Chennai 600028 II: Second InningsMovie

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M Suganth, TNN, Updated: Dec 9, 2016, 05.10 PM IST
CRITIC'S RATING: 3.5/5
AVG READERS' RATING: 3.7/5
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CAST:Jai, Shiva, Nitinsathyaa, Premgi Amaren, Vijay Vasanth, Ajay Raj, Vaibhav, Abhinay
Vaddi, Sana Althaf, Vijayalakshmi, Anjena Kriti, Mahat Raghavendra, Ilavarasu, Inigo
Prabhakaran
DIRECTION:Venkat Prabhu
DURATION:2 hours 34 minutes
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CRITIC'S REVIEW

SYNOPSIS: The Chennai Sharks XI team goes to Theni for the

marriage of their teammate Ragu, and get into a tiff with the local
team that becomes a threat to the wedding.

REVIEW: Remember the feeling when you catch up with old friends after a
long time? It is such nostalgia that the awkwardly-titled Chennai 6000028 II:
second Innings evokes to give us a jolly good time. The boys are back and
they are men this time. When the film opens, we find that a few of them are
married, some have moved to different cities for work, and there is no time for
cricket and hanging out. But there is yearning for the good old days. And then
comes news of their teammate Ragus (Jai) marriage, to be held in Theni,
offering them an opportunity to get together at last. And cricket, too, comes
back into their dull lives when they clash with Marudhupandi (Vaibhav), a local
who is crazy about cricket (or rather winning at all cost), and his friend
Ganeshan (Abhinay Vaddi), who secretly wants to marry Anu (Sana Althaf),
Ragus lover-fiance.
The success of Chennai 6000028 II: Second Innings lies in how smartly
Venkat Prabhu weaves in the elements that we loved in the first film even
though the setting and the dramatic angle of this film is different. Venkat
Prabhu retains the themes that made the earlier film a modern-day cult classic
our obsessions with cricket and friendships and also addresses his
characters problems as adults, which an audience that has watched the
previous film in their growing up years can relate to very well now how do
you hold on to the very things that have defined your life even after marriage?
Here, we see the married men Karthik (Shiva, whose one-liners are
spectacular sixers), Pazhani (Nitinsathyaa), Gopi (Vijay Vasanth) and
Ezhumalai (Ajay Raj) struggling to act as responsible adults while yearning to
be their happy-go-lucky younger selves. That they are also largely henpecked
husbands (much like the friends in Panchathanthiram) makes their case pitiful.
Only the conflict involving Ragus marriage feels generic.

As with Chennai 600028, the filmmaking feels unpolished, and the cricket
atches are shot and edited in a scrappy manner that makes the film relatable
in a way Venkat Prabhus previous big-budget films did not make us feel.
Every time a minor supporting character from that film from
Shanmugasundaram to Gopis bat makes an appearance here, you feel
like cheering for them. And the cricket match that drives the second half
against an opponent who has been the Sharks scourge has enough tense
moments to thrills us. That the stakes are higher this time only makes it even
more nail-bitingly exciting.