When it comes to cricket based films in Kollywood, Venkat Prabhu's Chennai 28 is a cult classic. Now the director is back with his boys for the sequel but a lot of things have changed in the past nine years. Was he able to repeat the magic again?
Ragu's (Jai) wedding with his girlfriend Anu (Sana Altaf) is around the corner. To attend Ragu's marriage, Chennai Sharks' team including Pazhani (Nithin Sathya), Karthik (Shiva), Ezhumalai (Ajai) and Gopi (Vijay Vasanth) along with their wives reach Theni while Seenu (Premgi) is still a bachelor.
All is well till the boys bump into Aravind (Aravind Akash) who was a player in Shark team, who got ditched by his girlfriend and he is currently in Theni for his livelihood. As usual, the boys booze and Aravind opens up about his enmity with the local cricket team captain Marudhu(Vaibhav).
To help Aravind, Chennai Sharks team decides to play couple of matches to bag the much needed cup. As soon as the team wins the first match, they indulge in a mad party, which puts a big full stop to Raghu's wedding. The rest of the film is all about how the boys reunite to get Raghu's ladylove and new prestigious cricket tournament with Marudhu's team.
The biggest strength of Chennai 28 II is the effervescent chemistry between the boys. Despite the physical changes, they are still energetic and it is nostalgic to see them back on the big screen. We start rooting for the boys and want them to win. Kudos to Venkat Prabhu for making a film which will appeal to youngsters especially boys. On the down side, the film is bit too long at 154 mints. There is no emotional connect and too much of boozing was unwanted.
The director has extracted the best from his actors. Shiva and Jai have made a good comeback, while Premji seem to be at his best in his brother's films. Vaibhav as Marudhu is very good while rest of the supporting cast are well-utilised. Technically, Chennai 28 II is the upgraded version of the first part. Be it cinematography or music, the film looks slick. Especially Yuvan has used fresh tunes along with rehashed versions from the first part to kindle our memory.
Overall, Chennai 28 II is a jolly good film which is a satisfying watch.
