''Chennai 600028'' is a 2007 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

-language sports comedy film written and directed by

Venkat Prabhu Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren (born 7 November 1975), better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu, is an Indian filmmaker, actor and playback singer in Tamil films. After completing his education, he began pursuing an acting career, with his firs ...

in his directorial debut. It stars

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...

, Jai, Premji,

Aravind Akash Aravind Akash is an Indian actor and dancer who predominantly works in the South Indian film industry. He rose to fame through 2002 Malayalam film ''Nandanam'' portraying the role of Lord Krishna. He has also been a judge for a few TV shows in ...

Nithin Sathya Nithin Sathya (born 9 January 1980) is an Indian actor, film producer. He works primarily in Tamil Cinema. He made his film debut in ''Kalatpadai'', directed by J. Ramesh, in 2003. He acted with Kamal Hassan in a small role in the Tamil come ...

and newcomers

Ajay Raj Ajay Raaj is an Indian actor and choreographer who appears in Tamil language films. While working as a dance choreographer, Ajay made his acting debut with Agathiyan's '' Selvam'' (2005), before appearing in '' Chennai 600028'' (2007) and has s ...

, Ranjith,

Vijay Vasanth Vijay Vasanth (born Vijayakumar Vasanthakumar on 20 May 1983) is an Indian politician who is a Member of Parliament from Kanyakumari Loksabha constituency. He contested and won the bypoll that took place for Kanyakumari Loksabha constituency i ...

, Prasanna,

Inigo Prabakaran Inigo Prabhakar is an Indian actor who predominantly acts in Tamil films. He made his entry into acting in 2005 in the film '' Ji'' as Ajith's friend. In 2007, he played a role named John as Rockers team captain in the film ''Chennai 600028''. ...

, Karthik and Arun in the lead along with

Vijayalakshmi Feroz Vijayalakshmi Feroz (née Agathiyan;), is an Indian actress who has predominantly appeared in Tamil language films. As the daughter of film director Agathiyan, Vijayalakshmi made her acting debut as a timid girl in Venkat Prabhu's ''Chennai ...

and Kristine Zedek, making their acting debut as well. The film was produced by S. P. B. Charan along with J. K. Saravana, a Singapore-based award-winning producer. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by

Premji Amaran Prem Kumar Gangai Amaren (born 26 February 1979), better known as Premgi, is an Indian playback singer, composer, songwriter, actor and comedian. The son of composer and director Gangai Amaran, he often composes rap songs in Tamil cinema and ...

and

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...

and also Illayaraja respectively. The film is based on street cricket played in India, focusing on various themes as friendship, love and

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

in a suburban area. Following its theatrical release on 27 April 2007, it received critical acclaim and emerged a surprise

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...

, running successfully for more than one year in theaters, whilst going on to achieve

cult status A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

in the subsequent years. The film's title is derived from the pincode for

Mandaveli Mandaveli (also known as Mandavelli or Mandavelipakkam) is a neighborhood in Chennai, India. It is also termed usually as Mandavelipakkam which in the Tamil language "Mandhai" is 'herd of cattle' and "Veli" is 'grassland'. Location Mandaveli is ...

, a suburb of

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, where the story takes place. The success of the film gained the relatively unknown actors – Jai, Shiva, Premji and Nithin Sathya, newcomers Vijayalakshmi, Vijay Vasanth and the director Venkat Prabhu popularity. The film was also remade in Bengali as ''

Le Chakka ''Le Chakka'' ( en, Take a Sixer) (Bengali:লে ছক্কা) is a 2010 Bengali-language sports comedy film written by Padmanava Dasgupta and directed by Raj Chakraborty. The film stars Payel Sarkar and Dev as the lead pair of the film wi ...

'' (2010),

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

as '' Super Six'' (2012), and in Kannada as '' Bangalore 560023'' (2015). A sequel for the film, '' Chennai 600028 II: Second Innings'', has also since been released.

