Review: Ya Yaa is a big let down

Tamil film Ya Yaa is an average movie, with a story that lacks direction and performances that failed to deliver, says S Saraswathi.

Romantic comedy and Santhanam seem to be the flavour of the season.  Considering the number of films of this genre that are flooding the market, it is quite surprising that most of them seem to be doing quite well.

Unfortunately, Ya Yaa starring Mirchi Siva and Santhanam is definitely not one of them.

Directed by debutant I Rajasekaran, a former associate of director M. Rajesh (known for his comedy films), Ya Yaa is yet another romantic comedy that has the hero, Mirchi Siva teaming up with Comedy King Santhanam.

Comedians are generally paired with other female comedy artists or lesser known faces, but Santhanam seems to be changing that trend. In Ya Yaa, he is paired opposite Sandhya (Kadhal), while Dhansika plays Siva’s love interest. Powerstar Srinivasan, too, plays an important role in the film.

Ya Yaa is about two friends Ramarajan (Mirchi Siva) and Rajkiran (Santhanam), who for reasons unknown prefer to call themselves Dhoni and Sehwag. They have nothing better to do than hang around together boozing and teasing pretty girls.

Dhoni does not believe in the idea of working, but is still in search of a government job, knowing very well that he is not likely to get it.  Kanaka (Sandhya), a police constable, is the daughter of Dhoni’s maternal uncle, and though their families want them to marry neither is interested.

Meanwhile, Dhoni while going for an interview meets and falls in love with Seetha (Dhansika). So impressed is he by her that when he meets the local councillor (Devadarshini),

who has promised him a job, he hugs her and declares his undying love for her, believing her to be Seetha. Though he apologizes to her, the much older Devadarshini is now very much in love with Dhoni and is determined to marry him.

So what happens now?  Does Devadarshini succeed in her attempts? Who does she enlist to help her?  Is Santhanam the friend he claims to be? All this and a whole lot of other unnecessary confusion is dealt with in the second half of the movie.

The story completely lacks direction and just seems to drift from one scene to another, without following any logic.  The scenes lack life and energy and the performances are average at best.

Even Santhanam, who is usually quite reliable, has given a lacklustre performance. He comes across more as a lover than a friend.  Usually a very spontaneous actor, he does not seem to be very comfortable in his role as a lover.

Mirchi Siva too fails to make any impact; his deadpan dialogue delivery has become quite repetitive and boring.

Dhansika and Sandhya look pretty, but they have nothing much to do in the film.  Powerstar, however, does manage to entertain the audience to some extent.

With a cast that included Mirchi Siva, Santhanam and Powerstar, all hugely popular comedy stars with their own fan following, the audience certainly expected some huge laughs, but the film has nothing to offer their fans.

Rediff Rating: