'Vinnai Thaandi...' - more style, less substance

By Aravindan D.I., Film: 'Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya'; Cast: Simbu and Trisha; Director: Gautam Vasudev Menon; Music: A.R. Rahman; Rating:**1/2

Gautam Vasudev Menon's "Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya" is a clean romantic story without any deviation or sub-plots. While he succeeds in telling the love story in a pleasing manner, he fails to present the lead pair's separation convincingly.

The film is about Karthik (Simbu), an engineering graduate, who yearns to become a director and falls for beautiful Jesse (Trisha), the daughter of his landlord. Karthik tails Jesse for days before revealing his love for her.

Though Jesse likes him, she tells him that her family is dead against love and advises him to treat her just as a friend. And Karthik agrees.

Then at one point of time Jesse realises that she too loves Karthik and tells him so. But at the same time, she is still apprehensive about her father and decides to bury her feelings for Karthik for her family's sake.

Jesse's father fixes her marriage to a person of his choice. Jesse, who accepts it initially, ends up calling off the wedding as she cannot forgo her love for Karthik. But she isn't ready to elope with Karthik either as she doesn't want to hurt her father.

The film drags on with the waiting game - nothing much happens except for the lovers meeting each other. Meanwhile, Karthik gets a chance to work as an assistant director and Jesse suddenly decides that their relationship won't work and she leaves Karthik.

What happens to the lovers and their love forms the rest of the story that culminates in an interesting but poorly executed twist.

Menon has presented the lead pair's relationship in a lovable manner. The dialogues are sharp and sensitive as well.

The way Simbu acts out his love for the heroine is charming and the ambiguous reactions from Trisha are nice.

The problem with the film is that it tries to bank heavily on style than substance. The reason and provocation for the separation are far from convincing. The screenplay falls flat when Jesse decides to put an end to the affair for almost no valid reason.

A.R. Rahman's music is a class apart. The title song and the 'Omanapennae' song are very good. The background score is top notch. Manoj's cinematography is spectacular and Nalini Sriram's costumes for Trisha are fabulous.

Trisha impresses with her mischievous looks and smile.

For Simbu, the role is very different from his earlier roles. Menon has managed to bring out the mature actor in Simbu sans his gimmicks and cliched heroism.

The movie is appealing in the first half but goes wayward in the second half due to a dragging script and unconvincing twists.