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Vanakkam Chennai () is a 2013 Indian Tamil language-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi, in her debut. Produced by her husband Udhayanidhi Stalin of Red Giant Movies, the film stars Shiva and Priya Anand, while Santhanam and Rahul Ravindran portray supporting roles. It revolves around two people who end up renting the same house due to a fraudulent real estate broker, and slowly fall in love.
Filming for Vanakkam Chennai began in February 2013 and was nearly complete that July, taking place mostly in Chennai and Munnar. The music is scored by Anirudh Ravichander, cinematography was handled by Richard M. Nathan, and editing by T. S. Suresh. The film was released worldwide on 11 October 2013.
Soon, Ajay tracks down Narayanan, who he met in a chance encounter earlier, where Ajay pockets Narayanan's address from his wallet, and blames him for the misery in his life, because it was Narayanan's trickery that brought them together and now, Ajay cannot live without her love. Narayanan decides to help Ajay and he visits the house, under the pretense of being Ajay's friend, Billa Senthil. He tries to make Anjali fall for Ajay. Anjali's fiancé, Deepak then gives Anjali a surprise visit, just as when she begins to enjoy Ajay's company. Narayanan continues to try to getting Ajay and Anjali together, with no success.
On the night of Anjali's birthday, Ajay decides that she will never love him, and resorts to drinking, after being depressed. Meanwhile, Anjali realises that she loves Ajay, but is angry at his behaviour under the influence of alcohol. The next day, she goes to the wedding of Ajay's colleague as his wife, due to the fact that his colleagues think she is his wife and looks for him there. Just when they find each other and are about to confess their feelings for one another, Narayanan speaks on the phone with some new tenants. When he jokingly offers Ajay a cut of the deal, Anjali misunderstands Ajay as a fraudster, assuming he was also in Narayanan's house plot. Anguished, Anjali berates them and leaves the wedding hall, while Ajay looks on in guilt.
Three months later, Anjali has returned to London and wins her photography contest. Deepak tells her that Narayanan had told him everything from scratch, and that Ajay is innocent. He convinces her that she loves Ajay and vice versa, as she did not hesitate to visit Theni or act as Ajay's wife despite being engaged to Deepak. Anjali returns to the Chennai house and looks for Ajay, but does not find him. Just then, Ajay opens the door and finds his passport that he was looking for. Anjali meets him and is initially upset, asking him why he did not come to her for the last three months in London. Ajay tells her that he had just received his passport and was planning to leave for the airport. As the two hug and reconcile, Narayanan enters with a prospective tenant to trick, and takes an advance from him. Ajay and Anjali stop Narayanan and punch him.
Anirudh Ravichander, Adhi of Hiphop Tamizha, Hard Kaur and Robert appear in the song "Chennai City Gangsta".
The audio rights were purchased by Sony Music India, and the audio was launched on 27 July at Suryan FM. Vipin of Music Aloud summarised "It is indeed a hat-trick of winners in Tamil for Anirudh Ravichander , with Vanakkam Chennai. Must-hear soundtrack!", giving 8.5 out of 10. Karthik of Milliblog wrote " Vanakkam Chennai is an interesting soundtrack, but has Anirudh's past catching up too early in his career". Srinivasa Ramanujam of The Times of India rated the entire album 3.5 out of 5. He appreciated "Hey" for its "groovy" vocals and believed it was "sure to have people dancing thanks to the beats", and also appreciated the rustic tone of "Osaka", deviating from Anirudh's usual westernised and techno songs. He was however critical of "Engadi Porandha", but said both versions of "Oh Penne" make up for it, and also appreciated the "melodious" song "Ailasa" and "high-on-energy" song "Chennai City Gangsta".
Writing for The Hindu, Baradwaj Rangan said, "Seeing Vanakkam Chennai is to be reminded of how stupidly happy a light-hearted love story can make us feel. Scenes that have no business working — like one involving Holi colours — make us smile, and that's a sign that we are involved with these characters, that we want them to realise, soon, that they need to get on with the business of being with each other", calling it a "low-key bliss-out for the most part". Sify said, "The film has nothing new to offer but is still enjoyable due to its glossy packaging, rich visuals and lots of fun". Malini Mannath of The New Indian Express wrote, "Sweet and warm at places, the film is a monotonous journey on the whole. Offering nothing exciting or novel in either its plot or presentation, it's at best a stepping stone for a debutant maker".
| Best Female Playback Singer – Tamil | Suchitra – ("Ailasa Ailasa") | |
| Best Lyricist – Tamil | Madhan Karky – ("Osaka Osaka") | |
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