Plot

The story revolves around two local cricket league teams that compete against each other in local matches and consider each other as sworn enemies. Royapuram Rockers are on top of the chain and keep bashing the Sharks year after year. The heroes of the movie are the Sharks' team. The story begins when Raghu's parents move from Royapuram to Visalakshi Thottam, Chennai 600 028. Raghu is a member of the Royapuram Rockers Cricket team, and a college student living with his parents. He has no choice but to move with them although he detests the area. He is not very excited at the prospect of living in the same area as his sworn enemies. Raghu is faithful to his teammates, but they ignore him because of the distance. Angered at being replaced by a new guy in the team in one of the matches, Raghu estranges himself from cricket and the Rockers. Raghu informs of Pazhani's sister Selvi's love for Karthik to him. This incident initiates Raghu's friendship with a few Sharks team players and eventually gets induced into the team. Raghu practices with the Sharks to play against the Rockers in the upcoming Radio Mirchi trophy. Pazhani, who soon learns of his sister and Karthik's love affair is disappointed and then there is a tiff amongst the friends. The team splits up for a while, but Karthik apologizes to Pazhani and they make up. The team reunites and starts practicing for the trophy once again. Unfortunately, Karthik is stabbed by his brother's enemies and is rendered unfit to play the match. Pazhani replaces Karthik as the captain and the team heads for the match. Under tight pressure and with a nail biting finish, the Sharks finally defeat the Rockers in the semi-finals of the tournament. In the finals they meet their enemies, a group of school kids named Bad Boys-II who practice by bunking school to play cricket on the beach. The kids are really good and the Sharks know it because they have lost badly to them once before. The movie ends with the team really struggling to keep it up in the game.

Cast

* Jai as Raghuvaran "Raghu *

as Karthik" * Premji as Seenivasan "Seenu" *

as Aravind *

as Pazhani *

as Gopi *

as Ezhumalai * Prassanna as Shanmugham * Ranjith as Imran * Arun as Uday * Karthik Preath as Arivazhagan "Arivu" *

Sampath Raj Sampath Raj (born 25 December 1968) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu films, in addition to Kannada and Malayalam films. He is best known for appearing in each film of director Ven ...

as Guna *

Ilavarasu Ilavarasu is an Indian cinematographer and actor, who works in the Tamil film industry. He started his career as a cinematographer and worked for 13 films, winning a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for one of them. He, however, became better known ...

as Manohar *

as Selvi * Kristine Zedek as Swetha * Badava Gopi as Commentator *

Sakthi Saravanan Sakthi Saravanan is an Indian cinematographer, who works in Tamil and Telugu cinema. He is best known for his hand held and gritty work with Venkat Prabhu and M. Rajesh directorials. Inigo Prabakaran Inigo Prabhakar is an Indian actor who predominantly acts in Tamil films. He made his entry into acting in 2005 in the film '' Ji'' as Ajith's friend. In 2007, he played a role named John as Rockers team captain in the film ''Chennai 600028''. ...

as John (Rockers's captain) * Mai Prakash as Rocker's team player * Sundar as Jeeva * Hari Prashanth as Hari, Bad Boys' captain *

S. N. Surendar S. N. Surendar (born 17 February 1953) is an Indian playback singer, dubbing artist and actor who primarily works in Tamil films. He has sung over 500 songs under various music directors for Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Tamil languages. He i ...

as Sampath, Raghu's father * Neelu Nasreen as Guna's wife * Srilatha as Durga, Raghu's mother *

Shanmugasundaram Shanmugasundaram was an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil films. He began his career as an actor by starring in ''Ratha Thilagam'' (1963) and '' Karnan'' (1964), and continued his career for seven decades. He is also a dubbing artist. He h ...

as Sports minister *

Sam Anderson Sam Anderson (born April 2, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his character roles such as Sam Gorpley on '' Perfect Strangers'', Holland Manners on ''Angel'', dentist Bernard Nadler on ''Lost'' and in film, as the principal in ''F ...

as David *

Mirchi Senthil Senthil Kumar (born 18 October 1978), popularly known as Mirchi Senthil is an Indian film and television actor, television presenter, radio jockey and voice actor. He began his career as a radio jockey with the radio station ''Radio Mirchi'' ...

as Radio Mirchi RJ (special appearance) *

Kalyan Kalyan (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, əljaːɳ is a city on the banks of Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Kalyan is a subdivision (Taluka) ...

special appearance in "Saroja Saman Nikalo" song *

Pa. Ranjith Pa. Ranjith is an Indian film director and screenwriter who primarily works in Tamil cinema. He made his directorial debut with the 2012 romantic comedy ''Attakathi'', before earning unanimously positive reviews for his second film, the politi ...

