A scientific fiction-fantasy is a rarity on Tamil screen. So it’s appreciable that debutant director Ravikumar has chosen a time-loop plot as his debut venture. And it’s to the director’s credit that he has presented it in an engaging manner without using too much of technical jargon, but in a way that is interesting and appealing to the common audience. Indru Netru Naalai has a well crafted screenplay and deft treatment. Laced with intriguing situations, it generates humour, action, thrill, suspense, with some bizarre twists and turns. The various knots and the time-travel zones are all neatly integrated and tied into a coherent whole towards the end.
Vishnu seems to have the knack of choosing themes that are varied and where he wouldn’t have to play the stereotype. And like his earlier Mundasupatti, this one too with its breezy humorous quotient is a film that would fetch appreciation. The actor fits in neatly as Elango, who is unemployed, in love with Anu, and finds himself rejected by the girl’s father. The film seems to have ‘Timecrimes’ as its touch point. But the incidents and characters are all very native and imaginatively crafted. Elango with friend Puli (Karunakaran) an astrologer with not many clients to boast of, plans to launch his own business. And it’s then that the duo comes across a Time-machine. Karunakaran peps up the narration with his quirky humour, while TM Karthik as the technical nerd, pitches in his bit. The film opens in 2065 where a research scientist (Arya in a guest appearance) launches his time-travel device on a test run to the year 2015. The ‘indru..’ is where it falls in the hands of the two friends.
The film has some hilarious moments. Like the one where finding the price of gold shoot up, the duo travel back into the past to buy jewellery. Only to have the jeweller reject their modern currency with the remark, ‘we don’t take foreign currency’. Amusing is the whole episode where Puli turns his astrology into a lucrative business by travelling with Elango to the past and tracking the lost articles of his clients. It’s a touching moment where Elango takes Anu back to the time when she was born, and Anu gets to see herself as a baby and even gets to hold it in her arms. The cliche in the plot is the track of the mafia leader (Ravi Shankar) and his mentor-turned-enemy. Puli accidentally tampering with the past, unleashes a series of events here that causes havoc in their lives.
There is no unnecessary forced in humour and wasted dream songs. Hiphop Thamizha has composed some catchy numbers like the quintessential indru netru naalai...one. The visual effects are on the milder side, just enough to lend a feel of conviction and make one relate to the time and the events of that period. Slick editing and camera work (Vasanth) helps enhance the mood and feel. A cute charming entertainer, this time-travel is worth a take.