UNAKKAAGA ELLAAM UNAKKAAGA

A movie review by Balaji Balasubramaniam

Cast:	Karthik, Rambha, Koundamani, Vivek, Vinu Chakravarthy, Jaiganesh, 'Kaka' Radhakrishnan, Sachu, S.S.Chandran, Sachu
Music:	Yuvan Shankar Raja
Direction:	Sundar C

After viewing Poovellaam Kaettuppaar and Minsaara Kannaa I had complained that tamil cinema directors were incapable of directing a full-length comedy that managed to keep the viewer laughing throughout. Sundar.C has tried to prove me wrong. But unfortunately, while he has gotten the "full-length" part right, he has failed in the "comedy" part with a distinctly unfunny movie where the laughs per minute ratio is way too low for me to recommend even renting the movie.

Sakthivel(Karthik) is a playful young man who, along with his uncle Kundalakesi(Koundamani), whiles away his time spending his father's(Vinu Chakravarthy) money. Sakthi falls in love with Indu(Rambha). Turns out Sakthi's father and Indu's father(Jaiganesh) are old friends and they decide to hold the engagement for Sakthi and Indu. But Sakthi, who doesn't know that the girl fixed for him is Indu, creates commotion at the engagement and earns the wrath of both Indu and her father. From then onwards, he tries to clear the air with her but gets embroiled in one confusion after another.

I am a sucker for comedy. This is the reason for my worth-renting rating for movies like Poomagal Oorvalam and Kaadhalaa Kaadhalaa though they generally require one's brain to be turned off throughout the viewing. At the same time, an attempted comedy that does not make you laugh is one of the toughest two and a half hours to sit through. So, I do have the basic requirement that the comedy actually make me atleast smile at regular intervals. This movie does not satisfy that condition. There was exactly one scene, where Koundamani complains about a stone in his food, that I found myself laughing. Barring this and a couple of more funny lines for Koundamani and Vivek, the entire movie was devoid of laughs.

Sundar continues his trend of copying scenes and situations whole from other movies as he did in Unnai Thedi. Here the entire initial portions of the spendthrift Sakthivel, his doting mother, his stern father, courting Indu by having someone dress up as a terrorist and spending the night in her house - all look as though they were directly lifted from Bagyaraj's Raasukkutti. There is also a sequence where Koundamani gets into all sorts of trouble at Rambha's house which has been lifted from Father of the Bride.

The screenplay itself has been devised rather cleverly with a string of situations where Karthik ends up being thought of as the husband of 3 different women Indu, Vinodhini and Vichitra. With all of them causing problems at the wedding of Karthik and Rambha, the scene sets one up for a comic riot. But the payoff is disappointingly mirthless.

Karthik takes a break from playing the good guy with a heart of gold(Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen, Nilave Mugam Kaattu, Aanandha Poongaatre) to play Sakthivel. He impresses during the courting of Rambha. But he better change his wig. Rambha continues her vow of not wearing dresses that extend to below her thighs and many of her costumes threaten the movie's claim to be a family film. Her short dresses enhance her plumpness and I'm not sure if it was the director's way of teasing her but many of her initial scenes are to the accompaniment of the tune for "Baby Elephant Walks" in the background. Koundamani is his usual loud self while Vivek has some funny moments as the hen-pecked husband.

The tradition of foreign locales for just a couple of song sequences continues with Sydney being the spot this time. But Yuvan Shankar Raja's songs don't match the setting.