as a player *

Karunas Karunas (born 21 February 1970 as Karunanidhi Sethu) is an Indian actor, politician and comedian in the Tamil film industry. Appearing mostly in supporting roles, he has also played lead roles in films including ''Dindigul Sarathy'' (2008) an ...

as himself in a fight scene

Production

''Chennai 600028'' is the directorial debut of Venkat Prabhu. He initially titled the film as ''Enga Area Ulla Varaadha'' (''Don't come into our territory''), from the opening song in ''

Pudhupettai ''Pudhupettai'' is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language crime action film written and directed by Selvaraghavan. The film stars the director's brother Dhanush in the lead role, while Sonia Agarwal and Sneha play supporting roles. Plot The story is ...

'', but lyricist Vaali was critical of the idea, feeling that the title was "negative" sounding. Subsequently, the film was renamed as ''Chennai 600028'', with the idea of including the area's postcode taken from the title of the American television series ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...

''. Venkat Prabhu felt the new title was "more apt and universal".

Soundtrack

The film's score was composed by Venkat Prabhu's brother,

, while his cousin,

composed the soundtrack, which also featured two tracks that were rearranged by Premji. The soundtrack album, featuring 9 tracks, released on 19 February 2007 in India and four days later in Singapore and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, on 23 February 2007. The audio was launched at the radio station

Radio Mirchi Radio Mirchi (also known as 98.3 Mirchi) is a nationwide network of private FM radio stations in India. It is owned by the ENIL, EntertainmentNetwork India Ltd (ENIL), which is one of the subsidiaries of The Times Group. ''Mirchi'' is Hindi f ...

, broadcasting all the songs live, which was said to be the first time in India. The lyrics were written by 'Kavignar' Vaali and

Gangai Amaran Gangai Amaran is an Indian music composer, singer, lyricist, writer, film director and actor in Tamil films. Personal life Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as the youngest son of Daniel Ram ...

, father of Venkat Prabhu. Also, composer

penned the lyrics for the song "Natpukullae", besides singing it. 19 singers had rendered their voice for the songs, including Yogi B, DJ Funky Sathiya and SilveStar, two Singaporean rappers, actor

, director Venkat Prabhu and producer S. P. B. Charan. The album was both critically acclaimed and gained immense popularity upon its release, being described as, "excellent", a "rocking album" and one of the "aesthetic highlights" of the film. The songs were said to be a big hit as reportedly 25000 CDs were sold on the very first day, "ruling the charts" worldwide. The songs "Jalsa" and "Saroja Saman Nikalo" were "rocking the dance floors".

Release and reception

''Chennai 600028'' was released on 27 April 2007, and emerged as a major commercial success. Sify in their review stated that "All the guys who acted in the film are candid and have let their hair down. RJ Shiva is the surprise packet in the film. Venkat Prabhu deserves a pat on his back for making a breezy fun movie which highlights the fact that cricket in India which is a religion for many is also won through team spirit and sacrifice. So go ahead, make your matinee and enjoy the match." Filmibeat reviewed it as "Apart from cricket there is enough space for love, friendship, sentiments and decent comedy in the script." Baradwaj Rangan reviewed the film as "A street-cricket saga from a bunch of no-names comes out of nowhere and knocks your socks off." Writing for Rediff, the review stated as "The movie is a result of a perfect team effort in every sense. A perfect entertainer, not to be missed." The film emerged as a

at the box office, and also emerging as the

, in coming years. The film's 100th day celebrations, took place on 5 August 2007 at

Chennai Trade Centre Chennai Trade Centre is a permanent exhibition complex in Nandambakkam, Chennai, hosting several trade fairs and conventions round the year. It is the first fair infrastructure that has been developed by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO ...

, with

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

and

Kamal Hassan Mohd. Kamal bin Hassan (born 27 October 1942 in Pasir Mas, Kelantan) is a Muslim academic and Islamic scholar, specializing in contemporary Islamic thought, particularly pertaining to the Southeast Asia region. He was the Rector of the Internatio ...

being the chief guest. The film is later dubbed in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

as ''Kodithe Kottalira'' in 2009''.''

Remakes

The film was remade in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

as ''

'' (2009), and in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

as '' Bangalore 560023'' (2015). The film was also remade in

as '' Super Six'' in 2012.

