GOOD LUCK

A movie review by Balaji Balasubramaniam

Other elements can make up for the lack of a strong story to some extent. A recent example was Unnaruge Naanirundhaal where Parthiban propped up the flimsy story with his dialog delivery. Most of Manirathnam movies(Agni Natchathiram is a notable example) bank on the screenplay rather than the story. But expecting locations and visuals alone to entertain the moviegoer is expecting a little too much. That is what Manoj Bhatnagar did in his debut Endrendrum Kaadhal and that is exactly what he does again here. If it was Switzerland in the former, here he relies on Malaysia and a huge ship to form an impressive backdrop for a dull, predictable story.

Surya(Prashanth) is a carefree youth living in Malaysia with his brother Chandramohan(Raghuvaran) and sister-in-law Devi(Sukanya). Chandramohan and Devi are childless because of a problem with Chandramohan. Surya falls in love with dancer Priya(Riya Sen) and manages to steal her heart too. Just when things seem happy, a bombshell is dropped by a Sister Mary who tells Surya that he is the father of a small girl Pooja. Pooja must undergo an operation to save her life but insists on seeing her dad before agreeing to the operation. Surya agrees to pose as her dad and is forced to do so on a more permanent basis even after the operation is done. He is driven out of the house and loses Priya, who agrees to wed an earlier suitor, Shyam.

The proceedings lack any kind of energy for most of the movie. The romance between Prashanth and Riya is routine and lacks any kind of sparks. It is developed in spurts and to make matters worse, Riya's behaviour is confusing with respect to whether she is in love with Prashanth or not. The accusation that Prashanth is the father of a little girl is a good shock and makes us perk up but it wears off quickly and from then onwards the movie drags towards its inevitable conclusion. Riya's character becomes a complete mess in the second half when she runs into Prashanth again and her behavior in the elevator tarnishes her image. There is a little buzz of interest in the end as the director readies us for a surprise ending but then cops out. Prashanth's behavior in the climax is also unscrutable as he rejects Riya for a valid reason but then inexplicably accepts her with no change in the situation(he did reject Chandini more permanently for the same reason in Aasaiyil Or Kadidham).

The director relies on other factors like comedy and visuals to prop up the story. The comedy of Vivek and Vaiyapuri is of the hit-and-miss variety. For every funny scene like the hilarious encounter with a father and his little girl in a hotel or the scene where they act as guides to a couple of ladies, there are many scenes - like their 'titanic' encounter with a foreigner on the ship - which don't evoke even a chuckle. Definitely a step back for Vivek after Aasaiyil Or Kadidham, Tirunelveli and Ezhaiyin Sirippil.

There are some nice visuals, first of Malaysia and then the insides of the huge ship. Prashanth acting as a tour guide to Riya Sen helps in showing us a lot of Malaysia while Riya's suitor being a shipping magnate enables the latter half of the movie to take place on a ship. The camera spends quite some time taking us to the different portions of the ship. And if that were not enough, the characters themselves take turns explaining its vastness. Sure its impressive but of no consequence to the story.

Its another routine role for Prashanth and he carries it off with no great effort. He impresses when talking to Riya in different dialects and performs well in the stunts. Riya Sen is a big drawback. Bharathiraja's introduction in Taj Mahal undergoes a change of image from her village belle role in that movie and appears in modern outfits here. But hers is a blank, expressionless face and her lack of any kind of acting skills is amply evident. Quite a disappointment, especially considering the quality of the other heroines like Radhika and Revathi whom Bharathiraja has introduced in the past. Raghuvaran lends respect to the movie in a role that has lots of similarities to his role in Aaha. Sukanya is back for another round in tamil cinema, this time as sister-in-law but doesn't seem to have lost her emoting skills. Kaadhal Seiyum... and July 16 Vandhaal... are melodious numbers from Manoj Bhatnagar but almost all the songs have a Hindi feel to them.