The film tracks the journey of three men and their individual struggles to fight the system and achieve their goals. The story shows how their dreams are thwarted in every step due to government apathy, red tapism, greed of politicians, the corporate-government nexus, and corruption at high levels. While the director’s intention seems good, the way it is translated on screen leaves much to be desired.
The film (earlier titled Aadhaar), opens with Vetri, an upright CBI official (Samuthirakani), investigating a scam that involves a leading corporate house. Reference can be drawn to a real-life scam here. On a parallel track is Kathir’s (Mahesh) struggle to get a loan from a bank to launch his dream project. He desires to grow an organic vegetable garden on a large scale. Then there is Arun, (Sakaria, the film’s producer) who has a blueprint of a new and better technology for garbage removal in the city.
The movie is about whether the trio is successful in fighting the system, or if the system wins yet again. Too many issues are crammed in, and there is too much of sermonising. A lot of statistics is pushed in on various matters — nothing that we haven’t heard before in earlier films. The screenplay is weak and the narration, lacklustre. Vivek gets an insipid comedy track and makes a futile attempt to enter the main story. The narration perks up whenever Samuthirakani appears on screen. His intensity and involvement is infectious and we relate to his character and frustrations.
The way the director ends the film is practical and believable. It’s not the ideas that were lacking, but the inability of the director to translate them on to screen in a way that is appealing and interesting to the audience. Budhanin Sirippu would have been a meaningful film if only the script had been crafted in a more coherent way.