Rendu is two separate movies linked by the thinnest of threads. One is a romance/comedy while the other is a revenge drama. At the helm is Sundar. C and based on his track record, it should be immediately clear which of the two halves of Rendu works. The first half is light, funny and moderately entertaining while the second is predictable, long and very violent.

Sakthi(Madhavan) arrives in the city hoping his uncle Karikalan(Vadivelu), a magician, can support him and help him earn a living. He falls in love with Valli(Reema Sen), who poses as a mermaid in the same exhibition that Karikalan works in. Meanwhile, some high-profile murders are attracting attention since the killer, at each murder, leaves the date and time of his next murder. The CBI officer(Bagyaraj) on his track soon has reasons to suspect Sakthi.

Some of Vadivelu's funnier comedy tracks have occurred in Sundar. C's films like Winner and Giri. Though not as funny as the tracks in those films, his teaming with Madhavan here elicits enough laughs to keep the first half moving at a good pace. Though the role of a magician could probably have been exploited more, his encounters with Mayilsami and his desperation as Madhavan keeps running out on him generate good laughs. Ofcourse these are laughs without logic but that's not surprising considering who the director is. There are some dry spots too(like the encounters with the gorilla) but not enough to affect the flow of the first half as a whole.

The first half is then forgotten as the movie turns into a revenge drama to explain the background behind the string of murders. There are some interesting characters(like the ever-forgetful Devadarshini) in the huge group of people introduced in the flashback and the fact that we know the eventual fates of those characters adds a little sadness to the proceedings. The violence when it comes is overwhelming and almost sadistic, adding Rendu to the recent list of pictures where the excessive and hardcore violence doesn't gel with the masala nature of the rest of the film.

Madhavan fits the bill in what is probably his first outright masala role after Run. He vibes well with Vadivelu and has a few funny lines too. He is noticeably slow in the fights though and the song sequences make it clear that he still isn't too thrilled about dancing. Reema looks quite jaded and her silly character never lets us take her seriously. Anushka comes off looking much better. She looks good and gets a much cuter romance. Bagyaraj thankfully plays the CBI officer role straight and is his usual self.