From the movies released so far in 2001, the prominent theme for this year seems to be 'cheating'! First we had Madhavan posing as Reema Sen's foreign-returned suitor in Minnale and then came Prabhu Deva using his mimicry skills to convince Anjala that he was her lover in Ullam Kollai Poguthey. While those came out of love, the drama in Ninaikkaadha Naalillai comes out of friendship with Parthiban asking his own lover to act as Raghuman's lover so that his friend is happy. But the illogical behavior of the characters prevents us from identifying with them and enjoying the movie.

Anbu(Parthiban) values his friendship with Arun(Raghuman) over life itself and Arun reciprocates this. Arun even gives up his own job so that the unemployed Anbu can be hired while he joins the bomb squad. Anbu falls in love with Kavitha(Devayani), who also has a best friend in Kausalya(Kaveri). As Anbu talks about Kausalya to Arun and Kavitha talks about Arun to Kausalya, Arun and Kausalya develop feelings for each other though they have never seen or even talked to each other. So, when Arun is injured in a bomb explosion, it is his last wish that he see Kausalya. But Anbu is unable to find Kausalya and instead asks Kavitha to pose as Arun's lover Kausalya. She does so and is forced to continue her role when Arun survives.

The romance between Parthiban and Devayani is developed well with the right mix of playfulness and cuteness. Considering the fun in the first sequence where Devayani mistakes Parthiban to be a criminal, one feels this could have been extended for a while but the director quickly matures the romance. The director then takes a step beyond Kaadhal Koattai for the romance between Raghuman and Kaveri. While Ajith and Devayani developed feelings based on their writings to each other, Raghuman and Kaveri fall in love through letters exchanged between their friends(and one act of generosity)! This leading to Raghuman moaning Kausalya's name when on his deathbed becomes a little difficult to accept.

It is obvious that the director has racked his brains to come up with the situation where Raghuman is in love without seeing or hearing his lover. So he takes a complicated route that is filled with coincidences and unbelievable events to develop the story to that point. All the characters behave exactly as required by the screenplay with no hint of practicality. There seems to be no reason why Devayani doesn't reveal her true identity the moment Raghuman's family thinks she is his lover. Parthiban hiding the secret from Raghuman too doesn't make sense. Radharavi slaps his own father while Mauli asks Devayani to kiss Raghuman since his grandson asks her to!

Such questions linger until the climax where it is never clear why Raghuman had to wait until the last moment. But the climax is well-handled with the dialogs being very heartfelt and touching.

Vadivelu has a separate comedy track and raises some laughs with the sequence where he helps out the old lady. Parthiban and Vadivelu have always raised huge laughs with their encounters in movies like Bharathi Kannamma and Unnaruge Naanirundhaal. They show signs of the same chemistry here too in their meeting. But the director inexplicably limits their meeting to just one.

Parthiban has lots of occasions to display his trademark 'nakkal' dialogs during his meetings with Devayani. He impresses as the silent sufferer when watching his girlfriend act as his best friend's lover. Devayani performs as usual. Raghuman, making an appearance after a long hiatus after Sangamam isn't particularly impressive. Isari Ganesh has a key role while M.N.Nambiar and S.S.Chandran make brief appearances. Deva provides the usual mix of one 'gana' song and some unremarkable tunes.