The movie Chennayil Oru Naal is the remake of the Malayalam movie Traffic. It is based on a true incident in Chennai that will keep you busy with thoughts even after seeing the movie and reach your home.
The movie starts with the love story of Karthik and Aditi (Parvathi). Parallel to this, we have the life of ‘Shining Star’ Gautham Krishna, who has little time for his ailing daughter Ria and wife (Radhikaa). As we settle in our seats, tragedy strikes.
From this point, the movie goes high and we are introduced to one character after another. Most actors technically play extended cameos, but the characters are sketched almost perfectly and leave a lasting impression. Every actor does justice to the character he/she plays with Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, Sarath Kumar, Radhikaa and Parvathi standing tall when compared to the others. Lakshmy, as Karthik’s mother, wrenches your heart when she breaks down after his death.
Sarath Kumar comes good as commissioner Sundarapandian, on whose shoulder rests the mission to transport a heart from Vellore to Chennai in an hour and a half. A crucial cameo by actor Vijayakumar gives the movie its best punch line. Director Shaheed Khader brings out the best in his actors and drives home the importance of organ donation.
Each scene is woven thread to thread and all credit goes to Bobby and Sanjay, who have done the story and screenplay. Ajayan Bala has made only minor changes to the original script to suit the Tamil audience as the movie juggles emotions, thrilling action sequences and a nail-biting suspense. It uses the hyperlink narrative structure, which unlocks several stories side-by-side at the same time even while keeping track of the primary story line. Mahesh Narayanan on the editing table gets full marks for his work. The visuals keep us engrossed on screen, as Mejo Joseph pitches in with striking music.
Shehnad Jalal appears a bit shaky with the camera but can be forgiven as he later makes up during the thrilling car scenes. A sore thumb is a cameo by Suriya (playing himself), where he gives an unwarranted moral science class, something that was not there in the original.
Note: It is a story of human relationships, suffering and triumph. A worth to watch movie.