CHENNAI: Set in a luxury ocean liner cruise, Man Madan Ambu is a romantic comedy of suspected infidelity, mix-ups, confessions and finding true love. The film is on the lines of Kamal Haasan’s earlier comedies, the Crazy Mohan-kind, but reaches nowhere near them. Scripted by Kamal Haasan, the first half moves at a brisk pace, with some genuine fun moments, and crackling one-liners, all with the promise of more good times to come. But the second half fizzles out totally as the script nosedives never to recover. The plot takes its inspiration from the old Hollywood comedy, Romance on the high seas. The film opens with lovers, Madan (Madhavan), a high-profile businessman and Ambu aka Nisha (Trisha), a film actress. Pampered and a mama’s boy (delightful cameo by Usha Uthup as the mama), Madan is possessive about Ambu to the point of irritation.
And when Ambu sets out for a holiday on an ocean liner cruise with her best friend Deepa (a peppy Sangeetha), Madan, suspecting his girl’s fidelity, hires Mannar, a private detective (Kamal Haasan) to spy on her. Mannar in urgent need of money for his friend’s surgery, even concocts an imaginary lover for the faithful Ambu, as that would keep the money flowing in from the obnoxious Madan. With the cruise halting at various places like Barcelona and Venice, we get to see some exotic foreign locations. The cruise has an odd ball couple (Mohandas, Manju), a script writer and his wife who are desperate to make Ambu listen to their script. And there are the two cute, sharp witted kids of Deepa too. Kamal Haasan, comfortable in such roles, plays Mannar with casual ease. Madhavan plays Madan, who is perpetually in an inebriated state, with endearing silliness, though his act does get a tad jarring at times. Trisha cuts a charming picture in her chic wardrobe.
The latter part has Madan deciding to join the trip. And it’s from here that the script goes on a down-slide, and the monotony sets in. The one-liners are not so funny; the mix-ups, and the gang’s attempts to mislead Madan fall flat. A more coherent second half would have worked to the film’s advantage.