I must confess I’ve been dreading this film’s release. Not because it’s a remake of the Malayalam hit > Vellimoonga . (Most of our remakes miss out on whatever made the original film worth watching.) Not because of “comedy scenes” like the one in which a man gifts his girl an iPad, only to see her use it as a plate to shape dough for vadais. Not even because of the other “comedy scene” where the heroine embraces the hero and pulls back because something is poking her, and he whips out a… police siren (of course!) he had hidden in his clothes. My fear was that someone would ask me what film I’d be reviewing this week, and I’d have to find a way to not look terribly embarrassed while mumbling: “Muthina Kathirikka.” Really! Was this film made in Kodambakkam or Kothawal Chavadi?
All of which is a way to get around talking about the film, directed by Venkat Raghavan. Frankly, there isn’t much to talk about. A few scattered laughs, maybe. The story is about Muthupandi (Sundar C), who wants to become a politician. He also wants to marry Maya, despite the fact that he went to school with Maya’s mother and had a crush on her. Watching this film after Enakku Innoru Per Irukku was an exercise in déjà vu. More cuckolded-husband comedy. More VTV Ganesh. More Yogi Babu. More appropriation from Ilayaraja. This time, a clash between brothers is underscored by music from Agni Natchatiram . And when a man says the married woman he is assumed to be having an affair with is like his sister, we hear Andha vaanatha pola … which doesn’t even make sense. But then very little in this film does.
