Azhagi could well be called a modern classic. Cinematographer-turned-director Thankar Bachan sidestepped loudness and crassness to sensitively portray a boy's first love and his conflict when he, now married and leading a happy life, meets the girl later in his life. His second film deals with a theme seen more often and in a more cinematic way. It depicts the heartburn and insults undergone by a poor youth who marries a girl from a rich family. Sure its has nice characters, realistic events and memorable moments. But is also lacks the sensitivity, the lyrical quality and subtleness that marked Azhagi.

Sivadhanu(Cheran) is an unemployed M.Sc. graduate selling fruits by the roadside(as a broker) in order to support his family. Seeing his honesty, goodheartedness and industriousness, a rich businessman Chockalingam('Pyramid' Natrajan), offers to make Sivadhanu his son-in-law, under the condition that Sivadhanu stay with his wife's family. Initially reluctant, Sivadhanu accepts the offer under pressure from his family, but only after Chockalingam promises to find him a job after the marriage. But Sivadhanu soon learns that Chockalingam has no such intentions and so looks for a job on his own. He finds a job in Neyveli but Chockalingam forbids his daughter Parvathi(Rathi), from joining him.

With realistic characters and reliable performers, Thankar Bachan is able to tug at our heartstrings more than once in the movie. Cheran's family is touchingly real and most of their scenes are emotional without being overly sentimental. The whole sequence where Cheran shows up unannounced at his parents' house is memorable with sharp dialogs and strong emotions and the scene where he bids goodbye is very touching. But the same cannot be said of the characters at 'Pyramid' Natrajan's house. His wife and father are cardboard characters whose snide looks and hurtful comments to Cheran's brother's face are very artificial. Rathi's character, torn between affection for her father and love for her husband, is the only one that rings true there. Natrajan's character starts of realistically but his acts against Cheran after driving him out of the house are too exaggerated.

Thankar Bachan's strength lies in his characterization and depiction of events in a realistic manner. Cheran's turmoil at having to work in his father-in-law's hotel as well as his reluctance to help his family by relying on his wife's family is excellently brought out. The way he replaces his brother's slippers with his own in the hotel is a scene that coveys all this in a single moment. The few intimate moments Cheran spends with Rathi bring out the happiness of newly weds. His joy at having found a new job and his frustration at his wife being manipulated by her family seem natural and the perfectly harmonious moment with his wife and child spiralling into a heated argument in a split second is all too familiar.

The two undesirable aspects in the otherwise memorable Azhagi were the unconnected comedy track and the raunchy song sequence. Thankar Bachan avoids the latter here but takes a step backward as far as the comedy is concerned. Sure there is no separate track here but Pushpavanam Kuppusamy's so-called comedy(it is blended into the movie since he is Cheran's friend) had me wincing in pain. He is loud, crass and completely unfunny and definitely the biggest drawback of the movie. A fight sequence and some dialogs, like the criticism directed at old heroes and their heroines, are other aspects that stick out without blending into the movie, But the dialogs against the modern-day heroes definitely reveals Thankar Bachan's boldness.

Cheran, who last directed the very good Paandavar Bhoomi, is surprisingly good for his first time in front of the camera. Though he does appear to step into overacting a couple of times, he is convincing as Sivadhanu. Rathi is cute and perfect as the demure village girl. 'Pyramid' Natarajan, who seems real busy these days, is the perfect choice for the father-in-law. For most part, he is able to play the character without demonizing it and even makes us see his side of the matter a couple of times. Others in the cast, like Cheran's younger brother, are adequate. Ilaiyaraja takes us back to the 80s with the rustic, slow songs. Though the songs don't sound good on their own, they do blend in well with the movie.