There are a few pleasant surprises in store, though. The film opens with Minister Ayyanarappan (Kotta Sreenivasa Rao) acting the part of a typical politician; out to get what he can out of every situation, especially public functions.
He becomes the target of a sniper -- the hero Kanagaven aka Velu (Karan). But just when Velu takes aim, someone else shoots at the minister. A cop, Karunarakan (Adithya), leaps to save the minister. The assassin is killed, but the police are left with a puzzle: If the assassin (armed with a pistol) is dead, who does the equipment left behind in one of the buildings belong to?
Then enters the heroine with a dance number (one of many unnecessary ones); Sandhya (Haripriya), who regularly prances around the beach and thinks nothing of swindling a cop for money, runs into Velu several times. But it takes a long time for her to discover his real identity.
There's no mystery behind the murders of VIPS and criminals who escape the law -- a la Ramana, Anniyan or Indian -- but what makes the journey interesting is that the police aren't completely incompetent. The reason behind Velu's madness, of course, is revealed in a tearjerker flashback, consisting of his father, an upright judge, his mother, sister and their fate.
Karan -- who morphs into 10 to 15 Velus, courtesy SFX -- has tried to keep his performance toned down with just a moment or two of hero-centric displays. Haripriya, like many Tamil heroines of yore, has nothing to do except sing, dance and simper. Kota Sreenivasa Rao doesn't shriek quite so much, while Sampath is a suave villain. But Adithya, as the keen police officer, walks away with the honours.
Vijay Antony's music sinks without a trace.
Pa Raghavan's peppy dialogues have helped Kavin Bala's efforts at presenting a reasonably-paced adventure, despite the predictable scenes. Some originality would have helped, though.
Rediff Rating:
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