Karthik and Ajith team up again after the success of
Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen. But this time, Ajith plays
the hero while Karthik has the extended cameo. While that
was no classic, it did offer two and a half hours of solid,
feel-good entertainment.
This movie doesn't do too well on
that front either.
Meenakshi(Meena) is a widow living with her son Nandu.
Jeeva(Ajith), living in the same colony, has been pining
silently for her for the last 4 years. He runs an
organization called A-to-Z, which can get anything done for
anybody.
Jeeva follows Divya(Malavika, last seen with Ajith in
Unnai Thedi) to get some information on her for her
suitor but she ends up falling for him and pursues him
relentlessly. He avoids her, telling her that he is already
in love with someone else and when cornered, reveals that it
is Meenakshi.
This leads to some surprising revelations about
Meenakshi's past, her relationship with singer Haridas (Karthik)
and Jeeva's love for her. Meanwhile, Divya's father, a
staunch supporter of love marriage, kidnaps Nandu and asks
Jeeva to marry Divya. Jeeva ofcourse accepts and things are
then resolved in the climax.
Most scenes in this movie have a familiar feel to them.
And the story itself - the hero wooing the heroine with the
help of the other colony members while the heroine has
secrets in her past - is the same that the director had in
his other feature Aval Varuvaalaa. The flashback
involving Karthik and Meena is the best part of the movie
and the relationship between them is well-developed. The
director also succeeds in providing a nice reason for
Ajith's feelings towards Meena. But the climax is so
cinematic that it almost spoils all the goodwill the
director earned till then.
Ajith does his part well and doesn't squander the good
name that
Vaali earned him. Nice to see Meena on screen after a
while but Malavika better enroll in some acting classes fast.
Karthik does the usual soft-spoken, kind-hearted role he
seems to specialise in these days (see Unnidathil Ennai
Koduthen,
Nilave Mugam Kaattu).It's pretty sad to see Ambika, who
ruled the roost in tamil cinema a few years back, accept
such a marginal role with almost no screen time.
Manivannan and Vadivelu indulge in some cheap jokes to
evoke some laughter but don't succeed. Deva has one good
tune and six or so bad tunes. Wish the music directors would
stop singing for the heroes. Its grating to hear Ajith
singing in Deva's voice.
Review by Balaji Balasubramaniam |