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Cast: Arya, Shriya Saran, Preetika Rao, Anoop, Santhanam
Directer: Manikandan
Producer: Mediaone Global Entertainment
Music: Colonial Cousins, Pravin Mani
Debutant director Manikandan has remixed his mentor Jeeva’s success formula of filmmaking.
He has taken the basic thread from Bollywood rom-com’s, mixed it with exotic locations, eye catching picture postcard shots, stylishly shot songs, trendy costumes along with beautiful people.
The film opens in Karaikudi of 1985 and then cuts to London of 2010. Arjun (Arya) is a popular DJ who likes chasing skirts and updating his Facebook profile.
He lives with his grandmother, who asks him to go back to his home town in Karaikudi and reclaim his ancestral mansion, which is being dismantled by his relatives who have pledged it to a local moneylender.
Anu (Shriya) is a modern, happy go-lucky girl MBA student who is going back to her family in Madurai. Arjun and Anu meet at Bangalore airport, after their onward flight to Madurai gets cancelled. They pretend to be newly married couple so that they can travel on a cancelled reserved railway ticket to Madurai.
Meanwhile, Arjun stumbles on an old diary written by his father, which has been kept in his bag by his grandmother. The diary reveals his father Sekhar’s (Arya) romantic past in Karaikudi, when he fell madly in love with Meenal (Preetika), daughter of a school principal. Sekhar’s family was opposed to their love as Meenal was from a different caste.
The film then narrates both romances side by side using a very interesting device by casting Arya as father and son. The narrative inevitably flips back and forth between son Arya’s blooming romance with Shriya and father Arya’s deep rooted love for Preetika.
Ten minutes into the film and you know that you are watching a Tamil cocktail of Bollywood’s most successful romance king Imtiaz Ali’s- Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal! It is watchable in parts, but moves like a slow passenger train. We have some poignant moments interrupted by forced comedy of Santhanam and co thrust into the narration making it irksome. There are some good scenes but unfortunately moments like these are few and far between.
Arya has slowly but surely turning into a dependable star as he is improving with each film particularly on his dialogue delivery and dancing. As both Sekhar and the charming Arjun he is consistently watchable. Shriya looks cute and fits into the role of chatter-box Anu to a T. However, it is debutant Preetika who is the surprise packet and she has a scorching screen presence. She is promising and knows how to use her eyes and body language to her advantage.
The film, despite its slow pace has great chemistry and mad cap moments.
