It’s a debutant’s work, and an over-enthusiastic one at that. The plot not an unusual one, though the director attempts to bring in a difference with his narrative style. But he’s only complicated matters, with his splintered, long drawn out, at times confused storytelling.
It’s about youngster Jeeva’s journey to meet his look-alike Raja, and his realising his true identity. Jeeva’s serene life with his mother in Himachal Pradesh takes a turn, when a stranger mistakes him for Raja an old college-mate in Chennai (Nakul). The locale is picturesque, the opening offering promise of something novel and interesting to follow. Curious to meet his look-alike, Jeeva takes the train to Chennai.
Breaking journey at Bhopal, he meets Reema (Avani), Raja’s best friend at college. We get to learn about Raja’s life in bits and parts from each of the characters Jeeva encounters. About college mates Reema and Wahab, inseparable friends of Raja; of the entry in their life of Valli, a law student and social activist (Chandni of Siddhu +2); of Raja falling for her; and of Reema, silently in love with Raja, finding herself sidelined. Reema now accompanies Jeeva to Chennai to look up on Raja, whom she had lost touch with. The duo’s life spirals through unexpected happenings, the past coming home to roost. It has shades of My Best Friend’s Wedding and The Constant Gardener.
The arrangement of scenes in the non-linear narration could have been worked out in a clearer and more comprehensive manner. There are too many flashbacks-within-flashbacks, the time factor confusing at times. The crises that strikes Valli’s life and snowballs into Jeeva’s, seems forced and contrived. The whole episode of Esakki, a bigwig finding his mission thwarted, and eliminating those responsible, is routine. Too many issues are cramped in, just for some name-dropping. Like the talk on the harm caused by plastics, the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Cauvery issue, the Sri Lankan strife, and the genetically modified Bt crops issue, the latter the mainstay here. The director takes a playful dig at some fake demonstrations and activists. With the crises spiralling towards the end, an item number is pushed in, where Zarine Khan (of Hindi film Veer) tries to emulate Katrina’s famous Chikni Chameli.. movements. Nakul is playful and watchable as Raja. But some of his babe-in-the-woods antics as Jeeva are intolerable. Raja’s expertise in kickboxing seems reason enough, when he repeatedly beats to pulp a dozen and more armed goons of the villain. The turn in the climax, which explains the dual identity of Raja-Jeeva, is appreciable, though the related episodes could have been handled in a more convincing away. At about 147 minutes, it’s a dreary, unnecessarily complicated journey for a viewer.
