The final dialogue from the movie, sums it all up when the friend who badly wants to play the final, calls for his missing team mates, one guy coolly responds, “kazhutha vayasachu inum ennada cricket nu suthitruka” Well the boys are truly grown up. And the final punch on what they will do when/if the village goons chase them to Chennai which premji signs of with “enga areakkay varuvangala..yaaru kitta” -truly mass. The other stand out scene in the movie was, again, way too original and hard hitting in a sense, the mini confrontation between one of the team member and his wife, when she scolds him for lying to her and making it up for the cricket match. He blows his lid and says what is the voice of all those men who are boys at heart and yet have imprisoned their care free attitude for the sake of their family. He goes on to say, for the duration of the tournament, he wants to be who he is, not for the sake of his family, not for the sake of his friends. He just wants  to be what he actually wants to be and relive his life as a boy before he was saddled with the responsibilities of a man. You could hear thundering claps for the dialogue and the wolf whistles literally drown out the bgm that follows the dialogue. On a side note, Mirchi Siva has done a roast all by himself on you tube movie reviewers especially targeting one particular guy who does video reviews. Vachu senjirukanga.

Gils verdict –Except for Siva, I’ve particularly made it a point not to reference any character by their name, for that would defeat the very essence of the movie. Its your bunch of friends and the playing eleven is your group. It’s a story that anyone would’ve grown up with and relate to. Having been a local resident of the very area which is carried in the title, its a relatable one in every sense possible. Chennai 28 – part 2 is a game well played by venkata prabhu and his team.