Suddenly urban, uber-cool romantic flicks seem passé in Tamil movies. Almost every second movie made in Tamil has too much of what the industry call 'nativity'. Madurai, the land of dust and blood, and those districts in the south of it, are the happening backdrops. Amidst this, it takes Unnale Unnale to reinforce your belief that Kollywood too can make soft-focus, feel-good yuppie romance kind of movie.
Unnale Unnale is one of the most cute and cuddly kind of city love stories. They say devil is in the detail. But delight too is. Cinematographer turned director Jeeva, who showed his class in movies like 12B and Ullam Ketkume, puts up a mature mind in handling a three-cornered love story. His strength seems to be getting the backdrop right and making it tells the story along with the events.
Unnale Unnale is packaged with care and oozes a trendy chic feel all through. Jeeva has worked on the backdrop assiduously and makes the story appealing and realistic. In his endeavor, music director Harris Jayaraj has chipped in heartily and adds a unique luster. The main cast of debutant Vinay, Tanisha and Sada are in splendid form and give value to their roles. Sada in particular is full of restrained gusto and delivers a knockout punch of sorts.
Jeeva seems to have done pointed research into the world of software yuppies and the things that happen in their unique domain. And since the tapestry is real and cute, the movie unspools without any stutter or struggle. Jeeva maintains this cool hip kind of feel all through (Melbourne with its unique old world feel in a modern setting gives the story an effective backbone), and this consistency is vital to the story's progress. Jeeva also gets the mix of comedy, romance and emotion just about right. So what you have is a complete product that ranks among the top.
Karthik (Vinay) is your typical software pro. Full of zest and playful energy, he is attracted to the opposite sex with inevitability of iron particles moving towards a magnet. There is nothing malicious or lustful behind his flirt. But it is a spontaneous inner process in him. His love life in Chennai had a jolt-filled end as his lover Jhansi (Sada) had walked out on him.
Jhansi, in a sense, is the mirror opposite of Karthik. If he is outgoing, fun-filled extrovert, she is laconic, inward-looking simple girl. The opposites had attracted each other. But as it happens, she is also repelled out for obvious reasons. Karthik takes the split with typical insouciance while Jhansi goes to Australia for higher studies.
Fate puts Karthik also in Melbourne as he is sent there on an official assignment. The playful Karthik runs into a vivacious Deepika (Tanisha) in his flight. She has the same kind of zeal for life as Karthik has. She understands his mind and tries to help Karthik and Jhansi join hands again. But in a quirk of fate, Deepika too is attracted by the vibrancy of Karthik.
It is a Mills and Boonish situation, but with a touch of acceptability. Caught between his old flame, which can be very difficult to handle, and a new one, who is all about lark and fun, Karthik has to decide on which girl to walk the aisle with. The suspense till the end is maintained with felicitous adroitness. This helps you to sit glued to the seat.
Jeeva's script works mainly because, he doesn't push the story. Rather it tells itself organically. The naturalness and plausibility make the story worth following.
Vinay, tall, dark and handsome, suits the character of an impish yuppie to perfection. The queer playfulness that seem affixed to his face comes handy in light-hearted moments. He brings to his character a dew-kissed newness. Though slightly one-dimensional and gawky in dialogue delivery, Vinay, if he makes the right choices, has a good fut
