Courtesy:
Galatta
Friday,
November
24,
2006
Shakti
(Madhavan)
is
a
young
man
from
a
village,
with
no
job
but
tons
of
ambition
and
dreams.
As
he
sees
his
life
pass
him
by,
stuck
in
a
rut
in
his
hometown,
he
decides
that
he
will
try
his
fortunes
elsewhere.
Chennai
beckons
him
and
off
goes
Shakti,
to
join
his
uncle
Kirikalam
(Vadivelu)
who
has
a
stall
of
magic
tricks
at
an
exhibition.
No,
Kirikalam
is
not
really
a
magician,
but
is
posing
as
one
and
his
amateurish
tricks
don't
exactly
bring
in
big
crowds.
Next
door
to
Shakti
and
Kirikalam's
stall
though,
is
ever-populated
with
visitors.
The
reason:
it's
an
all-girls
stand,
with
mermaid
costumes
as
the
theme!
Velli
(Reema
Sen)
is
the
'head
mermaid'
at
this
stall
run
by
her
sister,
and
bitter
quarrels
between
Shakti
and
Velli
ensue,
when
Shakti
feels
that
Velli
and
her
team
are
unfairly
taking
their
customers
away
and
Velli
has
this
impression
of
Shakti
being
an
unsavoury
character.
We
see
this
misunderstanding
at
different
occasions
where
Velli
and
Madhavan
just
happen
to
be
in
the
wrong
place
at
the
wrong
time
-
be
it
when
Shakti
gets
off
the
bus
from
his
village,
asks
for
directions
and
is
told
to
follow
Velli,
walking
in
the
distance
(Velli
thinks
he'
a
womaniser!)
or
when
Shakti
finally
catches
up
with
a
miscreant
who
had
picked
his
pocket
and
demands
his
money
back....only
Velli
walks
into
the
scene
only
at
the
demanding
part!
This
whole
collage
of
scenes
is
animated,
with
Kirikalam
and
Shakti
trying
to
woo
customers
back
to
their
stall,
Shakti
and
Velli
getting
into
arguments
and
a
general
state
of
"fun" ruckus.
Of
course,
love
has
been
brewing
as
an
undercurrent
between
the
2
young
people...
Manivannan
plays
the
character
of
the
owner
of
the
exhibition
grounds
and
keeps
harassing
Velli
under
some
pretext
or
the
other,
like
the
rent
not
being
paid
on
time.
In
fact,
he
has
a
soft
spot
for
Velli,
feelings
thoroughly
rejected
by
her.
He
finally
abducts
her,
but
Shakti
resuces
Velli.
Similarly,
Velli's
plight
is
repeated
when
her
"mora
maapillai"
(betrothed
suitor)
enters
the
scene
and
tries
to
force
her
to
be
with
him;
and
Shakti
steps
in
once
again
to
save
and
protect
Velli.
The
undercurrents
of
love
blow
up
into
a
full-fledged
torrent
and
Velli
and
Shakti
make
up
for
all
of
their
lost
time
professing
their
love
for
each
other
and
romancing
their
way
happily
through
the
exhibition.
Meanwhile,
we
see
a
series
of
murders
in
different
towns
of
the
state
and
2
perpetrators
of
these
crimes
slinking
away
from
each.
Not
every
time
is
it
foolproof
though,
and
at
one
crime
scene,
a
witness
spots
the
main
culprit.
He
is
instructed
by
the
police
to
sketch
and
give
them
a
pictorial
description
of
the
murderer,
when
it
comes
to
the
police's
knowledge
that
both
the
criminals
have
been
seen
at
Kumbakonam
some
time
ago.
Going
thru
various
fact
files,
the
police
comes
across
the
incident
of
a
bad
fire
at
a
marriage
hall
in
Kumbakonam
and
as
the
officer
in
charge
of
the
investigation
(played
by
Bhagyaraj)
flips
through
the
picture
files
of
the
deceased,
Kannan's
(Madhavan
-
the
2nd!)
face
is
shown
and
the
witness
jumps!
He
tells
the
police
he
doesn't
need
to
sketch
anything
when
the
face
of
the
main
murderer
itself
is
staring
them
in
the
eye
-
he
points
to
the
photo
of
Kannan
-
it
is
the
face
of
Shakti,
only
this
one
has
light
eyes...
Investigations
into
the
murder
lead
the
police
to
Chennai
and
as
luck
would
have
it,
Shakti
is
spotted,
recognized
and
arrested.
Kannan,
on
the
other
hand
follows
the
murder
investigation
and
is
upset
to
find
that
an
innocent
man
has
been
captured
for
crimes
he
has
committed.
He
meets
Kirikalam
and
Velli
and
plots
to
help
Shakti
get
out.
And
so
he
does,
and
Shakti
and
he
escape
by
the
skin
of
their
teeth.
After
much
chase-and-hide,
Kannan
tells
the
story
of
what
led
him
to
murder
all
those
people
-
flashback
time....
Kannan,
his
elder
brother
and
his
father
were
renowned
caterers
and
were
commissioned
to
cook
for
a
marriage
function
in
Kumbakonam.
