Idhu Namma Aalu Review - Breezy Love Experience

After much delay, Idhu Namma Aalu is finally at theatres. Thanks to Silambarasan(STR), Pandiraj has completed 2 movies during the course of making this movie. The movie has generated enough curiosity due to the casting of much publicized real-life break-up pairs. The delays dampened the expectations. However, the rich technical values and a few smart additions during dubbing make the movie look fresh.

Plot

Idhu Namma Aalu takes up a slice in the life of current generation lovers and narrates in a relaxed manner. This is not a plot driven screenplay. The audience should be prepared to sit back and let the director navigate the flow of the movie. As long as you re-calibrate your expectations, it will be an enjoyable pleasant ride.

Story, Screenplay and Direction

Pandiraj has proved his versatility with Idhu Namma Aalu. It is typical for directors to pursue multiple different genres to show their versatility. But, the underlying making style will always reveal their directorial identity. Interestingly, Pandiraj has succeeded in not reminding any of his previous movies. The one thing that has been a common denominator across all his movies till date is the family-friendly clean content. 

The latest edition of Pandiraj is noteworthy for its confident and self-assured narration pace. Despite a leisurely & uneventful screenplay, Pandiraj is still able to sustain the interest of the audience with his natural and witty dialogues. Pandiraj's intelligent use of Soori's comedy one-liners in between lengthy dialogues spoken by the lead pairs is commendable. This technique ensures laughter and smile in regular intervals throughout. Pandiraj primarily relies on the natural dialogues and performance of the lead characters. The director resorts to a few contrived twists and turns only to move the story forward and finally leading up to a predictable ending, one that audience would come to expect in a feel good movie. 

Performance

It is a pleasure to see the fantastic on-screen chemistry of Silambarasan, Nayantara and Andrea. Simbu shows no insecurity in equally sharing the screen space with other first rate performers. Simbu continuously sets it up nicely for Soori to score with his one-liners. Kudos to Simbu for showing immense maturity as an actor. Soori steals the show with excellent delivery and timing. Soori has made the best use of every bit of screen time provided with good quality humor.

Nayantara continues to get ever better with every new movie. Nayantara keeps you hooked to the screen with her expressions and performance. Andrea impresses with her screen presence and acting. Santhanam and Jai make interesting cameos to audience delight.

Technicalities

Another highlight of the movie that literally hits high notes is the background music and the apt use of "Kaathaga" song as background track in different situations. If Kuralarasan is able to repeat this magic in another movie outside of his home production, he is here to stay. Cinematographer Balasubramaniem ensures all the characters look their classy best on-screen. The movie is filled with close-ups, which must have helped wrap-up scenes faster. This is possible only when you have seasoned performers and a director with clarity of what he wants in his final output. Editor Praveen has understood director's vision and has uniformly paced the movie. The movie's editing style has been consistent throughout the course of the movie as well as in trailers; this requires a lot of discipline and sense of purpose. The costume design is vibrant. The technical team has worked together in unison to impart a sense of youthful spirit and breezy experience.

Downers

One of the downsides is the forced "maaman waiting" song in the second half which is not consistent with the flow. The forced twists and rationale for certain characters' behaviors are not very convincing. That still doesn't take much away from the final viewing experience when you step out of the movie. Idhu Namma Aalu also makes a lot of explicit references to off-screen happenings a few scenes that desperately go overboard in justifying Simbu's past life incidents, controversies and character flaws. Simbu should be credited for taking a dig at himself in a light-hearted and self-deprecating manner. 

Final Word:

Director Pandiraj delivers a breezy love experience with good performance from Simbu, Soori, Nayantara and Andrea. 

Rating: 3/5