The trailer of Mani Ratnam’s multi-starrer Chekka Chivantha Vaanam was unveiled on Saturday. In a departure from his usual style, the trailer is loud, explosive and sermonising. It begins with the rhetorical question: Who is the new-age criminal? A mafia don? A businessman? A real estate tycoon? A kingmaker? Or, a modern-day Robin Hood?
Prakash Raj plays the patriarch Senapathi, the don of Chennai. He has three sons, played by Arvind Swami, Arun Vijay and Silambarasan. Varadhan (Arvind Swami) is wild, roguish, a philanderer and has a brutish way of dealing with business matters. He is also the heir apparent. He is heard saying, “My brothers are educated. They won’t do anything untoward. I’ll handle them.” Thyagu (Arun Vijay), looks smooth and sophisticated but has a rakish charm. His girlfriend (Aishwarya Rajesh) says of him, “He is extremely loving and caring, but there is something else lurking inside him.” Perhaps, the desire to sit on his father’s throne. The third son is Ethi (Silambarasan), neglected and the least loved. While the three sons wage war against their unidentified enemies, Vijay Sethupathi plays a cop (Rasool) who appears to be both friend and foe. The plot seems to be a lot like this other classic gangster film by a certain director named Francis Ford Coppola.
Recommended
The women seem to be the supporting cast; only there to build up the image of the heroes and talk cautiously about their troubling machismo. Jyothika, Aishwarya Rajesh, Aditi Rao Hydari and Dayana Erappa are the female leads. The film also stars Jayasudha, Thyagarajan, Mansoor Ali Khan and Cheenu Mohan in pivotal roles.
The film’s music is composed by AR Rahman, cinematography is by Mani Ratnam’s long-time associate Santhosh Sivan and the lyrics are penned by Vairamuthu. The film is scheduled to release on September 28.
Watch the trailer here:
Read: ‘Chekka Chivantha Vaanam’ & ‘Vada Chennai’: The First-Look Posters That Tell Them Apart