With his penchant for urban romances and lyrical titles, Menon adds yet another one to the list. In a first-time pairing of Jiiva and Samantha, ‘Neethaane....’ depicts the evolving relationship between a couple, Varun and Nitya, over a period of time. Their break-ups and make-ups, the misunderstandings and ego problems, missed chances and regrets, are all depicted in the film.
The unravelling of the couple’s changing relationship is revealed in a series of flashbacks. The scenes of their friendship in school have some cute moments. The earlier part is breezy and phased in an engaging manner. Samantha has some cute expressions here, while Jiiva tries hard to fit the ‘schoolboy’ bill. The actor comes out impressive in the later emotional moments. The relationship has various setbacks. Varun wants to sort out problems at home. A little talk with Nitya would have cleared matters. But Varun prefers to keep quiet, his silences and indifference estranging Nitya from him. The dialogue is at times intuitive, but there are too many patience-testing explanations and accusations. There is this pertinent line in the scene where Varun goes to a tsunami-hit village, and asks Nitya to come away with him. Nitya replies, “Am I just another box in your life to be ticked?” Some of these situations are such that the young urban crowd can relate themselves to.
The supporting characters hang out in the fringe, with nothing much to do. There are songs at the drop of a hat, which after a while becomes tedious. Many a moment in the film is like ‘Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya’ revisited. The spoof on the Jenny angle of the earlier film on Santhanam and his girl does generate laughs. Santhanam in fact peps up the narration many a time, and is the sole relief factor. The film’s length of more than 150 minutes is a dampener. Apart from a few good moments, ‘Neethaane...’ is a dreary, disappointing fare.