Vikraman always takes it upon himself to make viewers bestow respect on any subject that he chooses. After giving us a loving family with Vaanathai Pola, he goes back to giving romance a good name in Unnai Ninaithu. The movie possesses all trademarks of a Vikraman film like a neat screenplay, strong but underplayed sentiments and a clean romance sans vulgarity. But the excessive and poor comedy all but wipes out such positive aspects of the movie.

Surya(Surya) is the owner of Apsara lodge but since his father had leased it for money, he works as the receptionist there and is waiting for the day the the lease will expire. He tells Radha(Sneha), the manager's daughter, about his doomed love affair with Nirmala(Laila), whose family he had helped in a lot of ways. But they had rejected him when a wealthier groom Selvam(Ramji) showed up. Radha falls for Surya but Nirmala reappears in his life and he continues to help her as before.

As long as Vikraman concentrates on romance he proves that he has not yet lost his touch. Surya's love for Laila is well brought out by his sacrifices and the romance is not marked by long-winded, sentimental speeches or cinematic, cute incidents. Though the 'love at first sight' aspect is still cinematic, further developments, including Laila's parents' tacit acceptance of their romance, is reasonably realistic. The heroine dumping the hero, even if after some initial reluctance, on the request of her parents is also something new in Tamil cinema. These scenes are practical though their rejection of Surya could have been done more subtly.

Sneha's feelings for Surya are brought out by some standard Tamil cinema incidents like her cleaning his apartment and washing his clothes and raises no interest. But once Laila returns, the suspense about who Surya will be united with is maintained reasonably well. The solution is satisfactory and seems reasonable. It also features some nice dialogs, though they remind us of Vijay's dialogs in the climax of Poove Unakkaaga.

Vikraman's earlier movies have always featured enjoyable comedy. The comedy, like the antics of the elders in Poove Unakkaaga, was always part of the main track and funny too. So, it is a surprise that comedy turns out to be the bane of Unnai Ninaithu. Right from their long introductions, the trio of Charlie, R.Sunderrajan and Chitra Lakshmanan test our patience. The comedy is thrust in by making them residents in the lodge and not even one of their sequences brings a smile to our lips. Though not exceptionally funny, Ramesh Khanna raises more laughs with his timely comments than the three of them combined since he appears as part of the main track.

Surya's role is the opposite of his character in Nandhaa and he is very comfortable essaying the soft role. He has little to do since most sentiments are underplayed anyway but earns our sympathy with his good naturedness. Laila has a meatier role compared to Sneha but her smile and facial expressions are beginning to become stale. The heavier scenes expose her limitations in acting. Sneha is wasted and has little to do. 'Thalaivasal' Vijay and Pallavi are believable as the money-minded parents. Vikraman goes with Sirpy this time instead of his usual music director S.A.Rajkumar but the difference is not obvious with Sirpy too coming up with tunes that are nothing special. The song sung by R.Sunderrajan contains some nice and funny lyrics for guys who have failed in love.