Chekka Chivantha Vaanam

Right from the very first, the movie isn't engaging enough for a Maniratnam fan. Totally, not a cohesive one at all.

One of the best Tamil movies to be released recently.

Entertaining throughout the whole movie. Decent amount of comedy and not overly done. Story line is good. Not predictable like some other movies.

Way better than the other movie I saw - Saamy 2.

Leaving out the grandeur that Mani ratnam brings to his movies through enriched characterisation and an abstract plot, there was nothing else about this movie that left a lasting impression. All actors did justice to the roles they were assigned (including simbu :P), with Prakash Raj single-handedly outperforming everyone else. This 'band of brothers' on-screen chemistry is definitely something to look forward to. The background scores were pretty good, which is kind of expected from the maestro. And there's lots of "mass" moments which an average Tamil movie fan would definitely enjoy.

What was really disappointing was that an extremely tantalising premise was set at the end of the first half and the movie could've escalated to a whole new plane if they had not so whimpishly underplayed the big murder mystery. This took it from an gripping thriller to a filibuster. Otherwise, it's a good one time watch, that keeps you engagaed throughout but fails to close well.

2nd half just collapsed.. Script fails but all actors where brilliant in this movie especially Aravindh Swammy.. could have been better.. 5/10

4 major stars plus a few more are squeezed into a 140 minute timeline.

Most of them have moments which they own but it doesn't make them full characters. This would have worked better as a longer film with them being etched better.

Still, this is a decent film. Arvind Swami sort of wades through a unsurprising first half and comes into his own as the action builds up. Jothika gets exactly one terrific scene. Vijay Sethupathi is very good but he is one of those who suffers from a slightly incomplete characterisation. Arun Vijay and Simbu are ok in their roles.