Tamilukku En Ondrai Aluthavum Review – A Great Signal for TFI

Bharath Vijayakumar

A smart script backed by actors who are willing to be characters and not stars can provide some great cinema. And TEOA is precisely that. A man-made disaster awaits and we follow the lead up to this through the primary characters of TEOA.

Cast:

Kudos to Nakul and Dinesh  for choosing to be part of a film that never gives them a chance to turn heroic in the cinematic sense. As the youngster who loves science and technology and spends all his time on it for his pure passion Nakul does a neat job.  Dinesh’ role is probably a little familiar to him but it does have scope to utilize his sense of humour. Sathish is impressive and most of his one liners click. The fact that he does not give a pause after an intended joke is a great boon. If the joke works you enjoy it and if it does not there is no harm as he is already on his way to exploit the next opportunity. Urvasi amazes as usual and the two heroines too do their part neatly.

Humour and Nuances:

The film shines with it’s simplicity in humour. You never laugh really hard but a constant grin is fixed on your face throughout.  The scenes involving Sathish’s lost phone even if a bit stretched work well. So many nuances are neatly depicted throughout. Dinesh’s limited knowledge of English has him interpreting ‘heart of the city’ as the hottest place in town. A great danger is imposed by the belief in Vaasthu. The Tamil equivalent of the proverb ‘As you sow shall you reap’ shown on a car just before the climax that justifies it are some of the many instances where the filmmaker makes us take notice.

Urvashi’s characterization is also noteworthy. Education is not what you learn in school or colleges alone. This is emphasized throughout the film which also takes a dig at the competency level of students and teachers of Engineering colleges. Nakul who is way ahead of the crowd in his knowledge of science and technology never shows a hint of pride anywhere in the film. When you love what you do, then you enjoy it purely for this reason and you never feel the need to show that you are the best.

The romantic portions between Dinesh and Bindhu Madhavi are anything but  bad. It is just that they seem a little below the higher standards that the rest of the film sets.

Lakshmi Ramakrishnan’s ‘Nerungi Vaa Muthamidathey’ was in someways a similar movie to TEOA. WhereRamprakash Rayappa stamps his authority is his ability to infuse humour throughout and make a social thriller that is entertaining.

Bottomline:

A nice little film with a plot revolving around mobile phone signal , hopefully the success of which will send a great signal to the Tamil film industry.

Rating :  3.25/5

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