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The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang review: Cool, Colourful, Passionate & Cynically Twisted Gangster Drama
‘The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang’ – award winning Malayalam filmmaker Krishand (the mind blowing ‘Aavasavyuham’ fame) does it again when it comes to twisting genres with his unique style, flavour and attitude. ‘The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang’ – the crime drama show for Sony LIV is a cool, colourful, passionate and cynically twisted saga of five men one with a shorter height – a midget (person with dwarfism – the reason for .5 in the title).
The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang synopsis
Maithreyan (Jagadish) a writer somewhere on the border of Tamil Nandu and Maharashtra is writing a memoir of the 4.5 Gang leader, Arikuttan (Sanju Sivaram). ‘The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang’ is a six-episode series moving back and forth telling the story of this notorious gang right from their high school days in Thiruvanchipuram (modelled on Thiruvanthapuram).
The gang includes Moonga (Sachin Joseph), Kanji (Sreenath Babu), Maniyan (Sambhu) and Althaf (Niranj Maniyan Pilla Raju) they are not interested in studies and want to come out from poverty and enjoy the power and money like their local heavyweight Bristo Brother. They get support of a corrupt police inspector Suresh (Rahul Rajagopal) and embark on a journey filled with challenges from local hoodlums Bruce Lee, Pyelakuttan, Airport Saji, Cracker Unni etc and become smugglers of milk and dominate the Thiruvanchipuram’s flower market.
But the path is not smooth as the gang face expected and unexpected challenges from an eve teaser Senthil (Vigneshwar Suresh), the flower king Valsan and his wife Ramani (Darshana Rajendran) and more.
The Indian world of gangster dramas on big screen and small screen has evolved dramatically from the retro stylish smugglers like Ajit’s LION and their gorgeous and sultry Mona Darlings to RGV’s hard, raw and biting ‘Satya’ to the desi hinterlands and coal mines in Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, the fascinating world of Indian on-screen crime lords have given us unforgettable characters like Vijay Chauhan from Agneepath (Amitabh Bachchan), Faisal from ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ and at times the crime gangster world comes up with offer which you cannot refuse.
From sona (gold), mona, to drugs, booze, goli, bomb, coal and bandooks, now we have dhoodh and phool from these lungi clad gangsters from Thiruvanchipuram indulging in crazy milk heist and quirky flower market control in National Award-winning filmmaker Krishand’s ‘The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang’. This cynically twisted gangster drama loves pessimism and has a comic book quality plus the undercurrent of sly humour sprinkled with accepted positive machoism and songs makes it a unique and rare gangster show.
Tightly written but leisurely paced, ‘The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang’ is nicely rooted, the characters are finely etched and the performances are outstanding.
Sanju Sivaram who plays Arikuttan excellently.
Sambhu as the music loving Maniyan a gifted singer is fantastic.
Sachin Joseph as Moonga who brings unexpected surprises is fabulous.
Sreenath Babu as Kanji who at times cannot control his anger is marvelous.
Niranj Maniyan Pilla Raju as the restrained controlled Althaf is noteworthy.
Jagdish as the writer is also very good.
The ladies to add considerable weight
Darshana Rajendran as wife of the flower king is too good.
Santhy Balachandar as Arikuttan love interest is very natural.
The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang flaws
At times the prime characters of the series are guilty of taking impulsive decisions, the Senthil episodes goes unnecessarily extra violent.
The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang review – final words
In spite of its flaws, ‘The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang’ is an achievement by Krishand, Sony LIV has another rare solid and entertaining series on its sleeve. If you love twist in genres and appreciate gangster dramas that come with rotted characters and humor – look no further
Going with an enjoyable 3.5 stars – 3.5/5 for The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang
The series is streaming on Sony LIV
A child born from life & fed by cinema. A filmi keeda from child & a film journalist for the last fifteen years. a father, seeker, foodie who loves crooning bollywood melodies twitter.com/cineblues More By vishal verma