Ezhil has managed to paraphrase beautifully the heart rending ending of 'Moonram Pirai' starring Kamal Hassan and Sridevi, in the first part of his film 'Deepavali.'

Vijayakumar, a resident of Royapuram in Chennai is so wealthy that even politicians accord him great respect. His son is Jayam Ravi. Lal is in construction and goondaism with money power and man power. His daughter is Bhavana.

Bhavana comes to Chennai to stay with Hanifa, who used to work for her father. Here she meets and falls for Ravi's energetic and enthusiastic nature. They sing duets every now and then and their romance grows. It now comes to light that Bhavana has a memory loss syndrome due to a head injury suffered earlier. She tells him about it adding that even if a situation rose where she could not recognize him, he must not abandon her. Ravi holds her hand and earnestly promises her not to.

It does happen that Bhavana fails to recognize Ravi one day and their love is like a soul without a body. On one hand, Ravi struggles to bring back Bhavana's memories. On the other hand, he has to deal with Lal and his villains. Whether Ravi's love ends happily is the rest of the story told with a surprise climax ending by director Ezhil.

In all the fight sequences, Ravi unbelievably thrashes up villains in whatever number they accost him. And he does not suffer a single scratch on his own self. From this unbelievable facet, he at least shows some more feeling in the romantic scenes than in his earlier films.
Growing up without her father's affection, falling in love with Ravi that gives her a purpose in life, how she begs Ravi not to abandon her if she lapses into amnesia, when she recovers not knowing if her love is real or imagined…these are good opportunities for Bhavana to show her acting prowess.

Father Vijayakumar supports his son's love and shows him the green flag to go ahead. With just the puff of his cigarette, Lal exudes villainy in every pore. For a change, Raghuvaran does not drag his words and speaks quite clearly.

Hanifa as the old employee of Lal and Devadarshini as his wife deserve appreciation for their roles.

When Ravi and Bhavana are in their courting days during their romance, a samiyar forecasts that Bhavana and Ravi would get married. Immediately a small distance between the two ensues. Director Ezhil has shown the different facets of love nicely.

Yuvan Shankar Raja's music in "Kannan varum velai," "Pogaadhe…" and "Kaadhal vaithu..." are catchy. His voice in "pogaadhe…" is a fresh change and one feels like asking for an encore. Vijay Milton's cinematography is superb.

Maybe because the film is produced by Lingusamy, one can see his influence here and there!

'Deepavali' is a celebration.