Sundara Travels, a so-called comedy that was painful to sit through, was in fact an average success at the box-office (the only reason I can think of for this is that viewers are so starved of good comedy that they are willing to watch anything that manages to raise a few laughs). This has apparently led the producer to remake another Malayalam film Kabuliwala by applying the same formula as Sundara Travels. The formula, which consisted of crude comedy coupled with cinematic sentiments, is dumbed down further for Meesai Madhavan resulting in a truly abominable film that makes Sundara Travels seem like a comedy classic!. One can only hope that this movie's failure prevents the producer from making even one more similar feature.

When a doctor(Rajeev) is unable to save the life of a kabuliwala's son, the distraught musician kidnaps the doctor's son.Years later, we see the son Madhavan(Ramana) arrive to retrieve his trumpet, which has been stolen from the pawn shop he had temporarily given it to. While trying to get the trumpet back from Rani(Kutti Radhika), a circus owner's daughter, he learns that the kabuliwala was in fact the brother-in-law of the circus owner(Anandraj), who is now elated to have him back. But his biological father, the doctor, also identifies him and wants him back.

Though the movie begins in a serious manner with Manivannan's son's death and his kidnapping of the doctor's little boy, the movie starts to think of itself as a comedy once it moves to the present. The focus from then on is on Ilavarasu and Thangaraj, who is also the producer, who play rag pickers. Unfortunately, their comedy is of the crudest variety as Thangaraj fights with a dog over a bun and is subsequently urinated on by the dog. There is also the odd sentimental scene as they sacrifice 6 months of their life for the girls they love only to see them rudely rebuff them after their return. The movie at this point seems pretty much aimless as it seems unable to decide whether it is an unfunny comedy or an ineffective serious movie and we have no clue about the direction the movie is proceeding in or the connection of everything that is happening to what happened initially.

One of the most popular(and most mocked!) aspects of old Tamil movies was the 'family song' that reunited separated members of a family. Here we get not a song but a tune on a trumpet and it is used to reunite Ramana with not one but two of his families! The movie loses all glimpses of coherence and becomes unintentionally funny as first Anandraj and then Rajeev listen to him playing the tune and reveal his relation to them. Any hopes of an emotional tug-of-war between Anandraj and Rajeev over Ramana are also dashed as the two behave in inane and childish ways to argue that he belongs to them. Exasperating us even more is the parallel comedy track with Ilavarasu and Thangaraj. It is like a painful itch that refuses to go away as they now have to deal with Thiagu, a policeman, in slapstick encounters.

The confusion over Ramana's roots leads to a chase and the obligatory fight sequence. And while even serious movies strive to deliver a happy ending, Meesai Madhavan, which is obviously intended to be a comedy, inexplicably ends things on a sentimental note. And it does so not with the main track but with what was so far the comedy track! Ofcourse, with all the torture the pair of Ilavarasu and Thangaraj has put us through so far, it goes without saying that their sad situation at the end affects us in no way whatsoever.

Ramana seems lost in the chaos and is relegated to a supporting role mostly as Ilavarasu and Thangaraj take centrestage. The modern dresses and hairstyle don't suit Kutti Radhika and she always seems to have too much make up on. Ilavarasu usually makes us laugh with his dialog delivery in even small roles but he overstays his welcome here. The unfunny sequences and script ensure that he doesn't raise a single laugh and Thangaraj gives him good company in that. Anandraj tries to gamely infuse a little life into the proceedings while Saranya is wasted in a negligible role.