During one phase, actor Murali became popular via a series of romance movies where he usually played the guy silently pining for the girl and never revealing his true feelings. His son Atharva, like most other star sons, follows in his father's footsteps, debuting with a romance(even though he is a bit more vocal than his dad was). Baanaa Kaathaadi has a familiar rich girl-poor boy story doesn't let it soar very high but the engaging screenplay, good humor and likeable leads ensure that it isn't a deal either.

Ramesh(Atharva), much to his mother's consternation, is more interested in kite flying than his studies. One day, while on a chase to retrieve a loose kite, he bumps into Priya(Samantha), a rich girl studying fashion technology. A misunderstanding about her pen drive leads to them becoming friends. For Ramesh, that soon transforms into love but just as he is about to reveal his feelings, a bigger misunderstanding turns Priya's feelings into hurt.

The Atharva-Samantha romance is engaging even if not innovative or unique. Their relationship follows the standard trajectory of romcoms with friendship blossoming into love, an issue driving a wedge between them and reconciliation occurring in steps. The first of these 3 phases is the best as their characters allow the friendship between them to develop naturally inspite of the differences in their environments, backgrounds and surroundings (it helps that atleast one of the cliched obstacles, her parents, are kept out of the picture). Still it is disappointing that kites, which are Atharva's passion, don't figure in this romance much. Some cute scenes with kites playing a part in their romance would've been nice.

The split between the lovers and Atharva problems after being in the wrong place at the wrong time dovetail nicely to allow a detour to Gujarat. But the detour feels more like a segment to stretch out the movie rather than a legitimate and necessary part of the story. Nothing changes with respect to the romance itself. And the kite festival is treated rather perfunctorily with the magnitude of the festival never being conveyed after a rather colorful, energetic start. Compared to that, Atharva's chases among Chennai's lanes and bylanes conveyed the fun of kite-flying much better.

Karunas' character accomplishes dual functions - he is the older guy tagging along with the hero and his friends and the good-for-nothing son irritating his father. But these familiar scenarios are exploited well to lead to some good laughs. His situation as the friends get him into trouble (the first instance of this in the police station is also the best) and his conversations with father(like the episode about the disappearing money) both generate some hearty laughs. The fact that the director makes Karunas part of some key moments, provides him with a character arc and provides closure to his track (even if the timing of the closure doesn't make a whole lot of sense) allows his sequences to look like something more than a comedy track.

The film manages to end on a note that is both predictable and surprising at the same time. It gives us what we expect, which makes it a bit anti-climactic, but not exactly how we expect it, thereby allowing an element of surprise to accompany the disappointment. That allows it to be effective.

Atharva doesn't resemble his dad much. He is pretty casual in his acting and looks comfortable dancing and clowning around. Samantha, who was the heroine in Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa's Telugu version and played the actress in the Tamil version, looks cute(she looks like Raveena Tandon in some angles) but seems rather wooden. Mounika is terrific as Atharva's mom while Murali has a nice cameo playing the present-day version of his own Idhayam character. Thaakkudhe Kann Thaakkudhe... is a great number sung by Yuvan in his unique style. The song is also picturized well with some cute scenes between Atharva, Samantha and his friends. Paithiyam Pudikkudhu... is a nice number made interesting by some cute antics by Atharva. En Nenjil... is a regular duet. Kuppathu Rajakkal... and Ullaara Poondhu... are picturized exactly as their tunes and lyrics suggest - a group dance by Atharva and friends and an item number respectively.