Sequel

Plans to make a sequel to ''Chennai 600028'' were reported several times in the media, shortly after the first film's release. It features several cast members from the earlier film including Jai,

Premji Mullamangalath Parameshwaran Bhattathiripad (23 September 1908 – 10 August 1998), commonly known as M. P. Bhatathirippad or Premji, was a social reformer, cultural leader and actor from Kerala state, India. Premji joined Yogakshema Sabha a ...

and

. Actors

Vaibhav Vaibhav() is a male given name in the Sanskrit language. People * Vaibhav Deshpande (born 1987), Indian cricketer * Vaibhav Kaul (born 1991), Indian photographer * Vaibhav Madhukar Pichad (born 1974), Indian politician *Vaibhav Mangle (born 1975 ...

Subbu Panchu Subramaniam Panchu Arunachalam, credited as Subbu Panchu or P. Ar. Subramaniam (born 16 February 1973) is an Indian actor and film producer. Son of noted writer-producer Panchu Arunachalam, Subbu first appeared as a child artist in the Malayala ...

, Abhinay Vaddi were chosen to play supporting roles in the film. Production of the film was officially unveiled on 28 February 2016 and the film was released on 9 December 2016.

Awards and nominations

;

Vijay Awards The Vijay Awards are presented by the Tamil television channel STAR Vijay to honour excellence in Tamil cinema. It has been given annually since 2006, with the latest—the 10th edition—of the award-giving ceremony having been held in ...

Vijay Award for Best Crew The Vijay for Best Crew is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil (Kollywood) films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. See also * Tamil cinema * Cinema of India ...

Vijay Award for Best Find of the Year The Vijay for Best Find of the Year is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil (Kollywood) films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. Nominations *2007 Venkat Prabhu ...

* Nominated -

Vijay Award for Best Film The Vijay for Best Film is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil ( Kollywood) films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. Nominations *2007 '' Paruthi Veeran'' - G ...

* Nominated -

Vijay Award for Best Director The Vijay for Best Director is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil ( Kollywood) films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. Nominations *2007 Vetrimaaran - '' Po ...

- Venkat Prabhu * Nominated -

Vijay Award for Best Story, Screenplay Writer The Vijay for Best Story, Screenplay Writer is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil (Kollywood) films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. Nominations *2007 Viji ...

- Venkat Prabhu * Nominated -

Vijay Award for Best Debut Actor The Vijay for Best Début Actor is given by Vijay sethupathy as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil (Kollywood) films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. Nominations *2007 Karthi – ...

* Nominated -

Vijay Award for Best Debut Actress The Vijay for Best Debut Actress is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil ( Kollywood) films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. Nominations *2007 Anjali – ...

Vijayalakshmi Ahathian Vijayalakshmi Feroz (née Agathiyan;), is an Indian actress who has predominantly appeared in Tamil language films. As the daughter of film director Agathiyan, Vijayalakshmi made her acting debut as a timid girl in Venkat Prabhu's ''Chennai ...

* Nominated -

Vijay Award for Best Editor The Vijay for Best Editor is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil (Kollywood) films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. Nominations *2007 A. Sreekar Prasad - ...

B. Lenin B. Lenin born as Bhimsingh Lenin is an Indian film editor, writer and director who works in Tamil language, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi language, Hindi films. The son of Tamil film maker A. Bhimsingh, Lenin entered the film industry as an assistan ...

* Nominated -

Vijay Award for Best Lyricist The Vijay for Best Lyricist is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil (Kollywood) films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. Nominations *2007 Na. Muthukumar - " ...

- Vaali * Nominated - Vijay Award for Best Male Playback Singer -

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

* Nominated -

Vijay Award for Best Choreographer The Vijay for Best Choreographer is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil language, Tamil (Kollywood) films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. Nominations * 2 ...

;

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Family Film The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil (Kollywood Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged ...

References

External links

* {{Venkat Prabhu 2007 films 2000s Tamil-language films 2000s buddy comedy films 2000s sports comedy films Culture of Chennai Films scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja Films about cricket in India Films directed by Venkat Prabhu Indian buddy comedy films Indian sports comedy films Tamil films remade in other languages 2007 directorial debut films 2007 comedy films