MADRAS MOVIE REVIEW

'Attakathi' fame Pa.Ranjith is back with his second venture and its again for K.E Gnanavel Raja's Studio Green. The cartoonist, who was an associate of Venkat Prabhu has chosen North Chennai as his base and the people and conflict surrounding them as his theme. The bone of contention is intriguingly a wall and how people's lives are intertwined due to the wall's importance to this particular society. Its a very important film for Karthi, who needs to make a firm comeback for a series of duds. Did 'Madras' charm us ?

For Karthi, this film is definitely a big sigh of relief, because he has delivered and exceptional performance. It stands right next to his 'Paruthi Veeran' in terms of quality and 'Naan Mahaan Alla' in terms of comparison. He has literally lived and breathed as Kaali and its refreshing to see him gel with the other artistes and doesn't stand out as an exaggerated protagonist. The conveyance of emotions through his facial expressions and eye movements, were brilliant. Fantastic comeback, Karthi ! Mallu girl, Catherine Tresa Alexander, known for her Telugu films, makes her Tamizh debut and she too makes a good impression with an adequate performance, personal appearance and good lip-sync, which makes her character look very belieavable. Kalaiarasan as Anbu, who has an equal amount of space as Karthi's, is simply riveting and terrific in his performance. 'Madras's is definitely a feather in the cap, for this chap. An absolute dynamite ! There's a battalion of theater artistes who were so natural and flawless in their performances, such as Hari, who played the lunatic Johnny, Ritwika as Mary, Rama as Kaali's mother, Vinod as Maari, Nandakumar as Kannan, Ilavarasan, Jaya Rao, Aadhi, Vijesh, Powell and etc. Bang on performance from the entire cast !

K.Selvam's costume designing was very apt and realistic and was in sync with the North Chennai milieu and also to each character's unique identities and personalities. Sound designing by Anthony B.J Ruban must be appreciated for his brilliant work. The action sequences were brilliantly handled and the sequences which had big crowds, were very well designed. Action choreography is handled Anbariv duo, and their stunt sequences were top-notch. Though the violence is heavy, but it was handled very effectively and looked very authentic. The pre-interval chase and fight sequence was so organic, it stuns you at some moments. Great work ! Tha.Ramalingam is in charge of art direction and his minute detailing for the real-life locations were of paramount importance. Being an artist, his work created the right ambiance and maintained the gloomy yet earthy look, throughout the film. The wall paintings are the highlights of the art direction department ! The film works big time, also due to the near-flawless editing by Praveen K.L. The action sequences were very finely edited and the final output was remarkable. He keeps the film's pace even and there's absolutely no jerks in the screenplay. The occasional songs in the second half and some minor action sequences, do slow down the film a little, but such action dramas need such lags, to keep the momentum smooth. Murali.G's cinematography is a major plus point for the film. The urbane mood of North Chennai was brought to the silver-screen so beautifully. The various locations such as Vyasarpadi, Royapuram, Perambur, Jamalia, Sathyamoorthy Nagar and Ram Nagar areas, were very cleverly put together and shown as a single location and the multiple top-angles helped to achieve the purpose. The night effect shots are the highlights of Murali.G's work. The lighting and color tone delivered the pulsating mood, very well. 

Santhosh Narayanan continues to excel with each film and with Pa.Ranjith, he has managed to forge a good combo. The musical score itself breathes as another character in the film. The title track "Madras" gives great energy to the screenplay and is the introductory song of all the major characters of the film. The entire lifestyle of the North Chennai people was well captured for this song. "Kaakidha Kappal" is a rather amusing but pathos number, which had unique choreography from Sathish. The song is a sort of heart-break song for the lead protagonist and how it affects his normal life, with plenty of montages shot on Karthi. "Irandhidavaa" features Gana Bala in a cameo appearance and is a situational song, which has a funeral backdrop. The emotional intensity in this song, leaves us a mark on the audience. "Naan Nee" is a melodious love track, which has montages of Karthi and Catherine Tresa Alexander, which had other locations of the Chennai city such as beaches and posh upmarket areas, in its montage sequence. "Aagayam Theepiditha" follows quickly and has montages of Karthi trying to woo back Catherine Tresa Alexander, after a major dispute between them. Santhosh Narayanan's multitude theme tracks such as "Kaali Love Theme" and "Suvar Theme" injects life into the script and serve as great background score. The background score is an experience on its own, and please do give notice for Santhosh Narayanan's excellent work, which had so many dimensions and variations. Hats off, Santhosh !

As mentioned earlier, the bone of contention in this story is a single wall, and though it might sound silly and amateurish, the deep, underlying political rivalry behind that wall, is the crux of 'Madras'. The wall politicking creates a cascading effect on the characters, who belongs to the opposite political factions. What's incredible in Pa.Ranjith's script writing and with his directorial execution, is the astuteness of the issue and the attention to detail in presenting the story, in an convincing manner. What looks very simple from the outset, the story reveals the hidden complexities of the events and situations of faced by the people belonging to such areas. Pa.Ranjith's screenplay has the gripping element needed for such high-voltage drama genre and it never veers off into unwanted territories. Pa.Ranjith, keeps it tight and simple and its very evident from the very first scenes, where the director himself would give the introduction of the characters and the theme, with a voice-over. The composition of his shots and how he presents each scene is very unique yet compelling. Friendship, love, hate, anger, betrayal, revenge and all sorts of emotions were well handled by Pa.Ranjith and he infuses each emotions through the various characters, present in the film. His character designing is top-notch and the final message delivered, deserves special mention. 'Madras' is definitely a very, top-class cinema from Pa.Ranjith and it works big time. Take a bow Pa.Ranjith, you have truly arrived !

'Madras' - An eye-opening trip to North Chennai !


Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL