Chennai 600028 - Sixer in first ball

Looking at the stills and promos of Chennai-28, everyone thought it as an yet another "Boyz" and it would ultimately face the fate of Boyz. But Venkatprabu has cleverly avoided all the mistakes of Shankar in Boys and has scored a sixer in his debut directorial venture. Here Cricket is the passion of the boys and they don't just drool, run behind girls and no double meaning dialogues.

Cast with too many characters (that too new faces) and suddenly a love song shot at foreign location springing up from nowhere, it takes some time for the audience to gel with the opening scenes of the movie and its characters. But then, with various unexpected twists, hilarious moments and short duration scenes, the viewer is taken for an ultra-fast ride,that Intermission seems to come very early. The story with the theme of playing cricket with tennis balls and the terminologies such as "Bet-match" brings back flooding nostalgic memories of every man's boyhood.

Though almost all of the main characters are new faces, they have a given a splendid performance, without being camera conscious. With the songs already a hit among youngsters,Yuvan's music is a big strength to the movie. Background score (by Yuvan or Premji?) is brilliant. Cinematography is another pillar that supports the stylish narration. The tone used in "Oh oh ennanamo" song is something innovative and appreciable. Premji has got good sense of humour and scenes he appear are rib-tickling and worth mentioning. His dialogue "Enna kodumai sir" is already famous among the youth.

Some scenes have amateur approach and two songs could have been trimmed off to make the film crispier. Ending the film with a comical note is commendable and unexpected.
Hats off to the new talents and brains behind the movie.

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