Chennaiyil Oru Naal

Chennaiyil Oru Naal
Directed by	Shaheed Kader
Produced by	Raadhika Sarathkumar Listin Stephen
Screenplay by	Bobby-Sanjay Ajayan Bala
Story by	Bobby-Sanjay
Starring	R. Sarathkumar Cheran Prakash Raj Prasanna Raadhika Sarathkumar Gabriella Charlton Parvathi Menon Iniya
Music by	Mejo Joseph
Cinematography	Shehnad Jalal
Edited by	Mahesh Narayanan
Production company	I Pictures Magic Frames
Release dates	March 29, 2013 (2013-03-29)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Chennaiyil Oru Naal (English: A day in Chennai) is a 2013 Tamil thriller film written by brothers Bobby and Sanjay and directed by Shahid Khader. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of R. Sarathkumar, Prakash Raj, Cheran, Prasanna, Raadhika Sarathkumar, Parvathi Menon and Iniya. The film, a remake of the 2011 Malayalam film Traffic, has its narrative in a hyperlink format. A multi-narrative thriller that intertwines multiple stories around one particular incident, the film is inspired from an actual event that happened in Chennai.^[1] It was titled Naangu Vazhi Saalai earlier.^[2] The film released on 29 March 2013.^[3] The film opened highly positive reviews.^[4] The film was declared Blockbuster at the box office.^[5]

Plot

On September 16, superstar Gautham Krishna (Prakash Raj) gets ready for the release of his new film. On the same day, Traffic Constable Satyamoorthy (Cheran) joins back on duty, after having been suspended from service for taking bribes. The day is special for Dr. Robin (Prasanna) who is celebrating his first wedding anniversary. Karthik Vishwanathan (Sachin), an aspiring television journalist, starts his first job with an interview with Gautham Krishna the very same day. On the same day, at a crowded traffic junction in Chennai, Karthik, who was set to interview Gautham Krishna, and Ajmal (Mitun), traveling in a bike are hit by a speeding car at the signal, and Karthik is rushed to Global Hospital. Also at the junction, in another car, was the surgeon Dr. Robin. Karthik goes into coma and is declared brain dead although he is kept alive using ventilator. Meanwhile, Gautham's ailing daughter's (Gabriella Charlton)heart condition becomes worse and she urgently needs a heart transplant. At first Karthik's parents do not agree to take their son off the ventilator and donate their son's heart but Ajmal and Karthik's girlfriend (Parvathi Menon) persuade them into it. Now that the heart is available, the problem was transporting it from Chennai to Vellore. No chartered flights or helicopters were available and so the heart had to be taken by road. Someone had to drive the 150 kilometers in under two hours during the rush traffic. City Police Commissioner Sundara Pandian (R. Sarathkumar) is asked to carry out the mission. He initially refuses considering the complexity and risk involved in the mission, but finally heeds to the persuasion of Dr. Arumainayagam (Vijayakumar). Satyamoorthy, being an experienced driver who has driven for ministers, volunteers to be the driver of the Jeep carrying the heart. Mainly takes this initiative to regain the name he lost to the bribe incident. Accompanying him on the mission was Dr. Robin and Ajmal. As instructions are given from Sundara Pandian, Satyamoorthy follows the fastest route to the hospital. However, at some point, they lose connection and the vehicle mysteriously disappears. Under pressure and stress, Satyamoorthy trusts his own instincts and takes his own route. Sundara Pandian loses patience and hope that he'll be able to transport the heart in time, resulting in cancelling the mission.Just in time, Satyamoorthy manages to get connection, which motivates every one to get the heart safely in time. As the mission proceeds, it was discovered that before Dr. Robin committed to accompany Satyamoorthy on this mission, he had attempted to kill his wife, due to her affair with his best friend. In hopes to escape from the police, Robin tries to sabotage the mission, but Gautham's wife (Raadhika Sarathkumar) convinces him to save her daughter's life. He not only felt a mother's pain, but as a doctor realized the value of a life. After startles and twists, all goes well and they reach the hospital in time to save the girl's life just as Karthik's father (Jayaprakash) and mother (Lakshmy Ramakrishnan) prepare to cremate their son.

Cast

Production

At the hundredth day celebrations of the 2011 Malayalam film Traffic, Kamal Haasan, who was the chief guest at the ceremony announced that he would remake the film into Tamil while Rajesh Pillai would be the film's director.^[6] However due to his extended involvement in his directorial venture, Haasan opted out of the film by November 2011 and R. Sarathkumar was subsequently chosen to replace him in the film, with the director also postponing the film, mentioning it would restart after the Hindi version was complete.^[7] Soon the actor's wife, Raadhika Sarathkumar, also joined the film and agreed to produce the venture alongside Listin Stephen. Actors including Prakash Raj, Cheran, Prasanna and Nassar were slated to play key roles, while Remya Nambeesan was signed on to reprise her role from the original.^[8] In March 2012, Rajesh Pillai walked out the remake citing date issues and was replaced by his assistant Shaheed Khader.^[9] Prithviraj was approached to play one of the lead roles in the film but refused the opportunity citing date issues.^[10]

The film was officially launched on June 21, 2012 with Raadhika subsequently listing out the members of the cast on her Twitter page. She also went on to confirm that Parvathi Menon would make a comeback to Tamil cinema with her role in the venture.^[11]

Soundtrack

Mejo Joseph who composed the original film had composed the songs thus marking his debut in Tamil.

• Kanavey (Female) - Swetha
• Un Tholil Saaya - Srinivasan
• Iravin - Sithara
• Kanavey (Male) - Kaushik Menon
• En En Yenum - Tippu
• Theme Music - Sangeetha Sreekanth
• Massetonia - Srinivasan

Critical reception

Behindwoods wrote:"On the whole, we have a movie which offers excitement and also educates us about a vital concept which can prove to be a life-changer to any of us in need".^[12]

References

External links

• Chennaiyil Oru Naal at the Internet Movie Database