With so many movies being made, it is inevitable that a movie has shades of another movie or that a sequence in it reminds us of sequences in another movie. But when an actor's movie bears the exact basic storyline as his previous release, it brings into question both the actor's screening process for his movies and the director's paucity of ideas. That is the case with Sarathkumar's release Aei which has the same storyline as his last release Chatrapathi.

Velu(Sarathkumar) leads a life of anonymity in Pazhani, selling radios, tubelights and miscellaneous electronic items. His only aim in life is to make his sister a collector. He falls for Anjali(Namitha), who arrives to work in the post office and after toying with him a little bit, she reveals her love for him too. When Velu refuses to testify against a murder committed before his eyes, Anjali accuses him of being heartless and a coward. Only then does his sister reveal Velu's past as an armyman who, along with his friend Mani('Kalabhavan' Mani), a policeman, fought injustice and earned the wrath of a wineshop owner Nachiar(Kota Srinivasa Rao).

Aei follows the Baasha formula, with a low-key first half where the hero is a violence-abhorring simpleton but with clues pointing to a violent past for him. Naturally, it is only in this first half that romance and comedy find a place. Thankfully, both these are done interestingly and have their moments. Namitha lying to Sarath and Vadivelu about having a twin sister could have been exploited more but Sarath's shyness in talking to her is sweet and leads to some funny moments(like his purchase of stamps as an excuse to talk to her). Vadivelu too raises several laughs and the sequence with Crane Manohar's questions on the items he is selling is both clever and funny.

A sense of deja vu is unavoidable as we learn that Sarathkumar was previously an armyman who fought injustice. The flashback does little more than provide Sarath and Mani an opportunity to wear a few disguises as they go after the corrupt in different departments. Its another matter that some of the disguises(like the rowdy) seem unnecessary since they don't really change they way Sarath looks. He also doesn't earn our respect when he dances crudely with a vulgarly dressed Mumtaj before asking the wineshop near the school to shut its doors. His dance isn't exactly suited for school children either!

The movie ends with a Chatriyan-style climax as a badly-wounded Sarath goes after the bad guys one at a time. While his acts are still unbelievable, the Thaipoosam festivities provide a nice background and the goings-on at the festival have been used at a few places too.

Sarath goes through the motions flexing his muscles and bashing up the bad guys. He does the full Monty in a fight sequence though with the right objects at the right places, it appears like a regular stunt sequence where he is unclothed from the waist up! Namitha appears a bit flabby - something that is very clear in the Arjuna... song sequence where she leaves little to the imagination. Vadivelu can count this among his funnier comedy tracks while Kalabhavan Mani is tolerable since he is restrained. Kota presents his usual brand of villainy and Vincent Asokan, son of yesteryear villain Asokan, makes a noticeable debut as a bad guy.