In the 80s, we had some very good movies on love triangles. One of the best was Balu Mahendra's 'Rettai Vaal Kuruvi', with the unforgettable hospital scene, and everyman's favourite song, 'Raja raja chozhan naan' which continues to be a hit on You Tube. There have been countless films where best friends fall in love with the same guy, Punnagai Poove, among others and the director's job then is to try and play the story in a way that tugs at our heart strings. Out of such attempts come good films. But director Balasekaran takes a bizarre approach to the timeless love triangle tangle, and seems to have betted heavily on the titillating factor to tell his story. That he uses abiding friendship as an excuse is sad.. Which city girl today with access to internet technology that actually lets us all stay in touch 24x7 would ask her lover to go fall in love with her best friend as well? Yes, that is what heroine Savitha (Swathi) tells our hero Ganesh (Laguparan). Why ? Because one of her best friends failed to stay in close touch after she got married, and she does not want to lose touch with her other friend Kavitha (Sania Tara). The so called best friend Kavitha is not even living in the same city, so doesn't the entire foundation of the story of being separated from her friend fall flat? After all, Ganesh is not living in a place that requires a journey into space, but in namma Chennai only. Of course, when he hears the proposal, a disgusted Ganesh moves to Hyderabad, falls in love with another girl (who turns out to be Kavitha), but runs away to Palani to escape from the two women. Bhagiaraj, who arrives in the temple town as a pilgrim, unearths the story and promises to unravel the 'mudichu' (knot) . Ok, Bhagiaraj may unwittingly have been a sex educator of the masses (thanks to the immortal role of the drum stick in his film), but while his casting helps in instant recall of 'mundanai mudichu' moments, it does nothing to lift this film into a watchable category. The first half is a typical boy meets girl story with slight variations from what we have seen in many films, and is often quite rambling and you wish editors VT Vijayan and VS Kumar had been generous with their snipping. The problem with the film is that it attempts to tickle, titillate and also take itself seriously. There is even attempted slapstick, with Visu as a presiding member of the judiciary and everyone from a cop, councilor and a state minister appear in court. Ha ha . Laguparan can act, something that cannot be said of many of the actors we have seen in the recent past. Hopefully he will be more choosy in future. Swathi is much the same as we saw her, emotes well with eyes, but there is a sameness to that. Of the older lot, Bhagiaraj and Santhana Bharathi wear their age well. Sania Tara is more watchable as a dancer. Vijaya Gopal's camera work does not spring any surprises. A couple of songs in the film are passable, but when you are restless for the film to end, it is not music to your ears. Verdict: Falls flat Rating : * |
close
Choose your channels
