Kaadhal's success probably told our directors that young lovers don't necessarily have to hold hands, walk off into the sunset and live happily ever after, in our films. Kunguma Poovum Konjum Puraavum, produced by S.P.B.Charan's Capital Film Works, is another film about a doomed romance. While the film's plot and characters offer nothing new, the naturalness of the romance and the new cast do make the film stand apart a little from similar romances.

Thulasi(Thananya), abandoned by her mom and dad, moves to Muttam with her grandmother. As the new girl in town, she is the center of attraction for all the boys in her school but eventually falls for Kuselan(Ramakrishnan), who lives with his mother. When Kuselan goes on an excursion, his mom comes to know about the romance and isn't too happy about it.

The films deals with love at a rather young age but does so without feeling crass or vulgar. The feelings felt by Ramakrishnan and Thananya and their tentative expressions of those feelings have been conveyed well and the patches of humor work well in moving the story along. The situations have been built up well so that the issue when it comes is unexpected and surprising, both in its source and its intensity. Though the general direction of the plot is clear from the downbeat opening, the story doesn't traverse a very worn route and keeps us guessing about what's coming.

With the humor and the romance, director Rajmohan is able to keep the proceedings interesting initially but is unable to do so once the plot takes a turn for the serious. We've come to like the characters and so we definitely feel bad for the young pair - more so, in the case of Thananya than Ramakrishnan - but the film fails to capitalize on this. As the situations get repetitive, the sentiments, which were natural and effective upto then, begin to seem overwrought and even a little contrived. The chases and fights, though picturized naturally, appear to drag on for too long and the consequences are quite predictable.

KPKP follows the path set by films like Kaadhal and Paruthi Veeran in its attempt to bring a sense of realism and earthiness to the screen. In fact, it goes a step further than those movies by employing new - or unfamiliar - actors for the main roles(including the leads) and filling up the rest of the cast with locals (rather than professional actors). This does work to the extent that the film never feels cinematic or unreal as the actors never rise above their characters. There are many stock sequences that are found in films about young romances but the naturalness helps in making the film feel fresh.

Ramakrishnan and Thananya don't show any first-film jitters. They don't look like actors but make us believe in their romance. Ramakrishnan makes a nice transition from the simple-minded young man to the more serious fellow. Thananya's character act doesn't have quite the same drastic change but she is quietly impressive as she stoically puts up with everything life has in store for her. The actress playing Ramakrishnan's mom is very convincing while the actress playing Thananya's grandmother is even more successful than Thananya in earning our sympathy. Chinnanchirisu... is a very melodious, pleasing number while SPB Charan sounds a lot like his father in Kadaloram.... Naan Dharmanda... sounds like an introduction number for the hero and so the subject it is picturized on is rather surprising.