The new film on theatres `Ettekal seconds' was advertised as one film that featured a full song shot under water. And after watching the flick, we definitely feel that there is no other highlight than this song, which indeed is also a waste of time on account of it's importance in the narratives. Helmed by debutante director Kanakaraghavan, the movie planned as a love story is poorly made with really nothing that is fresh and interesting. The regular rich girl meets poor boy story, `Ettekal second's is titled based on a myth that if a boy is forced to admire a girl for eight and a quarter seconds when he first sees her, there is no scope for him to get back than to fall for her. And these seconds arrive for Sandeep (Govind Padmasuriya) when he is on a trip as a proxy driver to his father to fetch the granddaughter of the immensely rich Menon(Madhu). There he meets with Nivedhita(Miya George) who first appear quite hostile for her, but gradually falls for his charms. Though she is already betrothed to Midhun, a bank manager, Nivedhita who is a sound recordist by profession suddenly gets a gut feeling about the decision to marry Midhun for his rash and unadorable character. Within days Sandeep becomes her best friend who she doesn't dare to let off. What follows form the rest of the movie which doesn't have much to surprise in store. Opting for a tried and tested story is not blasphemous, but the challenge lies in giving a new spin to the age-old tale. Don't expect any such surprises here.The beaten to death formulaic plot just doesn't have anything to bag your interest apart from Mia George , who is just good in parts. Govind Padmasuriya doesn't have the charm to play that mindless lover boy. Suraj as pappan and others in the cast doesn't have anything exceptional to do. The script lines and dialogues are pretty ordinary with nothing much happening that is not predictable, leaving the viewer unsympathetic, detached and disconnected from the goings-on subsequently. Adding to that the screenplay isn't convincing enough, the direction is lackadaisical with almost every extra artists on frame looking into camera whenever they get a chance. The BG scores just suit the mood of TV serials and the songs by Santhosh and Collins are average, though `Vidaparayumi sayahnam' appear better. At 141 minutes the movie feels quite lengthy and we are often tempted to look into the watch to check how much seconds more will this annoyance last. On the whole, this `Ettekal seconds' and the rest of its time works on an erratic script, which works in bits and spurts. Honestly, this isn't enough to survive in this age of thinking young directors and their films ! Rating-4.7/10
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