UNNARUGE NAANIRUNDHAAL

A movie review by Balaji Balasubramaniam

When an attempted comedy movie fails in making us laugh, like the recent Unakkaaga Ellaam Unakkaaga, the experience is rather agonizing. But when the comedy works, as is the case with Unnaruge Naanirundhaal, it makes for a thoroughly enjoyable time, even compensating for other, more important factors.Here the comedy makes us look past the story, or lack thereof, and instead, we find ourselves frequently laughing at the lines, masterfully delivered by Parthiban.

Recent comedies like Poovellaam Kettuppaar and Jodi have pretty much been on the same lines, banking on mistaken identities and situations to evoke laughs. The scripts were peppered with one-liners and 'kadi's that brought forth smiles by adding to the confusion that already existed. This movie is different in that it banks solely on the script(and its delivery by Parthiban) to deliver the laughs. Another unique feature is that Parthiban's name is never known throughout the movie (there is one scene where he pats himself on the back and calls himself 'kaarmegam' but I think that was an adjective rather than his name). There are a couple of scenes where uttering his name seem imminent but these are sidestepped and his name is never revealed.

The movie starts off in court where Jaiganesh is ordered to vacate the house left to him by his father. When Jaiganesh passes away, Mahalakshmi(Meena), his daughter, not only has to vacate the house but is also burdened with the debts he earned during his lifetime. A taxi driver(Parthiban) helps Mahalakshmi remove the body of her father and sticks around to collect his fare. But after seeing her being subjected to the harsh words of the villagers, he pledges his own taxi to earn her a temporary reprieve. This forces him to stay with Mahalakshmi until she pays off the debts and gets him his taxi back.

Director Chelva is content to let the movie rest squarely on the shoulders of Parthiban and Parthiban rises to the occasion admirably. It is the same role that he has played several times before from Pudhiya Paadhai to the recent Andhappuram. A man whose cynical, rough exterior covers a heart of gold. And he does it again with aplomb evoking laughs with almost every dialog he utters. One such instance is the scene where he wears the royal garb he finds in the house and argues with Meena. He is the sole reason we tend not to notice the wafer-thin story which just has the lone situation of Parthiban staying in Meena's house.

The sequence with Vivek, a cinema director, and Rambha (playing herself), further reveals the director's paucity of ideas since it purely fills time without adding any value whatsoever to the story. Thankfully, it is also among the funniest parts in the movie with several of Vivek's well-timed jabs at cinema, finding their mark. The expressions of jealousy by Meena towards Parthiban's fawning over Rambha are also rather sweet.

Vadivelu, who is usually loud and irritating in movies like Viralukketha Veekkam, had one of his most memorable roles with Parthiban in Bharathi Kannammaa. Though not upto the standards of that movie, his interaction with Parthiban is enjoyable here too. The 'debt' scene is particularly funny and brings back memories of both Visu's confusing dialogs and the 'banana' scene in Karakaattakkaaran. It looks like Vadivelu needs to be reigned in and playing second fiddle to someone else rather than being in charge of a separate comedy track. On the other hand, Manorama, with her odd pronounciation, is irritating and evokes no laughs. Most of the other actors like Anandraj, Anand and Anju Arvind are underused.

All songs are poor and the sequences are also unimaginatively picturised. In fact, the first two songs, occurring in quick succession, really test our patience.