Right now, there is talk in Tamil cinema of remaking some older films. But actually, we've always had films that try to replicate the success of an earlier, popular film by presenting the same story. Just that they didn't call explicitly call themselves remakes. Azhagesan was one such film and Ilavattam falls in the same category. It has the same underlying story as Vasanth's Aasai but as in Azhagesan, the weak cast and poor screenplay ensure that the film is no match to the original.

Srinivasan(Navdeep) attends school with police officers escorting him and aces the annual exam to win the University gold medal. At the function to receive the medal, under prodding from the District Collector(Suhasini), he recounts his romance with Lakshmi(Sheela), his classmate, and the problems they faced.

We've had a number of movies set in college campuses but Ilavattam is set in a school. Not that it makes any difference to how the environment is portrayed. Male teachers, portrayed by actors like Baskar and Manobala, exist simply to be ridiculed by the students while the female teachers are sex objects who behave in ways that fuel the students' libido. But they all share the trait of dumbness and play the role of comedians in the movie. Sex and mischief are the only things on the students' minds and the movie, in many places, seems more vulgar than its counterparts set in colleges because the participants are younger.

Lust, rather than love, is the defining factor of the romance between Navdeep and Sheela too. But that makes sense(even if it feels a tad uncomfortable) considering the ages of the leads. Hearing them mouth long dialogs and declare undying love to each other would seem silly considering how young they are. So their immaturity towards their romance, their eagerness to be alone and their inability to keep their hands off each other when they are alone, seem realistic.

Once Prithviraj reveals his true colors, the movie turns into an Aasai clone. But the subtlety and the cunningness of Prakashraj's acts in that movie are replaced by loudness and dumbness here. Prithviraj's moves to achieve his goals are overt and make him likely to be caught any time. If he does go as far as he does, it is only because the people around him are as stupid as he is! I mean, if a man knows that his son-in-law has tried to kill his wife, would he ask his daughter to divorce him and hand him over to the police or would he remain quiet and ask the son-in-law to meet him in an isolated spot in the middle of the night?!

Navdeep has kinda sad eyes that make him look inexpressive. And his voice doesn't help either. But Sheela, on the other hand, is a good find. She is feisty and energetic and expressions come easily to her. Prithviraj is, as always, as over-the-top as his character and he gets uncontrollable towards the end. Suhasini comes in one of those roles where she gets to lecture students on the benefits of concentrating on their studies.