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Director: Suki S. Murthy
Cast: Mithun Thejaswi, Ganesh, Adithya, Zakher, Rathi, Kazan Khan, Vinita, Vasu Vikram, Ravi Kumar.
 The film centres round four young men, classmates and thick buddies - whiling away their time in various ways. Like, hanging around the place, passing comments on the women passing by, never mind even if they are their teacher or a neighbouring aunt. Coming of age has to include hitting the bottle, making a public nuisance of themselves, and causing public embarrassment to their parents. And, of course, playing peeping Tom at a neighbours window, watching a couple making love. The latter scene almost slipping into the soft-porn category.
Enters Anu the new girl on the block who strikes up a friendship with them. Soon the four guys realise that all of them love her. They woo her independently, indulging in one-upmanship, their antics almost threatening to break their friendship. Anu must have been quite dumb not to catch on to it, repeating this silly remark throughout - "What's wrong with you guys!".
Finally, of course, she's told what was wrong with them, and gives them a piece of her mind. Before the chastened four-some could decide on their next move, enters a stranger to the town. The skeletons in the girl's closet tumble down.
The director does a sudden turn. The flashback takes us to the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis, the arrival of the refugee boat with the girl (a la Laila in 'Nandha'), warring groups with different ideologies, the girl running away from the refugee camp, etc. Hard to tell which was worse, the first part, or the second. A confusing script, without any focus.
The debutant heroes pass muster, with Adithya as 'uncle' and Ganesh as Sekhar leaving their mark. Adithya, grandson of the late N.S.K., is a promising comedian in the making, his tonsure scene a good touch. The saving grace is the lively tunes of debutant Gandhidasan (a music college student), the eye-catching visuals of Krishna (associate of Santosh Sivan), and Rathi's sensitive performance. Rathi desperately needs a change of costumer though.
That the director is a debutant is no excuse, he should have been better prepared before he ventured. Surprising, that it's the same banner that produced a film like
'Sethu'!
Malini Mannath
published on 6th Dec 2002
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