The film tracks the journey of two contrasting characters and the course their lives take when they fall for each other. A debutant’s effort, Lakshman has tried to bring in some variation in the characterisation of the lead pair, in an otherwise cliched and predictable scenario.
Karthik, a gym trainer, is comfortable in his middle class existence, while Aishwaria, a flight attendant, fed up of her middle class lifestyle, yearns for a more luxurious one. While he searches for love and thinks he has found it in her, she with her philosophy of ‘money is life’ latches on to him, mistakenly thinking he is wealthy. An interesting premise to work one.
But apart from a few moments, the rest slips into the predictable mode. Back to his chocolate boy roles is Jayam Ravi. Well clothed and debonair, Ravi with earnestness portrays Karthik who sees his calculation about the girl he had fallen for going awry.
Hansika’s oomph factor combined with her cute looks make her eminently watchable. It’s refreshing to see that this time it’s the girl who pursues the guy with single minded determination and not vice versa. Once Aishwaria discovers that he is not the rich guy she mistook him for, she brushes him off rudely and callously. With Karthik stubbornly refusing to let her go, she puts him through various tests - not very imaginative ones - like picking up expensive clothes at a shopping mall and making him pay for them. At times Aishwaria does seem a tad obnoxious and jarring, her voice turning screechy, the lip sync missing.
V T V Ganesh plays himself and peps up the scene. Hilarious is the moment where he tries to pacify a sozzled, raving Karthik. But Karthik’s drunken act at Aishwaria’s apartment is a long drawn out tame one. The second half at moments seems almost a repetition of the earlier one, where this time it’s Karthik who gives Aishwaria a taste of her own medicine.
Karthik refusing to play Devadas after getting rejected by Aishwaria, and blackmailing her into finding a suitable girl for him, has a refreshing feel. But the whole episode of Aishwaria and her wealthy stuck-up fiance Arjun (Vamsi), goes on expected lines.
The much hyped Dandanakka... song falls flat, the Idharku thaane... number a more imaginatively choreographed one. The climax is again long drawn, the director leading it to a pre-determined ending. Incidentally, if Shakespeare had to be invoked, The Taming of the Shrew would have been a more suitable title!
The film, an average entertainer, would have been more engaging if only the screenplay had been coherent and the episodes interesting.