Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (Eng: The Crimson Red Sky) is a 2018 Indian Tamil gangster action thriller film directed by Mani Ratnam, co-written with Siva Ananth featuring actors Aravind Swami, Arun Vijay, Silambarasan, Vijay Sethupathi, Jyothika, Aditi Rao Hydari, Aishwarya Rajesh, and Dayana Erappa as the ensemble cast, while Prakash Raj, Jayasudha, Thiagarajan and Mansoor Ali Khan play supporting roles.
Chekka Chivantha Vaanam tells the story of three brothers who engage in a power struggle for control over their deceased father’s criminal empire, without realizing that they are playing into the hands of a suspended police officer. A. R. Rahman and Qutub-E-Kripa composed the soundtrack and score, while Santosh Sivan handled the cinematography and Sreekar Prasad edited the film.
Chekka Chivantha Vaanam opened to the audiences worldwide on 27 September 2018 to a positive critical feedback, with reviewers praising the direction and performances; it received slight criticism for lacking strong women characters.
Senapathi (Prakash Raj), a God-fearing boss of a crime family, is on a tour to a temple with his wife Lakshmi (Jayasudha). Despite being escorted by heavily armed men, assassins disguised as cops attempt to take down Sena and Lakshmi, but they evade the assault. Sena’s children are notified of this. Sena has a daughter (RJ Sindhu) and three sons. The eldest of the sons is Varadharajan (Arvind Swami), who runs a part of his empire in Chennai. The second, Thyagarajan (Arun Vijay), operates his business in Dubai with Arabs. The third, Ethirajan (Silambarasan), runs the Serbian section of Sena’s empire.
Meanwhile, Varadan tries phoning his friend Rasool Ibrahim (Vijay Sethupathi), a police inspector, for information as to who the person behind the ambush on his father was. Rasool, who is in midst of an interrogation, fails to answer his call and gets suspended for violating rules after beating a young boy during an investigation case. Soon after his arrival and meeting up with Varadan, they discuss of the attack and about the potential mastermind behind it with Chinnappadasan (Thiagarajan) being the most probable. Chinnappa has been a long rival of Sena’s ever since both dons have ruled Chennai. Varadan kills Chinnappa’s son-in-law (Appani Sarath), creating a gang war. At the same time, Sena regains health. During their meetup with Chinnappa, Sena tells him that he is aware of who the culprit is, and later lets Lakshmi know that one of their sons is behind this.
Soon after, Sena passes away, and the brothers start a fight over who will be the next king to his throne. The brothers doubt each other, and a feud begins between them after Varadan takes control of his father’s empire. Further, he conspires against his brothers by harming their wives and hiring men to kill them. Ethi and Thyagu join hands to revenge against Varadan, on the condition that Thyagu will be the sole king. They try to get back to India via Nepal but are captured by Varadan’s men at the airport. Ethi and Thyagu manage to escape from there and reach Chennai. They overpower Varadan by manipulating his henchman and roping Rasool to their side. They kill their uncle Chezhiyan (Siva Ananth), who is Varadan’s father-in-law, and capture Varadan’s girlfriend Parvathi (Aditi Rao Hydari), a TV reporter.
Fearing that his brothers may harm his family, Varadan flees from Chennai. During a shootout, Varadan’s wife Chitra (Jyothika) gets killed. It is transpired that Varadan hired the assassins to kill Sena so that he could succeed in getting his father’s place. Ethi and Thyagu catch Varadan with Rasool’s help. In the midst of the confrontation, Thyagu shoots Varadan for framing and incarcerating his wife Renuka (Aishwarya Rajesh). Subsequently, Ethi kills Thyagu for setting up a hitman to kill his wife Chaaya (Dayana Erappa).
In the end, Ethi tries to lure Rasool at gunpoint by offering to either bite the dust or join him. Rasool tells Ethi that his father Ibrahim was a small gangster and was killed before his eyes in a police encounter. His mother sent him away to his uncle’s house so that he would not be like his father. Since then, he hated gangsters. Rasool reveals that he is still working undercover to eliminate Sena’s empire and that the rift between the brothers has created a chance for him to bring their empire of crime down. Rasool then kills Ethi and reports to his authorities that Operation Red Sky has been accomplished.
Directed by Mani Ratnam
Produced by Mani Ratnam & A. Subaskaran
Written by Mani Ratnam & Siva Ananth
Starring Aravind Swamy, Arun Vijay, Silambarasan, Vijay Sethupathi, Jyothika, Aditi Rao Hydari, Aishwarya Rajesh, Dayana Erappa
Narrated by Vijay Sethupathi
Music by Songs: A. R. Rahman Score:A. R. Rahman & Qutub-E-Kripa
Cinematography Santosh Sivan
Edited by A. Sreekar Prasad
Production Madras Talkies & Lyca Productions
Release date 27 September 2018
Running time 143 minutes
Country India
Language Tamil
