Director Mithran Jawahar's previous 2 films with Dhanush, Yaaradi Nee Mohini and Kutty, were both remakes of Telugu films and light romances served up with a sprinkling of comedy. For Uthama Puthiran, their third outing together, he once again goes for a Telugu remake but ups the comedy quotient so that the film seems more like a comedy than a romance. Though the film doesn't offer anything new, the comedy is funny for the most part and so it works as an entertainer.

Shiva(Dhanush) is part of a large joint family consisting of his parents, uncles and aunt. Intending to help his friend, he plans to kidnap the friend's lover from her wedding but ends up kidnapping the wrong bride. Turns out the girl Pooja(Genelia) was being forced to marry her uncle's son against her wishes and so is actually happy. With nowhere else to go, she ends up staying at Dhanush's house. But just when his family is ready to accept her as their daughter-in-law, her uncle takes her back.

Uthama Puthiran is a remake of the Telugu hit Ready but even for those who haven't seen the original, it offers absolutely nothing new. The way Dhanush and Genelia get to know each other - on a road trip - was seen quite recently in Kanden Kaadhalai, the girl befriending the boy's family members happened in Santosh Subramaniyam and the storyline of the hero infiltrating the heroine's household and uniting warring families is a popular theme tackled in movies like Poovellaam Kettuppaar, Jodi and even Poove Unakkaaga. Uthama Puthiran's approach isn't new either since all those movies treated the theme without much seriousness. But to its credit, its comedy is funny enough to prevent the feeling of deja vu from hitting us too often or too hard.

The film is a full-length comedy but its situations allow the comedy to have variety. The initial portions see some very funny lines traded between Dhanush and Srinath(like Dhanush's dissatisfaction about their assumed names) as they go on the run with Genelia. The segment with Genelia in Dhanush's house has a larger share of sentiments but the blossoming romance between the two and the games they to resort to in order to keep up the charade(like how they handle the subordinate guruji's visit) have their share of laughs. Comedy once again gains the upper hand in the 2nd half as Vivek becomes an unwitting pawn in Dhanush's plans and is in constant fear of being caught. So the film succeeds in keeping us smiling for most of its running time.

Among these 3 situations, the last one has the most screen time but fortunately, it has the most laughs. Making the 2 brothers more comedians than villains is a good idea as this allows for some funny setups like the younger brother's daughter-in-law's snide comments and the brothers' actions after their attitude towards their wives changes. There are some low points, like the Spider-man attack on the villain's grandson, but overall, Dhanush's hollow praise for Vivek and the latter's panic whenever he sees Dhanush and Genelia together make for some good laughs.

Dhanush has certainly found his groove with respect to the kind of roles to play and his casual, unassuming style is perfect for the role. Like Arya in Boss Engira Baskaran, he doesn't mind taking the backseat to others for the sake of comedy and it helps. Genelia looks very pretty though her role is pretty similar to her role in Santosh Subramaniyam. After a rather weak stretch, Vivek gets a meaty role and makes full use of it while Srinath too gets a lot of laughs in a much shorter role. None of Vijay Antony's songs make an impression. Kann Irandil... sounds nice even if the situation is a familiar one.