Tamil movies for a while now have become completely unrealistic and devoid of naturality. While the need for entertainment necessitates this to a certain extent, we do still look for movies that reflect a slice of our life in a realistic and practical manner. That search was the main reason for the phenomenal success of Cheran's Autograph. Azhagiya Theeye is another arrival that attempts to provide entertainment without sacrificing realism. With down-to-earth characters, a smooth screenplay and sparkling and witty dialogs, it succeeds very admirably is its attempt.

Chandran(Prasanna), Gopi(Kumaravel) and Bala(Bala), all aspiring film directors, and Murthy(Jaiverma), an aspiring actor, have held on to their dreams of making it big in movies while struggling to make ends meet. Nandhini(Navya Nair), who is being forced into an unwanted marriage by her father, goes to her sister's friend to help her out and the friend takes her to Chandran, hoping that his fertile mind will be able to come up with an idea. Chandran's plan is to tell the intended groom Aravind(Prakashraj) that he and Nandhini are lovers and Nandhini eventually agrees but the lie soon blows up in their faces.

Azhagiya Theeye is populated with characters who behave like regular people and engage in conversations of the kind we could envision having with our friends. It does not have a hero who subdues villains twice his size or a heroine who falls for such a hero in the blink of an eye. Even the heroine's father, the closest we get to a villain in the film, knows his limits and expresses his anger within reasonable bounds. This helps us identify with the characters easily.

The movie has a simple story that is moved along by a smooth, well-paced screenplay. Helping this the most is the script that lends a subtle touch of humor throughout the movie. Almost all lines are laced with humor and there are several jabs at movies and actors that work very well since they are perfectly placed. Everything from Murali's refusal to reveal his love to his woman, to Sidharth's naked run on Mount Road in Boys is fodder for this movie's script. There are also a couple of sequences (like Prasanna and Gopi's trip to buy a puppy) that are filled with some very witty lines.

The movie maintains its standard to the end with a wonderful climax that fits the phrase "short and sweet" completely. With a fantastic scene where Prasanna's fictional account of his first glimpse of Navya is replayed (in a completely uexpected fashion), the climax showcases the director's creativity and fresh ideas. At the same time, it doesn't miss out on the humorous nature of the film and takes a shot at one of the most popular of sequences for a Tamil cinema climax - the climax in a train station!

Prasanna displays a new knack for comedy and several of his comments, delivered with perfect timing, tone and body language, raise laughs. Navya Nair, another Malayalam import after Meera Jasmine and Gopika, looks homely and is funny in the scenes where she fights with Prasanna. Kumaravel is responsible for many of the laughs with his good dialog delivery while Bala has a few nice lines. Jaiverma is the least noticeable among the cast. Prakashraj makes a mark in a long cameo while Baskar, as the houseowner whose filmi dreams are taken advantage of by the heroes, has some funny scenes.