What makes 'Meyaadha Maan' a reasonably engaging watch despite its run time of 2h 25m, is the fact that writer/director Rathna Kumar (of Bench Talkies fame 'Madhu') chooses to tackle the largely unexplored dynamic between brother-sister apart from their respective love-lives. When was the last time we saw a film that gave equal importance to the protagonist's sister and her lover (who also happens to be the protagonist's best friend)?
Vaibhav Reddy plays 'Idhayam' Murali - a whining one-sided lover with a suicide fetish. His friends Vinoth (Vivek Prasanna) and Kishore (Arun Prasath) are so done with his antics - Murali has been in love with Madhu (Priya Bhavani Shankar) for a very long time but has never confessed the same. There's crackling bromistry between the three lads (who enjoy pulling each other's feet but the brotherly bond is all too apparent). Madhu's eventual entry into Murali's everyday life also doesn't feel forced. In fact, it even goes all the way until the interval point before things start to look brighter (which is nearly an hour and ten minutes in).
You'd then wonder what really goes on for all of the first hour - the film explores the characters of Vinoth and Murali's sister Sudarvizhi (Indhuja) and their bouts with the emotion of love. The comedy is organically integrated - makes the laughs all the more relatable and free-flowing. At times, it is indeed tough to keep a deaf ear to some of the misogynistic lines that the protagonist utters but I guess that's what renders them fallible. There is always a 'late- realization' scene that overthrows the hatred (the pre-interval stretch is neatly done). Indhuja does a good job - her emotional offerings are deft and she also proves a point that she can shake a leg, if required. Vaibhav is annoyingly resonant as 'Idhayam' Murali and carries the film forward confidently. Vivek Prasanna has got a meaty role (almost equivalent to that of the hero) and he by all means, delivers the goods in astonishing fashion. Priya Bhavani Shankar is gorgeously Tamilesque and is able to pull off the character of Madhu to a neat extent.
Music by Santhosh Narayanan and Pradeep keeps the film afloat with a decent mix of 'kuthu' numbers and melodies. Seven songs however, do make you want to press the fast-forward button sometimes. The climax is also not the the best in terms of writing/execution - it's funny but also momentarily calamitous (but everything ends well in a rom-com, right?). The decent sprinkling of hilarity is what should lure you to check out 'Meyaadha Maan' - it sucks the tangible sappiness out of a film that delves predominantly into romance, all the while imparting a sense of credibility to the proceedings.
Verdict: The humour makes it worth the watch!
