Anbu(Vishal) gets into some trouble with local traders in Pudhukkoattai and after giving them a good thrashing, is ordered to go to Tiruchi to sign in at the local police station every morning. He stays with his uncle Kandhasamy(Ashish Vidyarthi), the inspector at the station and dutifully goes in every morning to sign the register. Pazhani(Devaraj) and his brother Guna(Ajay) are the local dadas in Tiruchi. Anbu falls for Malar(Priyamani), a college student and that inadvertently makes him go up against Guna and then Devaraj.

Bhoopathy Pandian has a few good ideas. He doesn't mind playing with our expectations and breaking a few rules in order to make us laugh. Why else would he assign a flashback to Ashish Vidyarthi and Urvasi in the middle of Vishal trying to woo Priyamani?! That segment's concept makes it funny and it has a few interesting, almost surreal touches that tell us that we're are not supposed to take it seriously. But it also feel a bit out of place considering the material surrounding it. But its continuation in the present is a bit distasteful and unnecessary. The romance between Vishal and Priyamani is more regular but has a few laughs and uses Saamy famous punchline quite cleverly.

For some time, the movie does in fact appear to be settling down as a good action movie. The clash between Vishal and the bad guys isn't brought up exactly as we predict and the first fight between him and Ajay is pretty rousing - both in set up and in execution. But it flatters to deceive. With a hero known for his action sequences and two bad guys, the film lays the foundation right. But it fails to build on this.

A masala film feels incomplete without comedy and Malaikkoattai is definitely a masala film. But it is where the comedy is applied that makes it a damaging misfire. With the romance relegated to the background and without a separate comedy track, the director ends up adding comedy to the action sequences. So villains turn into comedians and Vishal ends up playing games with them instead of bashing them up. So, not only is the comedy not funny, it eats into the time devoted to the action sequences, which were the only things that kept the movie going so far. The director's fondness for comedy is once again on display during the end credits, that are more befitting a comedy. But after the stunts and violence at the end of the film, the end credits seem jarring rather than funny.

Vishal, who seems to have risen rather quickly as an action hero, has tried to follow the successful route of actors like Rajnikanth and Vijay by trying his hand at comedy. But he still has ways to go. His comedy seems forced and he ends up hamming in the comedy sequences. Action is definitely his forte and he definitely has the energy and charisma to make the action sequences work. Priyamani undergoes a change after the rural turn in Paruthi Veeran . Like most heroines in an action film she has little to do apart from dancing in the duets and running away from the bad guys. Ajay, who reminds us of Surya a little, makes a good villain and makes a better impression than Devaraj. Ashish Vidyarthi enjoys himself in a role that is different for him while Urvasi indulges in her usual brand of comedy.