While Telugu films translate rather easily to Tamil because of similarities in the cultures, viewer sensibilities and filmmaking styles, Malayalam films are more difficult to remake because their culture is quite different and their low-key, subtle style of filmmaking contrasts with our louder, more overt style. This has been proved in both big movies like Chandramukhi and smaller movies like Dindukkal Sarathy. This is once again proved in Ninaithaale Inikkum, a remake of Classmates, which was one of the biggest hits ever in the Malayalam film industry. A mix of a campus romance and a murder mystery, the latter holds our interest but the former falls flat because of the aforementioned reasons.

Shiva(Prithviraj) is on his way to a reunion with his college classmates and reminisces about the days in college during his trip. He was good friends with Shakthi(Shakthi) and a few other classmates while Vasu(Karthik Kumar) had been itching for revenge ever since Shiva insulted him in front of the juniors. Shiva and Meera(Priyamani) were also at loggerheads but once Meera realized that Shiva had been in love with her for a while, she reciprocated his feelings too.

Ninaithaale Inikkum is somewhat unique in that it takes place almost entirely within the confines of the college campus. This is not so new in the flashback when the students are in college but even in the present, when 8 years have passed, we only see them at the reunion in the same place they studied in. So we learn very little of the students' lives outside college and see their families only when they visit the campus. There are minimal intrusions into the world existing outside the campus walls as barring a couple of sequences, the students don't step outside and very people come inside the campus. Their college is a world of its own and their lives revolve around it.

Classmates worked big time in Kerala because the scenes set in college took viewers on a walk down memory lane with the depiction of life in college. This doesn't quite happen in Ninaithaale Inikkum. While the college here isn't as unrealistic or silly as the ones usually depicted in our films, it isn't particularly realistic either. And though there are the familiar dialogs praising college life and the friendships formed during that time, that doesn't come through in the film itself. This is both because we see the students only in their final year when the relationships have already grown and gotten established and because we get only a few glimpses of the interactions between them. So whether its the friendship between Prithviraj and Shakthi, the romance between Prithiviraj and Priyamani or the enmity between Prithviraj and Karthik, the little we see doesn't justify the intensity with which they've been depicted.

Since the first flashback doesn't tell the full story, the reason behind the students' reunion comes as a nice surprise. And instead of becoming sentimental, the movie turns into an interesting full-fledged mystery from the point where Prithviraj returns to his own room. The lack of a substantial story earlier is made up for as the film picks up speed with several twists and turns. As the holes in the past are filled in, the new revelations come as good plot developments and the final piece that falls into place is a genuinely unexpected surprise.

After debuting as a villain, Prithviraj has been playing soft-spoken, humor-tinged roles. He takes on a slightly rougher role here and carries it off with no problems. Its Shakthi who plays the soft role here and hams just a little bit. Priyamani hardly makes an impression and its the other actress, who plays Shalini, who has the meatier role. Karthik Kumar also plays against type as the bad guy and is believable. Bagyaraj doesn't attempt to add any unnecessary humor to his role as Shakthi's dad and is solid, especially in the climactic conversation with Prithviraj.