Chekka Chivantha Vaanam Trailer Breakdown 

The trailer for arguably the biggest multi-starrer of Tamil cinema this year, Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, which was released a little over two hours back, has raked in more than two lakh views already. Just like Mani Ratnam's previous film trailers, this one too gives an outline of the film and its characters by revealing their unique dramatic conflicts.
 

Similar to the trailer of Kadal, which starts with an eagle soaring over a child walking alone in a coastline, and that of OK Kanmani, which opens with a view of Mumbai, or the way Kaatru Veliyidai starts off with a man falling through the frozen branches near the Indo-Pakistan border, CCV's trailer establishes the city in which the story unravels -- Chennai, with a panaromic bird's eye view. With Rasool (Vijay Sethupathi) giving the voiceover, we get to know of Senapathi (Prakash Raj) - a don with the image of a saviour. The man seems to have seen everything over the years, and it looks like some unfinished business gets back on him which leaves those living under his shadow in doubt about his successor. That's when we get to know that Senapathi has three sons, Varadan (Arvind Swami), Thyagu (Arun Vijay) and Ethi (Simbu), who continue their father's legacy in their own ways, sort of like the Corleones in The Godfather. 

Going by order of seniority, the trailer starts with Varadan, the self-appointed heir to the throne who confidently says, "naan thaan, vere yaaru". Seemingly without a formal education, he takes a rather rough attitude to everything, be it making war or making love. He's ruthless and prefers a hands-on approach when it comes to his day job. The man has a wife, Chitra (Jyotika), and appears to have an extra-marital relationship with Parvathi (Aditi Rao Hydari), a journalist -- something similar to the relationship drug lord Pablo Escobar shared with anchor-woman Virginia Vallejo. Varadan underestimates his brothers believing that their education will make them take a safer path. 
 

To prove him wrong, we get introduced to Thyagu -- someone who seems to enjoy meetings at the Palm Islands of UAE. His wife Renu (Aishwarya Rajesh), who sounds like she's a Sri Lankan Tamil woman, tells her sister-in-law Chitra that Thyagu has two faces -- the caring husband as well as a power-thirsty maniac who is waiting for the right time to claim his place on the throne. "Annan kitte sollathinge," says Thyagu when Chitra sees him casually resting his legs on his dad's sofa-seat.

Then there is Ethi, who seems to have no qualms about his most wanted status in Serbia. He calls himself the 'othai raja', someone who will come back to rule over his own kingdom, with his own gang of friends. As someone with daddy issues, he feels neglected. So much that he marries the girl of his dreams, Chaaya (Dayana Erappa) without the knowledge of his family. He exhibits the classic symptoms of Youngest Child Syndrome; as his elder brother points out, he's someone who takes unwarranted risks. 

And while we're at friends, we get to the last main character. He's an outsider, not just from the family, but also from the family business - Rasool, a cop who also happens to be Varadan's friend. He takes law into his own hands and doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. His relationship with Senapathi's family is so close that his higher officials feel he's doing it to replace the big don himself. 

When all the four forces come together, it's nothing short of a war, as Chitra points it out. While we don't get to see much of the ladies, it's also shown that the women of the house aren't what we usually see in such a family set up. Chitra seems to be the one who manages the family, while Renu has spent days behind bars. 
 

The film seems to be a rollercoaster of human emotions, something that Mani specialises in, but the one that stands out the most is 'friendship'. We've been witness to stories of friendship from the veteran in Thalapathy, Thiruda Thiruda and even an unlikely one in Kadal. That said, there are also traces of the director's other classics such as Nayagan and Agni Natchathiram. My guess is that CCV will probably be about the consequences of building your trust on the wrong people.