Production Budget Analysis

The production budget for Vada Chennai (2018) has not been publicly disclosed.

CAST: Dhanush, Aishwarya Rajesh, Ameer, Andrea Jeremiah, Daniel Balaji, Kishore DIRECTOR: Vetrimaaran CINEMATOGRAPHY: R. Velraj MUSIC: Santhosh Narayanan PRODUCTION: Wunderbar Films, Grass Root Film Company, Lyca Productions

Box Office Performance

Theatrical box office data is not publicly available for Vada Chennai (2018). This may indicate a limited release, direct-to-streaming, or a release predating modern box office tracking.

Profitability Assessment

Insufficient publicly available data to assess profitability.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

Franchise: Vada Chennai is part of the World of Vada Chennai.

Director Anurag Kashyap also heaped praise on the direction and screenplay, calling it as "an original gangster film". Directors Gautham Vasudev Menon and Vineeth Sreenivasan too praised the film, the latter called Vetrimaaran as the director "needed to be celebrated". Kashyap also had the first cut of the film, along with other Tamil films being preserved in his library. In a May 2021 interview with Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, Vetrimaaran revealed about his voice-over used in the opening narrations, and said that "when the film's release date was nearing, he could not trim the film to the desired duration, so he came up with the idea of voice over only three days before the film's release date". A dialogue from the film "Senthil, Guna, Velu, Thambi ivanga ellarum Anbu vaazhkaiyoda inaikkuradhu Rajan dhan" (), has been used widely in internet memes.

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Development

In May 2015, Dhanush revealed that he would produce and feature in Vada Chennai, and that the venture would restart production, in September 2015. Samantha and Andrea Jeremiah were revealed to be among the lead actresses, while Santhosh Narayanan would be the film's composer, after Dhanush had fallen out with G. V. Prakash Kumar. Also, G. B. Venkatesh, who assisted Kishore Te on Visaranai (2016), was roped in as the film editor, after the latter's unfortunate demise, due to his health problems. The start of the project was postponed until 2016, as Dhanush had to complete his outstanding projects, first. In August 2015, Vetrimaaran announced that Vada Chennai will be made into two-parts, citing Anurag Kashyap's advice to split the film into two, similar to his Gangs of Wasseypur films. Dhanush decided to allot more than 200 days for his role, for both the parts. However, with Lyca Productions's inclusion in the project, the film was extended into a trilogy. Unlike his previous films which were inspired by other works, including novels and films, Vada Chennai is an original and fictional representation revolving around gangsters in North Chennai.

In late 2015, the team held talks with Jiiva and Vijay Sethupathi, again, for portraying other pivotal characters in the film, though neither of them signed the project. Samuthirakani and Daniel Balaji were subsequently signed on to portray other pivotal roles. Likewise several actors who have previously worked on Vetrimaaran's films such as Kishore, Karunas and Pawan, joined the cast during June 2016. Before the film's shoot started, Samantha opted out of the film citing schedule conflicts, and was replaced by Amala Paul in the lead female role. Vijay Sethupathi also agreed to portray an extended cameo in the film, with Dhanush announcing his inclusion during July 2016.

▸ Pre-Production

Art director Jacki, worked on the film's production design. The set design for Vada Chennai began nearly six years ago and before the beginning of the production, Jacki designed huge sets resembling the Central Jail and had made the team cost . The team initially decided to shoot the portions of the film in a real jail set in Rajamahendravaram, but as the prison portions may become lengthy during the course of the film, they decided to construct a huge set resembling the Madras Central Prison at the Binny Mills in Chennai. Later, the team had erected another set resembling the Nagoorar Thottam and for that design, the team had spent 20 days. Then, as most of the film being set in the slum area, the team did a miniature model of the design which they planned to replicate in real. To reflect the timeline change (1970–2000), the team went through an extensive research and collected every minute details of the products, including furnitures, materials, home appliances, posters, cigarettes, advertisements and essentials used, which the team had considered as "the biggest challenge". A report from Sify claimed that the film is the "costliest film ever made in Dhanush's career" as Jacki had stated that the work on the production design escalated the costs in the film.

▸ Filming & Locations

alt=Royapuram Fishing Harbour|left|The film's production began on 22 June 2016, after multiple postponements. The first schedule of the shooting was held at a huge set resembling the Madras Central Prison which was erected at Binny Mills in Chennai. The production was briefly delayed as Vetrimaaran sought to get his previous film, Visaranai, ready for nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, which prompted Dhanush to move on to work on his other projects: his directorial debut Pa. Pandi, Velaiilla Pattadhari 2 and his international debut film, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir. where Dhanush and Vetrimaaran planned for three-to-four films in the process.

The second filming schedule began in April 2017 in Royapuram, Chennai, and progressed for 30 days. However, the shooting further affected as Dhanush had worked on The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir. It was revealed that the team had completed 90% of the shooting within late-June 2017, and only 10–15 days of shooting left. But during the film's production, Dhanush also prioritised to work on the long delayed Gautham Menon's project Enai Noki Paayum Thota and Maari 2, which escalated the film's delay. Later, Dhanush decided to work on both the projects simultaneously, in order to complete the shoots of both the films within time. The filming was completed within February 2018.

