The entire first half of the movie takes place in Punjab taking
the viewer to places like the Golden Temple and Jalianwalla
Bagh which haven't been seen before on the tamil screen.
Unfortunately, the same originality does not extend to the
movie itself which is pretty much run-of-the-mill.
Anand(Murali), a tamilian, and Amrutha(Simran), a Punjabi lass,
are in love. To convince her parents to accept him, Anand moves
to Punjab, renting a portion of Amrutha's house. He soon
impresses other members of the household including her parents
and her brother, a policeman. Even though revelation of the
love affair initially angers the brother, he soon calms down and
accepts Anand wholeheartedly.
But with preparations for the wedding going on, Amrutha, along
with her entire family, is killed in a bomb blast engineered by
an enemy of her brother. Anand returns to Chennai broken-hearted
but spots Saradha(Simran) who looks exactly like Amrutha. She too
has had her own sad past and friendship develops between them.
They decide to marry but her past catches up with her unexpectedly.
The entire movie is completely predictable and the climax even
more so. Even Simran's death, the only 'twist' in the movie, can
be seen miles ahead by anyone who has seen more than a few tamil
movies. There is no chemistry between Murali and Simran and
their love story rivals the one in
Poovellaam Kettuppaar for unoriginality and lack of sparks.
There is a slight rise in the interest level when the
second Simran is introduced but even that is killed quickly once
her past is revealed. The happenings in her past are so contrived
and illogical that we know exactly what is going to happen.
After scores of movies like Desiya
Geetham and Unnudan , Murali
gets a chance to play a successful lover but only for a short
time! With Amrutha dying halfway through the movie, he goes back
to his trademark role of a sad man pining silently for his love.
Simran looks pretty but has lost some weight. She proves her
acting prowess once again after Vaali
and Thullaadha Manamum Thullum
with a playful part as Amrutha and then a more mature
potrayal as Saradha. Picking some real north indian actors to
potray Amrutha's family (instead of sticking an obvious beard,
turban and accent to some tamil actors) adds authenticity to the
initial portions.
The comedy track is a letdown with actors like Chinni Jayanth,
'Kovai' Sarala, Charlie and Dhamu. Though Deva follows his usual
format with a couple of duets, a pathos song and a 'dappanguthu'
song, Poosu Manjal... and Kannodu Kannodu...
are pleasing to the ear. Though the photography is ordinary,
we do get to see a lot of Punjab including unfurling of the flags
at the India-Pakistan border.
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