National award winner Sarkunam and actor Atharvaa who has been part of a highly acclaimed National award winning film badly need a hit to take off the momentum their initial films have given to them. When they teamed up for a film which is backed by a producer like Bala, another national award winner and a filmmaker who has consistently delivered path breaking films a positive buzz surrounded the film right from its start. The final product only had to retain that in the film’s content and lets see whether ‘Chandi Veeran’ has done that.

Paari (Atharvaa) returns to his native village after getting punished for overstay in Singapore. He is in love with Thamarai (Anandhi) the daughter of a Mill owner (Lal) and also a big shot who commands the respect and the fear of everyone in the village.

A lake located at the village’s border has been the bone of contention between this village and the village at the other end for decades. Lal who is also the unopposed president of the village retains the ownership of the lake and makes sure, that the water does not reach the people at the other end, a move supported by most of his villagers

Paari’s attempts to release the water for the neighboring village end up endangering the life of everyone living in that village. Also Lal who smells the secret romance between Paari and his daughter hatches a ploy to kill Paari during the riot between the two villages.

Whether Paari could save his life and also the lives of an entire village forms the rest.

First of all kudos to director Sarkunam for coming with an out and out rural story and presenting it with authentic rural flavor backed by deep research. While rural films have become a rarity these days no other film set in rural background in recent days has captured the rural life with this much detailing and nativity. For this factor alone the film becomes a must watch for people living in urban areas like Chennai who are totally disconnected from villages.

The director has also captured how the smart phones and demand for English based education have penetrated into the villages. Instances like children attaching a smart phone in the stumps to record the cricket match they play are interesting to note.

When it comes to the story the director has taken up water which is becoming a scarce resource and how the elixir of life has become a luxury for a large part of population.  The film brilliantly captures the plight of a village denied of the natural resource and also subtly raises questions on the social, economic and political factors that have made poor people having to depend on others for water.

The film takes time to set in and the initial romance portions take more time than essential for a film dealing with such a strong subject that too in a total running time of one hour and 55 minutes. But once the main conflicts starts getting strong, the film picks up momentum.

The attempts of a single man to save an entire village from the wrath of a nearby powerful village have been portrayed in a way that is largely convincing and do not ridicule the viewer’s sense of logic. But at the end the film suddenly turns to a ‘feel-good’ mood and that dampens the impact the whole film had created until then.

The duet song in the second half seems to be included for the compelling need of running the film at least for two hours and also dampens the momentum created before interval. It is illogical also because a powerful village head will not leave his daughter roam around with a guy he hates. Also one cannot help feeling that more screen time could have been allotted to project the conflict of water sharing with more depth and that could have served for better understanding of the theme.

Performance wise Atharvaa fits in well as a playful rural guy who turns into a savior of an entire village. Anandhi is good looking and fulfills the needs of the character. Lal is menacing as an arrogant big shot. Rajashree makes a comeback as Atharvaa’s innocent mother and does her part well.

Arunagiri’s songs are pleasant to the ears. The ‘Alunguren Kulnguren’ song takes us down memory lane to the beautiful rural based melodies composed by Ilayaraja in 1980s. Lyricist Mohan Rajan deserves credit for his verses detailing the plight of water scarcity in the ‘Kothani’ song that comes in the later part of the second half. Sabesh-Murali duo’s re-recording makes the apt impact that it ought to in every scene.

P.G.Muthiah’s cinematography makes us feel living at a rural locality.

Verdict- The film is definitely worth your time and money for presenting a vital issue in a largely engaging manner.