The release of the first part of Vada Chennai is the breakthrough for the 15-year long effort that has gone into the forming of this film. Vetri Maaran helms this film with Dhanush playing the lead alongside Aishwarya Rajesh, Andrea, Ameer, Samuthirakani, Kishore, Daniel Balaji, and many others.
 

Produced by Wunderbar Films, Vada Chennai has music by Santhosh Narayanan while Velraj handles the cinematography and GB Venkatesh makes the cuts.

As revealed earlier, Vada Chennai 1 is a five and a half hour cut, brought down to two hours and forty four minutes. So, the content and story is vast and spans a few decades. Vetri Maaran deserves praise for creating this world and giving it the structure required to be convincing.

The world of Vada Chennai: The director wastes no time in establishing the world. Right from the word go, we are well aware of what is set up for us to witness. This is a world of love, loyalty, vengeance, blood and flesh. Of course, there's a lot more. But this is what we are majorly presented with.

The topography of Vada Chennai: As the title suggests, Vada Chennai is where we're put up. In a world where the rights and wrongs are more or less indefinite. However, the many characters we meet, are quite aware of their motives. The locales are realistic, fantastically constructed by art director Jacki. You can hardly believe that the locality and the jail is a set. The detailing in the production design require multiple watches to be decoded.

The Language of Vada Chennai: Vetri Maaran doesn't shy away from representing the locality as it is. They profanity is immense, but at some level, liberating too! But Vada Chennai's language isn't all about the usage of these words but is also about the style in which the characters converse. The style is established very intricately.

The masculinity of Vada Chennai: Not like this neighborhood has less women, but it certainly has more men. It is represented by physically and mentally strong men, the kind that bleeds the loyalty and vengeance that exists in this world.

The women of Vada Chennai: There are notably just a handful of them. But, they're very noticeable. They are powerful, and discharge all inhibitions with ease. Their importance is crucial and undenying.

The makkal of Vada Chennai: The characters are very elaborately designed and though the film is majorly presented in a non-linear fashion, the arcs are well defined. The gangs and families are vast and there's a lot to say about each of them. But the underlying fact is that nobody is black or white. They're pure grey.

The spine of Vada Chennai: Like the multiple disks that form the spine of the body, there are multiple aspects that form the spine of Vada Chennai. This starts from the brain behind the film, writer and director Vetri Maaran. His clarity, knowledge, screenplay writing skill and man management is impeccable. He orchestrates this story and brings it on screen like champion. Secondly, art director Jacki. His set design sets up this universe and it is so real that you feel like you're trapped in the community. Thirdly, R Velraj. To capture this universe is a challenging matter. Velraj's framing is on point and the lighting is never unnecessary. Finally, Santhosh Narayanan completes the spine. There is enormous space in Vada Chennai for Santhosh to exploit and he does that to the best of his abilities. He uses tones right out of the neighborhood and putting them together is what breeds intensity throughout the screenplay.

The ensemble of Vada Chennai: The cast list is huge, and the best performances are extracted from each of them. The space for experimentation in terms of body language and reaction is big, so each actor takes complete control of the screen, whenever they are gifted with that space. Ameer, Samuthirakani, Kishore, Andrea, Aishwarya, Daniel Balaji, Pavan, and almost all the other stars shine bright.

But as expected, Dhanush the star works in tandem with Dhanush the performer to bring out one of his finest shows on screen. The best part of Anbu is that he is not necessarily the protagonist, but is most definitely the pivotal character that connects all chapters flawlessly.

The drawback per se, could be understanding the premise comfortably. Vada Chennai is split into multiple chapters that connect many characters and following the language might pose a minor issue. At few junctures, the story could come off as predictable as we have seen similar circumstances before.

Vetri Maaran finely crafts this gangster drama with all the aspects of filmmaking at it's best. His 15 year long vision, research and ground work has paid off.