Inga Enna Solluthu

Often, what might have felt good in a smaller dose might not taste that well when taken as a whole. And that is the case with VTV Ganesh. He was mildly amusing (mostly due to his sandpapery voice) in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa as Simbu's friend; he was grating in Naveena Saraswathi Sabatham, in which he had an extended role. And, now, in this film, in which he plays the lead, he is nothing short of an excruciating presence. He plays Ganesh, a good man who fails to make the right choices. He is en route to Chennai after getting the news that his wife has met with an accident (she has actually tried committing suicide) and as he journeys by car, he narrates the misfortunes of his life to the driver, who might not be what he seems. And, so, we get to see Ganesh getting dismissed from his job (twice) for being earnest, getting dumped by a married woman with whom he has fallen in love, marrying the woman who actually expressed her love to his friend, and finally, blowing up his wife's money with his get-rich-quick schemes (film producing, betting). This is the stuff of V Sekar's films in the 90s and some of those (like Varavu Ettana Selavu Paththana) were reasonably entertaining despite the didactic filmmaking; even Karunas managed a couple of crudely-made but engaging films with similar material. But, this film doesn't really have a clue on what it wants to be — a full-on drama, an existential comedy, or even a dramedy (the script is written by Ganesh himself). The performances are so uninvolving (Simbu and Santhanam, who have extended cameos sleepwalk through their roles) all around that none of the characters make us care. Meera Jasmine's character is just one example. We have to feel sorry at her plight; instead, we are only baffled by her character's decisions. She is (probably) a team leader at a corporate but the way she behaves is so archaic. She expresses her love to Ganesh's friend Simbu, who is already in a relationship. When she comes to know of this, she immediately forces Ganesh to marry her by what is clearly an intimidating tactic (she goes to the cops)! Her reasoning is that he once saved her from a misbehaving driver and so is a gem of a person! And, even when she realizes that her husband is using her hard-earned money for his foolhardy schemes, she just goes along with his plans and in the end, tries to commit suicide than breaking away from an awful relationship. In the end, we only end up feeling bad for Meera Jasmine the actress whose once-promising career has come to such a wretched state.