Azhagar Malai appears to have been made banking on Ilaiyaraja and Vadivelu. The two of them do deliver - the former with a good soundtrack and the latter with good laughs - but as always, they play only supporting roles. The film comes up short on the main aspects like a solid story, an interesting screenplay and an engaging romance.

Pugazhendhi(RK) spends his time drinking and getting into fights and this has his older brother Pandidurai(Napolean) worried since no one is willing to get their daughter married to Pugazhendhi. This makes Ratnavelu(Lal) and his sister happy since they are sworn enemies of Pandidurai. Pugazhendhi falls for Janani(Bhanu), who is on a visit from Chennai, and she likes him too but Ratnavelu and his sister are determined to do whatever it takes to destroy Pandidurai's happiness.

The director seems to have decided that that the movie's trump card is Vadivelu rather than its hero RK (and considering how weak RK is as hero, the director's decision does seem right!). So the comedian accompanies RK in almost all his scenes, apart from getting a couple of sequences where he is on his own. His scenes with RK and Bhanu, though they follow the usual template of putting him in situations where he gets injured, do have some good laughs that help overcome the listlessness of the weak romance.

The movie almost comes to a standstill once the wedding between RK and Bhanu is finalized and the biggest example of the movie's paucity of ideas is the track with the assassin. Introduced as though he is going to play a major part, he ends up being used for comedy(as he mistakenly thrashes Vadivelu) and then cast aside after a regular fight sequence. Vadivelu's track with Sona is introduced at the same time and is also obvious as a ploy to pad the running time. Though it resorts to the technique of recreating a song from another movie(it worked very well in Pokkiri but gets no laughs here as he recreates Paartha Mudhal Naale... from Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu), it soon gets tiring.

The segment that explains the reason behind the enmity between Napolean and Lal is the only part of the movie that has some energy. Even if it starts off in a routine manner, Napolean's punishment is rather unique and fits the crime and Lal's lifelong fury and desire for revenge is understandable.

RK has thankfully gotten rid of the wig he used in Manjal Veyyil but has obviously not taken any acting lessons. He is completely wooden and has the same expression on his face, whether he is romancing Bhanu or fighting with the villain. Napolean plays the strong but silent type and is quite effective while Lal is a cliched villain, routinely issuing threats but rarely doing anything of note. Bhanu reappears after Thaamirabharani but this is not a role that is going to pave the way for a successful career. Ilaiyaraja's songs remind us of his 80s compositions and he also appears on screen, singing the song that plays during the opening credits. Saravanan and Suganya appear for one number that sings praises of God.