There are very few variations directors can offer when giving us a story with a love
triangle where two men try to win the heart of the same woman. Director Ravishankar
is saddled with this problem in his first movie, Varushamellaam Vasantham and
fails to overcome it. The initial lighthearted portions and the few cinematic
aspects in the resolution of the love triangle fail to make up for the uneventful
romances in this movie.
Raja(Manoj) and Ramesh(Kunal) are both grandsons of a retired collector(M.N.Nambiar),
but are as different as oil and water. Raja is uneducated and spends his time
irritating his grandfather while Ramesh is employed in New Delhi and has gotten
a job in the US. He stops at the village on his way to a job in America and Raja's
stock goes down even further. When Nambiar's niece arrives with her daughter
Latha(Anita), both Raja and Ramesh fall for her and attempt to woo her. While
Ramesh attracts Latha with his computer skills, Raja feigns sadness over a failed
love affair to earn her sympathy, which he hopes will eventually turn into love.
As long as the director keeps things light, he seems to be on strong ground. There
are some nice laughs initially as Manoj regularly earns his grandfather's ire and
does his best to irritate him. His frustration over the adulation showered on Kunal
is also expressed well. Mayilsamy's dialogs add to the fun during these portions
and add strength to the notion that the director has a nice knack for comedy.
But the director fails to exhibit the same talent when it comes to portraying romance.
Manoj's attempts(and subsequent failures) to woo Anita are neither funny nor
cute and these portions feels stretched. As for Kunal, it is never clear from his
actions whether he really loves Anita or just wants to sabotage Manoj's chances with
her. Sangavi's introduction and the following twist is a nice surprise and provides a
nice hook for the intermission. But the resolution is anticlimactic and the realisation
that the whole sequence was introduced for a single song sequence only makes us irritated.
But the director takes the movie in a sensible direction towards the end without
resorting to the typical way of closing out such love triangles. Though all
the standard elements like sacrifices and misdirected insults are present,
the decisions the characters make are practical and so the climax appears less
cinematic than usual.
This is easily the most likeable character Manoj has played so far and he
conveys all the emotions quite well without overdoing them. Kunal seems to have
gained absolutely nothing from his years in Tamil cinema and seems more like
someone who has strayed onto the sets by mistake. Even debutant Anita is better
than him. Mayilsamy, who is usually relegated to the sidelines as one of the hero's
friends, gets his first solo comedy track and tackles it with gusto. His
T.Rajendar impression takes the top spot but a couple of other lines(like his
proverbs when talking to Sangavi) are delivered in a funny fashion. Nambiar
is dignified(he actually gets first billing in the credits over Manoj!).
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