The going has not been good so far for directors coming up with their second movies after successful debuts. Ravichandran fell flat on his face with the disastrous Sandhitha Velai after Kannedhire Thondrinaal while Surya came up with the disappointing Kushi after the hugely successful Vaali. Ezhil continues the tradition with Pennin Manadhai Thottu, his follow-up to Thullaadha Manamum Thullum. His first feature expertly told the love story between a blind woman and a man who she actually hates because of circumstances. Except for the silly climax, it was sweet and entertaining. While the core, of a woman mistaking her lover because of circumstances is the same in Pennin Manadhai Thottu, the romance is quite uninteresting and barely manages to hold out interest.

Sunil(Prabhu Deva) is one of the leading heart surgeons in the country. He lives with Ganpat(Mouli) and is loved by everyone in the family. Sunitha(Jeya Seel) arrives at the house, alongwith a kid who has a heart problem. But she lashes out at Sunil when she learns that he is the doctor and meets him face to face. Turns out she has had a bitter past with him. They had been in love in college but he had deserted her at a crucial time. So she hates him for it and doesn't even want him to operate on the kid.

At heart, this is just a simple love story that follows the tried and tested path of movie romances - the hero and heroine first fall in love and then separate due to a misunderstanding before running into each other again. Extra items - like the kid with heart trouble - have been thrown in solely to move the story along. So there are no surprises or twists. The climax itself is as cliched as it can get with the director introducing rather lame obstacles(traffic jam, phone calls, etc.) to Prabhu Deva and Jeya meeting. While the intention of the director may have been to ratchet up the tension, it ends up feeling like an unnecessary extension of an already threadbare movie.

For a love story, the romance is the least interesting part of the story. Jeya's advice to Prabhu Deva to develop the ambition to succeed in life and Prabhu Deva's outburst after kissing Jeya are a couple of indications of the director's intention to have something different. Other than such scenes, there is nothing to differentiate this from the numerous romances that have happened in colleges in tamil movies. All we get is an ordinary love story with generous helpings of songs, stunts and comedy. It is only after we get to the misunderstanding that the movie shows signs of being alive. The reason behind the lovers' separation is quite strong and reasonable and so is the way the misunderstanding is solved.

So its once again upto Vivek to provide the fillers when the story begins to lag and he has his work cut out for him. He does do what is required of him since the comedy, which focusses on one of his body parts, is quite crude but makes us laugh at a few places. But there are also sequences, like Vivek's meeting with the constable, that make us wish the director would get back to the main story again.

Prabhu Deva shows signs of deviating a little from his stereotypical acting. His angry outbursts at Jeya after kissing her and in the climax are welcome changes from his usual playful performances. Even more welcome are his dances(though nowhere near his dances in his pre-Minsaara Kanavu movies) in the song sequences. Jeya Seel, a newcomer, is quite unglamorous and projects a girl-next-door look. Surprisingly for a new face, she looks a little too old for her part, especially in the college scenes. Sarathkumar has a cameo as Prabhu Deva's brother but emotional scenes are not his forte. He is distinctly more comfortable when ordering his men around of thrashing the baddies. Ishwarya has a small role while Vaiyapuri makes an impression in the climax. S.A.Rajkumar's tunes are quite pleasant.