[Filming] alt=Royapuram Fishing Harbour|left|The film's production began on 22 June 2016, after multiple postponements. The first schedule of the shooting was held at a huge set resembling the Madras Central Prison which was erected at Binny Mills in Chennai. The production was briefly delayed as Vetrimaaran sought to get his previous film, Visaranai, ready for nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, which prompted Dhanush to move on to work on his other projects: his directorial debut Pa. Pandi, Velaiilla Pattadhari 2 and his international debut film, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir.

▸ Music & Score

The film was initially announced with G. V. Prakash Kumar as the music director. However, following Kumar's fallout with the lead actor Dhanush, Dhanush suggested Santhosh's name when he composed for one of his production, the Rajinikanth-starrer Kaala (2018), and with his inclusion, he simultaneously worked for both the films; the work on the entire album was completed within June 2018. The album is mostly based North Madras music consisting of a diverse genres – gaana, folk and melody. Vada Chennai also marked Santhosh's 25th filmas a composer in his career. The album was released on 23 September 2018, in entirety through the internet and in streaming platforms such as Saavn, JioMusic and Gaana. The soundtrack received rave reviews from critics and audience, and topped the iTunes charts within three days of its release. It was also streamed above 5,00,000 times on Saavn. An additional song titled "Patta Patti" was released during mid-November 2018, after repeated requests from fans.

▸ Marketing & Release

Vetrimaaran worked on the post-production of Vada Chennai, assembling the final cut of the film during mid-May 2018. In June 2018, the makers confirmed that Vada Chennai will be released theatrically on the occasion of Ganesh Chathurthi (13 September 2018). The teaser trailer for the film was unveiled on the occasion of Dhanush's birthday (28 July 2018) and received positive response from fans. Furthermore, celebrities such as Shah Rukh Khan and Anurag Kashyap praised Dhanush and Vetrimaaran's work in the teaser. The makers unveiled a set of posters featuring the lead characters starting from 6 August 2018. In mid-August, Dhanush announced that Vada Chennai, will be released worldwide on 17 October 2018, coinciding the Dusshera weekend. The film was premiered at the Pingyao International Film Festival in China before the theatrical release, and also premiered at the 23rd International Film Festival of Kerala in November 2018. The merchandise of Vada Chennai, was launched by Cover It Up and Fully Filmy on 15 October 2018, as a part of the film's promotion.

Four days before the theatrical release, the film was sent to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), where it received an A certificate, due to "raw and gritty violence". Scenes where dialogues mentioning and referring to the former Chief ministers J. Jayalalithaa, M. G. Ramachandran and M. Karunanidhi, where removed from the film, as it was considered defaming the politicians. Post-release, the film drew criticism for allegedly portraying the residents of North Chennai in a bad light. The film also drew controversies from fisherfolk community, because of a love-making scene between Ameer and Andrea was pictured in a boat, which was considered to be offensive for the community. Director Vetrimaaran, in a video statement, apologised to anyone who may have been hurt by the film. Then the director agreed to remove the offensive scenes from the film.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 9 wins & 8 nominations total

Additional Recognition: !Award !Date of ceremony !Category !Recipient(s) and nominee(s) !Result !

! rowspan="6" scope="row" | Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards

!scope="row" |Asianet Film Awards

! scope="row" |Asiavision Awards

! scope="row" |Behindwoods Gold Medal

! scope="row" |Edison Awards

! rowspan="3" scope="row" |Filmfare Awards South

!scope="row" |Pingyao International Film Festival

! rowspan="6" scope="row" |Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

! scope="row" |Vanitha Film Awards

CRITICAL RECEPTION

Vada Chennai received critical acclaim, with critics praising its plot, action sequences, technical aspects and cast performances.

Janani K, a critic from India Today gave a rating of 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Vada Chennai has everything you look for in a gangster thriller. But Vetri Maaran's display of twists and turns will win you over." Manoj Kumar. R of The Indian Express gave 5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Vada Chennai is the closest you can get to unforgiving underworld filled with insecurity, revenge, destiny, rage and insatiable urge for bloodshed. It is not the story that stands out in Vada Chennai. It is how beautifully Vetrimaaran has captured the lifestyle of a place, which is so close and yet so far away from the advancement of modern civilization."

Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute wrote "From the colourful curses of the street to each of the characters, the film gives us a very real glimpse of gang wars. Vetrimaaran-Dhanush delivers a brilliant gangster film." Srivatsan S of The Hindu wrote "The obvious political overtones that have been built throughout will have its relevance in part two. If anything, Vada Chennai reiterates why Vetri Maaran is a master storyteller." Priyanka Sundar of Hindustan Times stated the film Vada Chennai, the first part of a three-part film, "is complete in itself speaks for director’s Vetrimaaran’s execution style". She further called it as a "bloody brilliant film laced with some bone chilling moments accompanied with ingenious music". Anupama Subramanian of Deccan Chronicle gave 4 out of 5 stars and wrote:

M. Suganth of The Times of India gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "The sprawling nature of the narrative and the various events that impact the lives of the numerous characters make Vada Chennai truly an epic." Sreedhar Pillai of Firstpost gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Vada Chennai is another feather on Vetrimaaran’s cap though not in the same league as his earlier films.