By Vivek Ramz

This year, Tamil cinema has seen many silly, logic-less entertainers like 'OKOK' and 'Kalakalappu' that went on to become hits. Olympia Movies' 'Manam Kothi Paravai' joins their ranks. It has Sivakarthikeyan playing the solo lead for the first time, after his pivotal character in ‘Marina’ & playing the hero’s sidekick in '3', both of which were well received. Also this is yesteryear director Ezhil’s comeback film, who last directed ‘Deepavali’ in 2007.

What's it about?
It’s the same old village love story of the 90s. Kannan, (Sivakarthikeyan) a jobless villager spends all his time with his friends, boozing and having fun. Like any hero, his only other job is to love his neighbour Revathy (Athmiya). Revathy too likes her childhood friend Kannan, but hides it. Meanwhile, Revathy’s 'Veera Parambarai' family fixes her marriage with a rich, tough guy from next village. She accepts, respecting her father’s decision. Not knowing her stand, Kannan’s friends kidnap Revathy to get her married to Kannan. Does she finally? Do they return to their families? It's a series of funny events that brings us to a final answer.

Director Ezhil has taken the proven route of routine village rom-com but failed to deliver by not infusing any freshness into the script. His characterization is weak and it's further let down by poor performances from the cast. Sivakarthikeyan is only good at delivering one-liners and fails miserably during emotional scenes. Newcomer Athmiya too shows only one type of expression. The film has a huge supporting cast like ‘Parotta’ Soori, Singam Puli, Ilavarasu, Srinath, Chams and Kishore who have the potential to keep you in splits, but they end up irritating you for most parts.

On the positive side, music by D.Imman is good and few melodies ‘Yenna Solla’ & ‘Jal Jal Osai’ linger in your mind even after leaving the theatre. Suraj Nallusamy has captured the lush green locations beautifully in the song sequences. Editing by Gopi is okay.

What to do?
If you just want to have some laughs at silly comedy scenes and don't give a shit about story and logic, then go for it. Otherwise don't even dare to go near the cinemas!

in.com rating – 1.5/5