'Chikku Bukku' (Tamil, Romance, 2010)
Director: K Manigandan
Cast: Arya, Shriya Saran, Preetika, Santhanam
The film traces the journey of two complete strangers Arjun and Anu, as they travel from London to Madurai. Getting stranded in Karnataka, the duo hitchhikes its way, getting drawn to each other during the course of the journey. Arjun is on a trip to his village to stop the auction of his ancestral home. Through the diary of his late father Shekhar, Arjun (Arya) learns of his father’s unfulfilled romance 25 years ago.
The director (associate of the late Jiva) runs the two love stories on parallel tracks. There is a meeting point towards the end where the story takes a twist.
The Shekhar-Meenal love story set in 1985 is the sweeter one, with Arya and Preetika (sister of actress Amrita Rao) sharing a pleasant screen chemistry. The retro clean-shaven look suits Arya. Anup Kumar makes a promising debut as Meenal’s cousin and suitor.
The Arjun- Anu road adventure is a long dreary one, with less enjoyable moments. The cool lush terrain the duo cross is a small consolation.
Shreya goes over the top playing the spirited vivacious Anu. The touch point of the film is the Korean film, 'The Classic'. As compared to it’s two earlier rehashes ('Love Aaj Kal', 'Pokkisham'), the director sticks closer to the original in the Shekhar-Meenal love track, and the revelation before the finale.
'Chikku Bukku' is a journey not very adventurous, breaks to a halt many a time, gathering momentum towards the end. It’s only saving grace is Arya who is enjoying a career-high with two back-to-back hits. Cool, dapper and appealing in his first dual role, it’s his screen presence that helps to make the journey a tad less tiresome.