Though Hari started strong with Thamizh and Saamy, his subsequent films were disappointing, the worst of which were soaked in gratuitous violence(Aaru) and regressive melodrama(his last film, Seval). But he shows us that he hasn't completely lost his touch in Singam, his 10th film. With able support from an in-form Suriya, he crafts a racy masala flick where the pace and the action help overlook the familiarity in the proceedings.

Duraisingam(Suriya) is the SI at Nalloor police station near Thoothukudi. Having become a cop due to his dad's wishes, he tries to find a peaceful resolution for disputes among the townsfolk. Kavya(Anushka), who is visiting her grandparents in Thoothukudi, falls for Duraisingam and it isn't long before he develops similar feelings for her. Mayilvaganam(Prakashraj), a Chennai dada who runs a virtual real estate mafia by getting a percentage of all real estate deals in the city, is asked to sign in at the Nalloor police station. When Duraisingam stands up to him, he has him transferred to the Thiruvanmayur police station in Chennai.

Singam doesn't try to offer anything new. Its 'sincere cop vs powerful rowdy' story is the basis for pretty much every masala cop story and is made up of familiar elements (like the cop standing up to the rowdy, being put in his place because of the rowdy's connections, etc.) and characters(like the corrupt superior officer). Other stand-alone segments like Anushka being harassed by a rowdy and Suriya teaching him a lesson are also stock cop-movie fare with even the dialogs(the rowdy referring to the power of the uniform) and actions(Suriya thrashing him sans khaki shirt) being very familiar. But the fast pace ensures that the familiarity doesn't turn into boredom.

In his recent films, Hari has placed more emphasis on sentiments, which unfortunately manifested as melodrama. In Singam, the emphasis is on action and this turns out to be a good thing. From the first face-to-face encounter between Prakashraj and Suriya, the film turns into a non-stop fight for oneupmanship between them. Breaks for romance(facilitated by Suriya moving to Chennai) and sentiments(in the form of Suriya's family's affection for him and the friction between Radharavi and Nasser) are brief and proceed without much drama since any conflicts are easily resolved.

The film's biggest asset is its racy screenplay that zips along fast enough to prevent the feelings of deja vu from setting in too frequently or for too long. The high-voltage meetings between Suriya and Prakashraj with some strong dialogs; the fight sequences with the stop-motion edits; the fast camera zooms through the streets - all these contribute to the fast pace the movie maintains from start to finish. And just when things begin to get a bit repetitive, the revelation about Prakashraj's other antisocial activities helps up the ante since Suriya's mission is no longer personal and becomes bigger than just bringing down a rich and powerful rowdy.

Romance is the biggest casualty amidst all the action. The scene in the temple manages to blend romance and comedy nicely but after that, the romance serves only to serve as lead-in to the duets. Comedy gets a slightly bigger role with Vivek getting his own comedy track. The track skirts vulgarity at a few places but manages to raise a few laughs in some of the segments (the episode that brings Vivek to Chennai being one of them). More importantly, Hari knows when to stop since the track is discontinued once the pace picks up.

Suriya acts as though he doesn't realize that he is in a masala movie and that's eventually what makes the movie work. He plays the hero without playing to the gallery (i.e. he has several strong dialogs but without any off-screen subtexts, they don't sound like punch dialogs) and that brings a much-needed intensity to the role. Anushka is tall and leggy and her costumes in the song sequences, especially En Idhayam, are designed mainly to show off those - and a few other - attributes. She plays a key part in Suriya's career path but barring that one scene, has as much to do as the heroines in other hero-centric masala movies. Prakashraj has played several roles similar to thisone and doesn't do anything to differentiate from those other roles. The steps and expressions of both Suriya and Anushka make Kaadhal Vandhaale... work better onscreen than when listening to just the audio.