After a long string of flops, Kushi's box-office success finally helped turn Vijay's fortunes around. Since then, with movies like Priyamaanavale and Friends, he has been banking on remakes from other languages to ensure success in tamil. While the former was made first in Telugu and then in Hindi, the latter was the remake of a Malayalam hit. For Badri, he once again selects a story that has impressed audiences in two languages - in Hindi as Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander and in Telugu as Tammudu.

Badri(Vijay) is a trouble maker and a source of heartburn for his father(Kitty). So the father pins his hopes on his elder son Vetri(Riyaz Khan), to win the kickboxing championship. Janu(Bhumika), Badri's neighbour, is in love with him but it is just one-sided as Badri considers her a good friend and a source of money(and since her dad is a garage owner, his gateway to new cars to impress the other girls). He falls in love with Mamathi(Monal) a rich girl and poses as a rich guy to impress her. But he soon realises his mistakes and when his brother becomes bedridden, he decides to redeem himself in his father's eyes by fighting in the championship match.

The movie can be broken up into three sections - romance, comedy and action. Of these, the first two occupy the major share of the proceedings but due to the inept handling we neither identify with the joys and disappointments of the lovers nor laugh out loud at the antics of the comedians. Vivek is on hand with some funny lines and Vijay's brother's unspoken love for another girl leads to some funny sequences like the friends watching the couple's behavior and a hilarious reading of a letter intended for the brother. But such laughs are rare and the gang's behavior with Monal, who is Vijay's girlfriend, is cheap and borders on vulgarity at a few places.

One sided love is always touching and Bhumika manages to earn our sympathy with her quiet and sacrificing nature. But the rich Monal is a caricature and Vijay's fling with her is so obviously doomed from the start that it never holds our interest. For a guy who is supposedly in love, Vijay's turn around seems too abrupt when she finally dumps him. And considering the fact that he has been lying to her and posing as a rich guy, his overly harsh words not only seem hypocritical but don't gel with his playful character so far either.

Vijay himself makes quite clear which of the portions he is most comfortable with. Though his physique makes it tough for us to view him as a kickboxer, he makes up for it by taking some courageous risks in the action sequences. The gruelling training session he undergoes in preparation for the fight is a straight lift from Stallone's Rocky 4. But it does involve some daredevil stunts and the camera angles make it clear that Vijay has done these without resorting to a stuntman. But after this rousing sequence, the climactic fight is a letdown with no thrills or tension being generated.

Vijay starts off with the same playfulness he displayed in Friends and this suits him better than the dour look he sports after realising his mistakes. Bhumika is quiet and likable with a surprising lack of glamour. One would have a hard time believing that Monal is Simran's sister and she is far behind her sister in both looks and acting. Angel Vandhaale... is catchy and well-picturised but almost all other songs have a 'dappanguthu' tune and are forcefully inserted.