Sundar.C's movies have predominantly been comedies while an Arjun starrer immediately raises visions of an action flick with no dearth of stunts. So Giri, with Sundar behind the camera and Arjun in front of it, is exactly what their union promises - an action-comedy. Fortunately, both the action and the comedy portions of the movie have been handled competently, providing an entertaining time for the undemanding viewer.

The movie opens with the bloody results of an enmity between two neighboring villages, resulting in one of the village bigwigs Sethupathi('Pepsi' Vijayan) swearing to kill the son of his enemy(Vinu Chakravarthy). But the son escapes with the help of a loyal servant's son. Twenty years later, Siva(Arjun) arrives in Kumbakonam and settles down opposite the house where a government officer(Devayani) and her son live. When Siva saves the boy from an assassin, the real reason behind his arrival there comes out.

With Giri, Sundar serves notice of having learned the art of making a masala movie. He serves up a nice combination of those three ingredients of a good masala - action, comedy and romance with large dollops of glamour. The three are merged successfully and more importantly, all three of them work. The stunt sequences are mounted impressively and have enough variety to avoid seeming repetitive. The comedy is funny and raises quite a few chuckles. And with two heroines not averse to shedding their inhibitions(and clothes), there is no shortage of romance or glamour either.

If one had to pick a winner among those three categories, it would have to be comedy. Though it cannot be called a solo comedy track, Vadivelu succeeds in raising many laughs with his routines. The way the secret behind his taking ownership of his bakery is spread is very funny and since it is not overused, it succeeds in making us laugh each time it is brought up. There is also another track where Vadivelu interrupts Madan Bob's plans to enter his house and this one has its share of laughs too.

Arjun indulges in enough fights to keep action fans happy. Reema Sen and Ramya seem resigned to the fact that they are there simply to provide glamour. Prakashraj is impressive while Devayani is either stern or crying most of the time. There is no dearth of villains with Anandraj and 'Pepsi' Vijayan getting the most screen time. Imman's songs are all of the masala variety too. Oppanakaara Veedhiyile... and Kisukisu Manusha... are the catchiest of the lot.