Notwithstanding the complicated plot with multiple storylines, Vaamanan was an average film because of the lack of originality and uneven pace. But considering that Jai singled it out as the only one, out of the 3 or 4 he was acting in, that had a chance of becoming a hit, the film's quality made us worry about the other films he was working in. Those fears have come true with his follow-up venture Adhe Neram Adhe Idam. Containing a weak romance to start with, its all downhill from there as it then ventures clumsily into thriller territory and handles in worse fashion.

Karthik(Jai) is the usual Tamil cinema hero - someone who has no purpose in life and prefers hanging out with his friends over finding a job and making his dad('Nizhalgal' Ravi) happy. He meets Janani(Vijayalakshmi) and though its love at first sight for him, its a while before she reciprocates his feelings. Now that he is going to have someone else in his life, Karthik takes his dad's advice seriously and decides to go work in Australia for a year to earn some money. While he is in Australia, Janani's father brings to her attention a prospective suitor Shiva(Rahul), a rich businessman. Janani thinks Shiva will give her a better life than Karthik and says yes to marrying him.

The relationship between Jai and his dad feels very familiar while the Jai-Vijayalakshmi romance is as cliched as it can get. Even the dialogs, whether between father and son or between the lovers, sound similar to lines we've heard before. The story barely moves as the scenes repeatedly cycle between Jai's house(where his dad delivers his advice), a roadside wall(where the friends have their conversations) and places where Jai and Vijayalakshmi meet. Vijayalakshmi's wedding, which finally happens at the halfway point, makes us heave a sigh of relief since the story finally shows some sign of life.

With a sincere hero and a heroine who voluntarily chooses to marry another man, the film's storyline resembles that of Dhevadhaiyai Kanden until that point. But while the Dhanush-starrer moved the storyline towards a court case, ANAI takes the storyline in a different direction. While the direction it moves in initially raises some interest, it flatters to deceive. After a cinematic but potentially interesting development, the movie looks like it might turn into a drama about friendship, love and betrayal or a thriller about a vengeful lover but it picks neither route. But it does neither and becomes a silly mixture of the two with preposterous plot developments and wildly inconsistent characterization.

The movie is quite frustrating as it follows the familiar technique of creating scenarios where two people (whose meeting would have significant repercussions) cross each other's paths but don't actually meet. The length of time this goes on for really tests our patience and to make matters worse, the scenario being hinted at never happens. But this frustration pales in comparison to the final plot development that leads to the climax. One feels that the director must have been hurt by a woman and is using Vijayalakshmi's character as a sort of revenge since her proposal is wrong, hurtful(to everyone involved) and silly. So the climax makes no impact since we are still stunned by the ludicrousness of it all.

Jai seems disinterested in the proceedings and one can't blame him. He barely shows any expressions on his face even in the couple of emotional scenes. Vijayalakshmi is more energetic, especially during her meetings with Jai in the second half. Debutant Rahul is saddles with a rather thankless role and is given the most cliched lines to spout. Lollu Sabha Jeeva takes on the role that is usually done by the likes of Santhanam. He brings some variety but is not given enough good material to make an impression.