Manam Koththi Paravai

Director S Ezhil of ‘Thullatha Manamum Thullum’ fame is back after a brief sojourn. He comes with a movie that is light-hearted, entertaining and hilarious and at the same a little cliched. With Siva Karthikeyan at the helm of affairs accompanied by a slew of comedy artistes, he has managed to come clean.

‘Manam Koththi Paravai’ is about romance, friendship and some emotions. The hero is simple guy who resembles boy next-door and there are no needless knots in the storyline.

‘Manam Koththi Paravai’ blends romance and humor and is no doubt a family entertainment. Giving company to Siva Karthikeyan is debutante Athmiya. The likes of seasoned campaigners like Singam Puli and Illavarasu give solidity to the script. The only lacunae seems to be the uncles of the heroines who speak from their belly.

Ezhil has won half the battle even before the movie could hit the screens as he managed to get in his team music composer D Imman and cinematographer Suraj Nallusamy. Both do a good, clean job complimenting the story and don’t try anything overboard stretching for some effect.

Kannan (Siva Karthikeyan) is a callous youth who falls for his neighbor Revathy (Athmiya). Her father and uncles are known ruffians in the village and flex their muscle for anything and everything. Kannan’s father (Ilavarasu) is a building contractor and he is assisted by his son in his business.

Kannan loves spending time with his friends (Parotta Suri, Singam Puli and ‘Deiva Thirumagal’ Kishore). When Kannan decides to open his heart to Revathy, her wedding is arranged with an influential man.

Enters Kanna’s friends from Mumbai (Sreenath and Chams). Coming to know about his romance, they kidnap Revathy. But all hell breaks loose when she says that she has no interest on Kannan. The rest is a battle laced with humor.

Siva Karthikeyan peps up the proceedings with a splendid show. His simple looks compliment his character. His one-liners are witty. Athmiya is good-looking and does give a decent show. She hogs the limelight. Singam Puli sparkles with his humour and so is Parota Suri. Srinath, Venniraadi Murthy, Ravi Mariya, Vanitha among others play their part well.

Imman’s songs especially ‘Po Po Po…’ and ‘Oorana Oorukulae…’ are catchy and foot-tapping. Suraj Nallusamy’s camera captures the lush green locales of the village well. Dhina’s choreography is good.

On the whole, the movie may resemble the likes of ‘Kalavani’ and ‘Uthamaputhiran’. But forget the lengthy second half and some cliched sequences, ‘Manam Koththi Paravai’ will stick to your hearts.