ENDRENDRUM PUNNAGAI MOVIE REVIEW

'Endrendrum Punnagai' has been making the right noise, thanks to the multiple number of stars playing the lead roles and for a glossy output, credits to the classy technicians. Harris Jayaraj's bubblegum pop music was received warmly as well. I.Ahmed, the television writer who previously wielded the megaphone for 'Vaamanan', is back in the helm as creator and director of this urbane flick. Will 'Endrendrum Punnagai' leave us with smiles as the moniker suggest ?

Jiiva, unsurprisingly has the best written role in the film. His characterization has some considerable depth in it, and Jiiva seized the opportunity to polish his acting credentials. He proves that he is an actor of great capability and shines in some of the crucial, emotional moments of the script. His dancing is improving a lot and he shares great chemistry with his fellow artistes. Vinay has a walk-in-the-park sort of a role, and he pulls it off, effervescently. He shows his confidence in humor sequences as well and forms a good partnership with the fellow male leads. Santhanam, was a scream in the film with his spotless dialogue deliveries and spot-on comedy timing. His counter dialogues are the real sucker punch and the man is back with a bang, after some lackluster performances in a slew of recent releases. Check out the drunk act he does, late in the second half ! Trisha, delivers a neat performance and the her soft-spoken character suits to a T. And she is still a looker, even after a decade as heroine in Tamizh cinema ! But why the usage of Chinmayi to dub for Trisha, when the heroine herself can speak well ?Andrea Jeremiah, carries her role as a diva quite well and proves herself to be quite a charmer, in some sequences. She only gets a few moments in the film, but still never fails to leave her mark. Nassar proves that experience counts when it comes to acting, and the veteran is definitely the icing on the cake. The rest of the cast such as Jagan, Abhinay, T.M Karthik, Varsha Ashwathi, Swaminathan, Thanuja, Sriranjini, Sanjana Sarathi, Narayan, V.Balaji and etc were adequate enough for their peripheral roles.

The costume designers, Chaitanya Rao and Nikhila Sukumar must be praised for their fantastic work in their department. All of the artistes were looking very attractive and radiant, with their chic and elegant costumes, projecting a very urbane and fashionable set of people. Production design by Milan is top notch, with classy set work, especially with the interiors of the posh bungalow houses shown in the film, as well as the contemporary office set-up. His props of the outdoor sequences were in tact, as well. A class act ! Praveen K.L and Srikanth N.B ensures that the editing is smooth and flawless, and there are no jerky transitions from one sequence to another, at all. The duration of the film though, could have been shorter because 155 minutes of running time is not a necessity for such a script. Cinematographer Madhie must be congratulated for his brilliant work with his camera. The film gets a rich and glossy look, due to his lighting and postcard-like framing, especially in the second half, which has beautiful locations, shot in Switzerland and France. He definitely made up for the high cost of the film, with good cinematography works !

Harris Jayaraj has scored tunes, which gives us a sense of deja-vu. Nonetheless, his fans will still lap it up, for the feel-good music, with simple and catchy arrangements. "Yealae Yealae" is the song played in the opening credits, and was shot on the trio of male leads. The collage of photographs was well edited by Praveen and Srikanth, which interspersed with the montages shown in the song, highlighting the friendship of the triumvirate. "Ennathe Solle" was shot in a club-like set-up, which was well erected by Milan, and Madhie's lighting gave the song a glossy look, which was shot on the male leads. "Othayile" is a situational song, with plenty of montages and slick camera movements by Madhie. "Kadal Naan Thaan" was shot on Jiiva and Andrea, which had beautiful Swiss Alps as its backdrop, and also some cool chopper shots and not to forget, the sensual shots, with water backdrop. "Ennai Saaithale" is a bit song, used as a situational song in the second half and was shot on Jiiva and Trisha, with beautiful snow landscape as the backdrop. "Vaan Engum" is the pick of the lot, shot on Jiiva and Trisha, with Swiss cities as the backdrop. Harris Jayaraj's background score, complements the script's flavor and style and also supports the emotional sequences very effectively. 

I.Ahmed's clever formula of elements such as good-looking artistes, great locations, beautiful images, peppy songs, high production quality, has amalgamated well into a feel-good film. The script has two important driving factors, which are bromance and romance, and each one of them presides the two halves of the film, respectively. The majority portions of the screenplay are light-hearted and is just plain, simple fun. The director smartly manipulates his artistes by allowing them to soak themselves up in their respective characters, and gives them plenty of space to establish their roles. As mentioned earlier, each half gives more importance to only of the previously mentioned factors, at a time, and that can be a little turn-off for some viewers. Such a structure gives an inorganic flow to the proceedings of the script, and might bore some of the viewers, especially in the second half. The bromance portion can look a little silly, and also not really family-friendly in nature, especially with some adult jokes, strewn here and there. The romance factor works out decently, but lacks does not leave a very strong mark, due to inter-cuts of humor sequences and a dragging screenplay. I.Ahmed infuses a good message for those in denial, when it comes to relationship issues, and he must be appreciated for not being too preachy in his handling. A crisper and organic screenplay would have done more good for the film.

'Endrendrum Punnagai' - A feel-good, candy-floss romance & bromance film !


Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL