It’s yet another rural love story set against the backdrop of class differences. There is nothing novel in the plot nor in the screenplay.
The narration follows the predictable path with no surprises or excitement. Chera (Dilip) from a low economic strata falls for Kaya (Manishajit), the daughter of a cop. There are moments where Chera impresses Kayal enough to make her thaw towards him. Like when he takes an aged accident victim to hospital, and his sick mother on his cycle to the doctor. Of course all this occurs when she happens to be passing by. The villains of the piece are Kayal’s uncle Sashi (Sashi) and her dad (Shanmugasundaram). Following the expected path, Sashi tries to bash up Chera with the help of his cronies.
For comedy there is Ganja Karuppu who runs a tea stall which Chera frequents.
But his antics hardly evoke any laughter. Towards the latter part, the director suddenly takes a stand against alcoholism, and then puts in a ‘Kuthu paattu’ for Sashi at the local wine bar. The narration turns melodramatic towards the end, the actors too falling in line and going overboard. However, the film does have a couple of engaging moments. Like the scene at the police station, where the cop venting his ire on Chera, beats him to a pulp. And the moment where an undeterred Chera hangs around Kayal’s house, unmindful of the glare and the baleful looks of her father. Dilip and Shanmugarajan lend conviction to these scenes.
Verdict: It’s a routine simple love story with nothing in it that would entice an audience. But what the director has managed to do is limit his story telling to less than 120 minutes. And that at least is a small consolation.
Film- Mouna Mazhai
Director- Anand
Cast- Dilip, Manishajit, Sashi, Kadhal Dandapani, Ganja karuppu, Shanmugarajan.