Naan Avan Illai 2, as the number in the title indicates, is a sequel, a very rare occurrence in Tamil cinema. It continues the story of the womaniser from Naan Avan Illai, which was a remake of the old Gemini Ganesan-starrer and follows the same technique of telling it in a superficial but fast way that keeps us engaged. But it is afflicted by the same problems faced by sequels to movies that tell complete, self-contained stories and feels trivial and unnecessary.

When Maria(Rachna Murya), a gangster-turned-holy woman, reveals the man who was behind her transformation, his photo is immediately published in the papers. This brings three women - Saki(Sruthi), a rich mommy's girl, Nisha(Shwetha Menon), a scamster and Deepa(Lakshmi Rai), an actress - to Maria's house and they all accuse the man in the photo of having cheated them. Meanwhile we also learn that the man(Jeevan) met Maha(Sangeetha), who works in a restaurant, and became friends with her.

Naan Avan Illai 2 fares better than its predecessor when it comes to the episodes of Jeevan duping the 4 women. Part 1 cast him as a charmer who seduced the women and that was difficult to digest because he came across as rather uncharismatic and his methods weren't particularly charming. But here he is shown to target the weaknesses of the women to ensnare them and that makes it easier to accept.

The characteristics of the girls are rather exaggerated and the speed with which Jeevan accomplishes his objectives makes all the segments rather unbelievable but things do keep moving without getting bogged down. The schemes he uses to seduce Sruthi and Shwetha Menon have their moments and the way he plays Laksmi Rai is quite inventive. But the film unfortunately saves its worst for last since the segment with Rachna is the weakest. It goes more overtly for comedy and ends up looking ridiculous and feeling too long.

But Naan Avan Illai also offered something other than Jeevan's dalliances with the women. There was the question about whether he really was the cheater the women alleged he was and there was suspense about his past and his motives. But all those questions were cleared up in that film and this sequel doesn't explore any new avenues either. So it feels unnecessary as it is little more than a few segments of Jeevan duping the women, strung together. Rajkapoor as the cop provides the link to the first film but the link is so tenuous that the film could have easily stood on its own.

As Jeevan reminisces about his friendship with Sangeetha, it is pretty obvious from the beginning that it is different from the other stories. So the fractured narration as he thinks about it in pieces is more a gimmick and it is never in doubt what that particular story is going to used for. There is also some light, last-minute moralizing that feels superficial and unnecessary. And like all sequels, this one too closes on a note that promises another edition.

Jeevan looks like he has put on some weight. He is stiff as before but it is not very noticeable because the segments are light-hearted and move quickly. Wish he looked a bit more different in each of the episodes though. Among the women, Shwetha Menon plays her role well while the others seem to be taking things a bit too seriously. Mayilsamy gets to play dress-up a little bit too as he accompanies Jeevan on his scams.