"A young man who is dumped by his lover, takes her to court" - this one line is all that Dhevadhaiyai Kanden is about. Probably convinced that this is a radical idea, the director has blown it up into a two and a half hour movie. And therein lies the problem. The key plot development of the hero taking the heroine to court takes place almost three-quarters of the way into the movie since it is the climax of the movie. So the director is forced to pad the rest of the movie with elements like romance, comedy and sentiments, which he doesn't seem to be adept at.

Babu(Dhanush), a tea vendor, falls for Uma(Sridevi), a much richer college girl and his love for her and his sincerity makes her fall for him too. When Uma falls sick and is admitted to the hospital, her doctor Bala(Kunal) develops a liking for her and expresses his wish to get married to her. Uma, who considers her contrasting futures with Babu and with Bala, accepts Bala's offer. A heartbroken Babu takes her to court for cheating him.

A big problem with Dhevadhayai Kanden is that we never buy into the romance between Dhanush and Sridevi. While there have been several rich girl-poor boy love stories that have been believable, the love here seems a bit too far-fetched. Cliched elements like his falling for her at first sight and saving her from rowdies don't help either. In addition to the unconvincing romance, we also have to endure the antics of Karunas, Satyan and Mayilsamy as they profess love for Sridevi and try to impress her. Their actions and speech are loud and juvenile and never funny.

Sridevi even considering marrying Kunal after falling in love with Dhanush is quite a surprising move for a Tamil cinema heroine. So it is quite a surprise when she actually agrees to wed Kunal. But the scenes that show her contrasting lifestyles with Dhanush and Kunal are portrayed well and convincingly. So we treat her decision as practical rather than disliking her. Sridevi's conversations with Dhanush after her decision are very sharp as she reasons out her actions and Dhanush alternates between pleading with her and showing indignation at her action.

Once Dhanush takes Sridevi to court, we understand that the movie so far has simply been the build-up for this. But the goings-on in court do not meet the anticipation that the earlier portions built up. The arguments are simplistic and the behavior of some key players are quite unbelievable. For instance, when the whole case is about Sridevi dumping Dhanush, it seems quite silly for her to say that she has just seen him a few times and that he was just an acquaintance. As her statements are broken down one by one by some obvious witnesses, it seems more like a technique by the director to stretch the proceedings. The way the movie ends is also predictable and has been seen too many times before to be surprising.

Its quite a comedown for Dhanush after his superhero turn in Sullaan but he is definitely more believable and likeable here. His sincerity comes through well when he is talking to Sridevi and he succeeds in making us feel sorry for him after he is dumped. Sridevi looks cute in some angles and emotes quite well when explaining her actions to Dhanush. Karunas is irritating as usual when attempting comedy but impresses when he is by Dhanush's side towards the end. Satyan and Mayilsamy manage to irritate us along with Sridevi. Azhage Brammanidam... is the only melodious and appealing number in Deva's soundtrack.