The
host
was
Kannan's
father's
friend
and
this
gentleman's
daughter
was
getting
married
in
a
joyous
ceremony.
There,
Kannan
meets
Jyoti
(Anushka)
and
falls
in
love
instantly.
At
first
he
panics
that
Jyoti
is
the
bride
at
the
function
but
is
vastly
relieved
when
he
finds
out
she
is
not.
She
really
likes
Kannan
too
and
it
all
seems
like
Wonderland.
Unfortunately,
the
groom
creates
trouble
at
the
wedding
and
walks
out,
leaving
the
family
distraught
and
desperate.
Suddenly
Kannan
makes
a
suggestion:
Father,
this
is
our
friend's
wedding
and
the
bride
is
a
wonderful
girl.
Why
can't
Anna
(elder
brother)
marry
her?
A
brilliant
idea
and
it
is
decided...
only
fate
has
to
fell
her
axe
right
then,
when
all
hell
breaks
loose
and
a
raging
fire
attacks
the
marriage
house.
The
father
of
the
bride
is
a
good
man,
and
a
dignitary
in
the
town
of
Kumbakonam.
He
comes
to
know
that
a
bunch
of
powerful
thugs
and
gang
leaders
have
sold
a
large
piece
of
government
property
to
a
north
Indian
businessman,
completely
illegally
at
exorbitant
prices,
with
no
gain
for
the
townspeople
themselves!
He
strongly
opposes
them
and
all
their
mischief
comes
to
public
notice
and
foils
their
plans.
They
want
his
blood
as
revenge.
They
set
fire
to
the
building
of
the
wedding
and
kill
every
single
inmate
inside
-
but
2
people
escape,
Kannan
and
his
friend.
Kannan,
whose
light
eyes
are
a
result
of
the
fire
(he
walks
with
help
and
not
very
clear
sight)
is
heartbroken
and
devastated
at
the
loss
of
his
entire
family
and
lady
love
at
what
was
to
be
a
joyous,
happy
occasion.
He
vows
retribution
on
the
villains
and
sets
about
cold-bloodedly
fulfilling
this.
How
Shakti
helps
Kannan
get
his
revenge
forms
the
rest
of
the
story.
This
second
half
is
full
of
fast-paced
action
and
drama
and
the
end,
as
if
inspired
by
the
cult
movie
Terminator
2
-Judgement
Day,
is
both
feel-good
and
poignant.
Madhavan
can
never
be
underestimated
and
his
skills
in
this
movie
proves
this
so.
He
has
done
Shakti's
and
Kannan's
role
well
enough
that
each
can
be
differentiated
as
a
unique
individual.
Shakti
is
shown
as
a
fun-loving,
full-of-life
young
man
and
Kannan
USED
to
be
a
happy
and
contented
young
man,
until
tragedy
struck
his
life
and
he
became
a
serious
and
loveless
vigilante.
The
first
half
is
filled
with
comedy
and
tongue-in-cheek
tricks
and
giggles
watching
Kirikalam
in
hilarious
action
and
Velli
and
Shakti
at
each
others'
throats.
As
for
Kannan's
stint
in
Kumbakonam,
the
scenes
are
reminiscent
of
a
happy
Hindi
film
like
Dilwale
Dulhaniya
Le
Jaayenge,
where
the
wedding
function
events
are
so
colourful,
happy
and
filled
with
song
and
dance.
The
action
scenes
once
again
bring
to
mind
how
good
Madhavan
is
in
a
fight,
like
he
was
in
Run
and
Aethiree
-
both
hits,
thanks
to
the
super
mix
of
action,
romance,
comedy
and
rural
flavour.
Reema
Sen
is
very
pretty
with
her
pouty
indignation
and
quick
temper
-
one
is
reminded
of
what
a
handsome
couple
she
and
Madhavan
make
together
and
this
is
only
their
2nd
film
after
Minnale.
Anushka
is
surprisingly
good
and
very
attractive
-
a
lovely
smile,
a
pleasing
demeanour
and
shows
as
being
a
promising
actress.
2
songs
are
especially
lilting
-
Kurai
Ondrum
Illai
and
Nee
Yen
Tozhi-aa
-
and
keep
the
viewers
in
their
seats.
In
general,
the
overall
flow
of
the
film
is
pretty
good
and
Sundar
C.
has
once
again
proved
his
mettle
at
combining
a
good
story
with
good
entertainment
value
in
this
comedy-romance-action
film.
Oscar
Films'
promotion
of
this
film
is
all
over
the
cities
and
Rendu
looks
all
set
to
be
a
hit.
Rendu
is
a
good
entertainer
-
with
enough
comforting
qualities
of
a
commercial
film
and
enough
twists
in
the
tale
of
2
look-alikes
to
be
different
enough.
Cast-
Madhavan,
Reema
Sen,
Anushka,
Vadivelu,
Bhagyaraj.
Banner
-
Oscar
Films
(P)
Ltd
and
Avni
Cine
Max
Producer
-
Khusbhoo
Director
-
Sundar.C
Music
director
-
D.Imman
Date
of
Release
-
24th
November,
2006