Chandi Veeran Movie Review

August 7, 2015

2 minutes read

Review Overview

Performances

Screenplay & Direction

Technical Aspects & BGM

Earnestly thought-out, but passably executed!

We can safely say that Sargunam makes a not-so-bad comeback in Chandi Veeran after the disastrous Nayyandi. The film, though reasonably melodramatic, works well to an extent for the sympathetic subject matter Sargunam has brought to the fore.

Cast: Atharva, Anandhi, Paul Micheal & others

Cinematography: PG Muthaiah

Music: Arunagiri

Editing: Raja Mohammad

PRO: Nikkil Murugan

Direction: Sargunam

Produced by: B Studios & Sri Green Productions

Release Date: 07-08-2015

Run Time: 02:10:00

We can safely say that Sargunam makes a not-so-bad comeback in Chandi Veeran after the disastrous Nayyandi. The film, though reasonably melodramatic, works well to an extent for the sympathetic subject matter Sargunam has brought to the fore.

The film is about the story of two neighboring villages – Nedunagadu and Vayalpaadi. While the former is rich in ground water and houses a handful of ponds where fishing is done by villagers for recreation, the latter is deprived of clean drinking water and survives with the salt contaminated water that proves to be toxic to the people who lose lives frequently due to kidney-related problems.

Handling a sensitive and sympathy-evoking topic on screen is a tight rope walk. There are perils of going over-the-top and being unbearably melodramatic at crucial junctures. While Sargunam stays away from the most of the cliches, the melodrama is something he too couldn’t stand back from. The only silver-lining is he has trammeled the use of melodrama which saves us from some cringe-worthy scenes.

The initial portions of the film are tiring with the monotonous, uninteresting romance track between Atharvaa and Anandhi, who fits the bill perfectly as the village belle. It is only after Atharvaa’s inadvertent visit to his Vayalpaadi, the story gains momentum and makes us to sit up.

Lal, who plays the greedy, arrogant mill owner, delivers a good performance as the film’s villain. However, the conceit used to portray his bad-to-good transformation, which forms the crux of the plot, falls absolutely flat in the second half which brims with partly tense, partly we-know-what-is-going-to-happen scenes. The heroic climax speech of Atharvaa could have been more convincing considering the scope Sargunam had to explore in the screenplay.

Arunagiri has proved his worth with some good scores that capture the village environment neatly. Cinematographer Arunagiri has also done a skillful job behind the lens by bringing the village traditions, that we seldom get to watch, alive on screen.

Chandi Veeran is an earnestly thought-out subject but executed passably. This middling village drama has an interesting story to tell but it stumbles in the narration in the second half. While it may not warranty a must-watch tag, it neither falls under the skip-this category.