Gandharvan is a story centred around a pair of star crossed lovers who go through a series of misunderstandings, never really striking the right note with each other. In a rich-poor love saga, it’s usually the wealthy parents who create hurdles in their relationship. Here the hero is a driver of a metro water lorry, while she is the daughter of a rich man. But the father’s objection is not to the status of the man in his daughter’s life. It’s the youngster’s brash temperament and his insensitive and callous attitude that irks him. But an incoherent screenplay ensures that this element which is the film’s focal point, is never really depicted with conviction.
The early part depicts Mani’s brash nature. He is helpful but hot blooded and possessive. We get an inkling of it when he furiously breaks the items in a gift shop, because the salesman had sold the gift he had selected to another customer. A show- off, he loves to do stunts on his motorbike. His encounters with Meena (Honey Rose) are often followed by him slapping her in public, for no apparent reason. Which she doesn’t seem to mind as she takes it all in her stride with a benign smile, falling more and more in love with him! In fact Mani seemed to be on a slapping spree almost throughout the film. When he’s not slapping Meena, he slaps her dad, his pals, and even the dancer in an intrusive item number.
The director probably intended to depict his protagonist as this hot blooded well-intentioned guy.
But he colours his character with so many complexities and contradictions, that Mani never really earns our sympathy when the tide flows against him. The screenplay is lacklustre, the narration insipid. Kathir, who playing Mani seems to have the potential. But with his character fleshed out ambiguously, at times his emotional display seems unwarranted and misplaced.
Honey Rose cuts a pretty picture. Kanja Karuppu’s comedy track appears sporadically and generates no humour. The end is convoluted and evokes no empathy.
Verdict: The director’s earlier debut film Kathavarayan was a far better effort than this one.