90ml was advertised as a no-holds-barred ‘adult entertainer’. Which means two things — that one has to be subjected to the torture of watching an irritable set of jokes on physical appearances. And two, it’s impossible to expect a reasonably good adult comedy from Tamil cinema. The film is yet another case of cinematic marvel where the filmmaker thinks that gender reversal is the ultimate act of liberating women from the shackles of society. But in reality, the subsequent effect is so plasticky on screen that there’s a fair chance that 90ml might receive vehement opposition, given that Tamil Nadu Government has imposed a ban on plastics.
It opens with Rita (Oviya) who moves into a new apartment along with her feminist boyfriend Vicky. She quickly befriends Thamarai, Kajal, Paru and Sungaya, who have problems with their sex lives. In a way, Rita plays cupid...sorry, a part-time sex consultant in their lives. Every time they get together, they discuss sex, alcohol and weed. If Trisha Illana Nayanthara and Hara Hara Mahadevaki offered a peek into men’s WhatsApp groups, 90ml does so for women. We get that the director wanted to write a ‘dude’ film. But what we see is not that. Crass is crass, no matter who portrays it. 90ml ends up being one of those so-called ‘adult entertainers’ that needs to be called out for its terribly unimaginative ideas and insensitive portrayal of LGBT communities.
