INIYAVALE
A movie review by Balaji Balasubramaniam
| Cast: | Prabhu, Suvalakshmi, Gouthami, Keerti Reddy, Raghuvaran, Mouli, Lakshmi, Devan, Vadivelu |
| Music: | Deva |
| Direction: | Seeman |
Screenplay is of monumental importance to a movie. While movies with a wafer-thin story can capture a viewer's attention with a well-crafted screenplay, several movies with a strong story on the surface can be let down by ineffective handling of the screenplay. Iniyavale falls in the latter category. Inspite of a solid story, a strong cast and even a couple of unexpected, effective twists in the storyline, the movie somehow fails to make an impression. While there were parts where I was involved, the movie as a whole, seems slow and meandering.
Prabhakar(Prabhu) is a poet who is determined to wed only after he finishes his IAS exams and becomed a collector. To this end, he even nips at the bud, the advances of one of his female fans(Gouthami). His parents(Mouli and Lakshmi) meet an old friend(Raghuvaran) and his daughter Meena(Suvalakshmi) and mutually decide to get Prabhakar and Meena married. But Prabhakar is not interested. In order to please his parents, he agrees to see the girl but shoots off a letter to Meena asking her to say she does not like him. But she doesn't read the letter and agrees to the marriage. Prabhakar is shocked and his conversation with his mother about not wanting to get married is misinterpreted as his not liking Meena. This leads to disastrous consequences for which Prabhakar is naturally blamed. Wishing to clear the air he decides to marry Meena's younger sister Manju(Keerti Reddy).
The biggest failing of this movie is the pacing. A sense of urgency is lacking and the whole movie proceeds at a languid pace. Characters seem to utter their lines slower than usual with long, unnecessary pauses punctuating most of the dialogs and several scenes seem unnecessary. The initial letter correspondence between Prabhu and Gouthami is a glaring example of this. Their reading of each others' letters is so relaxed that we soon start hoping they would hurry up and finish reading instead of listening to what they are reading.
The movie succeeds in introducing elements that perk up our flagging interest at two key points. Coincidentally, both of these happen during 'ponnu paarkkum' visits. The first is the result of Prabhu's trip to Suvalakshmi's house. The other, even better one happens when Raja visits Keerthi Reddy. Raja's character is one of the better realised in the movie and this scene, along with his behavior in the previous segments, is effective. But the director squanders the gains he earns in such places with a cinematic climax with the requisite fight sequence. The movie is pretty much finished once Prabhu's name is cleared but the director tests our patience with this fight.
Comedy is a plus for the movie. The interactions between Mouli, Lakshmi and Vedivelu during the initial portions have several timely, funny lines. Vadivelu's separate comedy track also has both hits(such as the sequence where passers-by evince interest in his normal actions) and misses(like his explanation of how he got the name Muruga to Gouthami) but the net effect is positive.
Prabhu looks beefy and aged and I can understand the lack of any new releases starring him. Gouthami must have been in the final phases of her career when she accepted to do this movie. She is criminally underused. Suvalakshmi impresses while Keerti Reddy looks pretty. Lakshmi is irritating when she attempts to be funny but shows her talent when she shouts at Raghuvaran in the temple. Mouli and Raghuvaran are adequate. There seem to be too many songs during the first half. But the one song that makes a mark is the last one Uyire Uyire....