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Cast:
| Aryan
Rajesh |
Srutika |
Vijay
Kumar |
Hemalata |
| Karunas |
Sarita |
Balachandra Menon |
| Director: Vasantabalan |
 It is meant to be an 'Album' of memories. But you don't carry that many of them with you, when you come out of the theatre after viewing the film. It's a bland affair, where you wait for something to happen. Like, a twist or a turn, or some conflict. And then you keep waiting and waiting, till you realise that there's no more wait since the film has come to an end. The debutant director's apprenticeship, with director Shankar, seems not to have done him much good in this film produced by Kavithalaya.
Somu Annachi and Ranganathan share a great bonding and are neighbours. So there is a lot of interaction between the two families. Joint group activities, picnics, songs and dances. So much so that you fail to identify which member belongs to which family. Their children Jeeva & Viji fall in love. The director who attempts to depict Jeeva as a leftist, who takes up cudgels for some cause or the other, mouthing Lenin and Marx, gives up the attempt fast enough. And Jeeva settles down to being the typical hero with his song-dance-fight routine. Somu's errant brother who had earlier cheated him of his wealth, returns to the fold, giving meaningful looks of more mischief to come. But nothing much happens on that front. Believing that their families would part ways if they learnt of their affair, the lovers decide to separate. Not quite convincing here. The girl's marriage is finalised elsewhere. But at the final moment truth comes out, and then it's all is well that ends well. Throughout all this, the intended groom stands with a deadpan expression, like the director had forgotten to inform him of the character's humiliation! Or was he trying to match the blank look of the hero?
 For Aryan Rajesh (son of popular Telugu director EVV Satyanarayana and with two Telugu films behind him) expressions seem hard to come by. Srutika's unusual looks will not make it easy for the typical heroine roles to come her way. Vijaykumar, seasoned actor that he is, manages to rise above the script as Somu, with a performance that does him credit. Watching the overweight Sarita will give you a sense of
breathlessness. Following his contemporaries, Kalabhavan Mani & Murali, Balachandra Menon, the popular
actor - director - producer of Malayalam films, takes a step into Tamil.
Unfortunately, he's not as lucky as them, for he's not given much to do, the character of Ranganathan, more as a stand-by to Somu. The scene-stealer is undoubtedly Hemalatha as Githa the hero's little sister. With her spontaneous expressions and quick repartee, the child artiste brings the character of the brat-sister alive on the screen.
Malini Mannath
published on 13th Oct 2002
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