The Tamil remake of the acclaimed Malayalam hit Traffic, Chennaiyil Oru Naal, comes with a stellar cast list and fair bit of marketing push, thanks to the involvement of Sun Pictures.
The movie serves as a nice platform to educate the audience about the novel concept of organ donation. It does so through an action-packed premise which also tugs at our heart strings, as a police car has to deliver a heart from Chennai to Vellore just in time to save the life of a 13 year old girl.
A lot of characters are involved in this gripping mission such as the police commissioner who has to manage the entire logistics and practicalities of the trip, a tainted police constable who seeks redemption, a narcissistic superstar who encounters the realities of his personal life and a young doctor who is caught in a fix, to name a few.
The emotional quotient of the movie is also pretty high as we have one family which is grieving the loss of their dear one while another is desperately waiting for the heart to arrive. So we have dramatic action on one side with a nice emotional undercurrent running through. The script is the main selling point of Chennaiyil Oru Naal and kudos to the director Shaheed Kader and the screenplay writers Bobby-Sanjay and Ajayan Bala.
The movie does have some unwarranted frenzy towards the end and this episode turns out to be a bit far-fetched as the car is in a race against time through a crowded narrow alley to reach Vellore in time. But, the overall motive of the movie and the way it has been presented makes this particular episode just a minor blip.
Chennaiyil Oru Naal owes a lot to the solid performances by all the acclaimed actors in the cast. Cheran has the best role as the man who executes this high-stakes mission while Sarath Kumar is the brain of the mission as the city's police commissioner.
Prakash Raj as the self-centered superstar, Radhika as his concerned housewife, Prasanna as the distressed doctor, Jayaprakash and Lakshmi Ramakrishnan as the grieving parents and Parvathi Menon as the heartbroken girlfriend are among the other notable performers. We also have Mallika uniting with her Autograph pair Cheran after close to a decade and Iniya's role throws the script open to more tension in the second half.
Lookout for a surprise cameo by a Superstar who also promotes the cause of organ donation in the end as the credits roll.
Mejo Joseph takes care of the music and there are a couple of songs at the start as the premise and characters are setup. His RR is mushy and dramatic as per the demands of the script.
The cinematography by Shehnad Jalal shines in the accident scenes and also while covering the fast moving car on the highways of the state.
Mahesh Narayanan's editing patterns add to the excitement and tension among the audience when we are waiting to see how all the characters are thrown into the mix by one particular incident. Interesting work indeed
On the whole, we have a movie which offers excitement and also educates us about a vital concept which can prove to be a life-changer to any of us in need.
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