his earlier films. The way he has built into the story, the rise of gangsters and thrown in political allegories is brutally honest. It also shows how politicians and the slum lords, in the name of development and welfare of the people, are similar in their opportunistic approach and selfish interests." He gave the film three-and-a-half out of five stars. A critic from Sify, also gave the same rating and said "Vada Chennai takes its time to unfold, and you may enjoy if you muster the patience for it. Give it a chance, watch it for some excellent acting and for its gritty realistic feel." Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote "Dhanush's ascent to stardom has come alongside his growth as an actor, and there’s not one scene where he makes us doubt his character's actions. The actors are so good (Ameer is a standout) and the film's parts are so much greater than the whole that savouring them becomes its own kind of satisfaction. With his outstanding cinematographer Velraj, Vetrimaaran unleashes one flamboyant scene after another." Accolades Legacy Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap also heaped praise on the direction and screenplay, calling it as "an original gangster film". Directors Gautham Vasudev Menon and Vineeth Sreenivasan too praised the film, the latter called Vetrimaaran as the director "needed to be celebrated". Kashyap also had the first cut of the film, along with other Tamil films being preserved in his library. In a May 2021 interview with Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, Vetrimaaran revealed about his voice-over used in the opening narrations, and said that "when the film's release date was nearing, he could not trim the film to the desired duration, so he came up with the idea of voice over only three days before the film's release date". A dialogue from the film "Senthil, Guna, Velu, Thambi ivanga ellarum Anbu vaazhkaiyoda inaikkuradhu Rajan dhan" (), has been used widely in internet memes. Future Post Vada Chennai's success, many sources claimed about the sequel of the film, after Dhanush and Vetrimaaran collaborated for Asuran (2019). In July 2019, there were reports being surfaced that the sequel of the film will be shelved, Dhanush clarified that the sequel will progress. It was reported that the sequel will be made into a web series format instead of a feature film, as Vetrimaaran revealed that "some of the events including the 2004 Tsunami and