The interestingly-titled Chennai Ungalai Anbudan Varaverkirathu (CUAV) has a minor problem. It wants to show too many people. An aspiring filmmaker who can’t finish writing his story, a womaniser who finds himself in a tight spot, an uncle who can’t afford a bicycle for his nephew… and also, tales of a few other men who live under the same roof, and whose lives are plagued by unfortunate things.
Director Marudhupandian lends a fly-on-the-wall perspective about the lives of these men. It is quite reminiscent of Kaadhal, in which Balaji Sakthivel offers a sneak peek at the over-populated mansions of Triplicane.
There is the landlord who listens only to Sivaji Ganesan’s songs, a drunkard (hilarious, this) – whose ringtone is Unnai Kaanaadhu (from Viswaroopam) – but never manages to answer his phone, and a naïve guy who is upset at being made to clean the house.
They are interesting people.
But, the problem is, it is as random as reading a personal diary in no particular order. A new character pops up every once in a while, names are dropped carelessly, and each story is made to seem important. Till the end, we are really not sure who the protagonist is – it’s a mad jumble of places and faces.
And talking about the end, CUAV bows back on an abrupt note. Director Balaji Tharaneetharan (narrator) suddenly assures us that all is well, and the film closes.
That is all.
Which, disappointingly, is not convincing enough.
*****
CUAV opens to Abdul Rahman’s poem Kanavu; the camera tours the city, pausing at famous landmarks, and the visuals have a raw, short-film like quality to them.
Recommended
Then, we learn that the film is about Chella Pandian (Bobby Simha), who has come to Chennai with the dream of becoming a filmmaker. However, we don’t see him camping at Kodambakkam, or visiting directors to narrate stories. Neither does he exhibit an all-consuming love for cinema. He is mostly in his room, playing referee between his squabbling friends. But he’s the popular actor here – though definitely not the lead like we had come to believe.
Also, he should have really gotten rid of that fake moustache.
*****
The Chennai Ungalai Anbudan Varaverkiradhu review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the movie. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have an advertising relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.