Director: Ravi Thyagarajan
Cast: Gautham Karthik, Rakul Preet Singh, Nikesha Patel
ennamo_edho_movie-stills-01
There are ominous signs of banality barely a few minutes into Yennamo Yedho. The hero (Gautham Karthik) who is nursing a broken heart meets his heroine (Rakul Preet) at a wedding only to realise that she too is nursing a broken heart. The two of them then get drunk, break into a premature dance on the streets and pour their hearts out to each other. The film never recovers from this start, as what follows soon after is a cliché ridden script that is both sloppy and shallow.
The plot unfolds when Gautham is kidnapped by a thug (Prabhu) hired by his girlfriend’s dad. During the long and bumpy ride, he narrates his story to the thug, cueing in a flashback of poorly executed scenes. Like the one where Gautham feels “yennamo yedho” for the girl after he discovers her humanitarian side, when she organises an elaborate mock ceremony for a dying cancer patient. Or the sudden breakup between Nithya and her fiancé that we always knew was going to happen. Or the gay angle to the meetings between Gautam and his new girlfriend.
Logic defying additions are everywhere, like a drunkard called Gautham who gate-crashes a wedding with his annoying gags and menacing looking villains sprouting from nowhere. The romance between the lead pair is silly, with them falling in and out of love so many times, you stop worrying after a point. Gautham’s gang of friends – including the standard issue tomboyish girl caricature – manage to sprout a few pages of badly written humour. Chakravarthy – a fine performance by Prabhu – the funny thug with his loud and brash one-liners does bring some respite.
It is the scenes between Gautam and his widowed mom that bring a touch of sanity to the proceedings. They are warm, spontaneous and smartly executed.
Recommended
And the songs? Ah! They are all over the place. By interval, you have already sat through four of them – all shot in faraway places. Gautham Karthik is a mean dancer, but unimaginative choreography and illogical song placement – including a pub song right after the interval – make the songs tiresome. The background dancers weird costumes are the most interesting part of the songs.
After the dismal Kadal, this is a crucial film for Gautam Karthik. Reviewers had called young man a “natural performer” after his first movie, but here he sulks through the entire movie. He sulks when his heart is broken, sulks when his girlfriend laughs at him, and sulks when he is kidnapped. Rakul Preet Singh puts in an adequate performance, although the chemistry between the lead pair is sour and forced.
We came away thinking the hero’s mom was the most likeable character. Nothing wrong with that, except this was supposed to be a romance.