Endrendrum Punnagai - Unlocking smiles from sorrow
Three friends, two beautiful girls and the story around them all - after the romantic thriller 'Vaamanan', director Mueenuddin Ahmed is back after four years with a romantic entertainer. Starring Jiiva, Vinay, Santhanam, Trisha and Andrea, 'Endrendrum Punnagai' sets out to be a rich tale of romance crafted partly in India and partly in Europe. There's love, romance, comedy, fun, realistic emotions and a story in between, that club to make the tale of smiles.
Gautam, Shri and Baby are thick friends from childhood. The three are practically inseparable in whatever they do, and they grow up together to grow a future in ad films through their own venture. Even though everyone around them gets married and settles down, these three vow never to get into the rut, given Gautam's hatred towards girls and his disbelief in the concept of love. Further to Gautam's steadfast ego, he hasn't spoken to his father, an artiste, for 15 years straight, after his second marriage, as his first wife abandons the family. Priya is an employee of ad film maker Sunny and Sonia is an international top model. The three friends get an offer from Sunny, and Sonia is signed in for the advertisement. Sonia, who is impressed by Gautam's professionalism and standalone character, tends to fall for him. But Gautam takes his attitude to Sonia too, making it clear that he is not made for love. Gautam's buddies who stand for him that day, change one fine day when everything falls apart. Do they come back to the one big happy once again? Why did things go haywire? Does Gautam let go of his ego? The second half of 'Endrendrum Punnagai' answers all these questions.
Jiiva plays the adamant Gautam, Nassar his father, and Vinay as Shri and Santhanam as Baby; Trisha plays Priya and Andrea plays Sonia. Nassar is an award winning painter, who uses colours for only the portions which he dreams to be true. Vinay and Santhanam in the roles of true friends of the highest order of sincerity throw up enjoyable comedy scenes in association with Jiiva in the first half. But their sudden separation is abrupt on screen play. A non believer in love, Jiiva as Gautam takes his beauty time to finally understand the concept and go with it; unfortunately, that long a time is way too long for people who are in agreement with the existence of emotions such as love. Gautam's rift with his dad seems like another patch which could have been worked out a little better. Priya (Trisha) is confident of her friendship with the foreign settled Karthik, but it is surprising that she agrees to marry him as per her family's wish. Andrea features in roughly about three scenes and a song, and then leaves the screen abruptly.
Jiiva has done his role convincingly well as the man who sticks to his wishes, until the day which forces him to change. Places where the friends trio have fun make up for entertaining comedy. Trisha is not the typical girly girl, always lost in high dreams. Her character, in acceptance of the reality as is where is, without much whining and waste of time is worth appreciation. Although her screen presence is brief, Andrea's role makes for a turning point in the love story, which the actress has performed very good at. Jegan's presence is comically entertaining only when he enters the screen, but falls quite flat, without much importance to him in the later scenes. Vinay has played both a happy and an emotionally sincere friend. Santhanam's also compliments the scenes well, making for a supporting and understanding friend. Nassar is more of a buddy than parent, as he moves freely and at par with Vinay and Santhanam, who he treats like his own children. With the positives in place, the film is a clean and action-free entertainer.
Sakthi's camera has worked magic, especially in the snowy terrains. However, costume designing seems to have taken a hit,.especially in the case of Andrea's. Make up is simple, but it could've been better too, concealing the fundamental drawbacks that differentiates a star or dream character from an ordinary person. While Santhanam's comedy entertains in the first half, it utterly disappoints in the latter half. As for Vinay, his screen presence is also limited to the former half and climax, that is until he gets married. The story is fairly predictable at almost every frame, after the friends separate. In some places, there are dialogues that are unnecessarily long or winding. Harris's music is refreshing at places but sounds repetitive over the many frames.
Forget the apparent anomalies, 'Endrendrum Punnagai' is a comic entertainer in parts. But it is not just about happiness, it is also about a lot of underlying emotions that cage smiles inside the soul. With a story behind everyone in the background and a lot of fun uniting the jigsaw pieces in the foreground, covering up all the sorrow as though it is a hassle-free life, the film is a different outlook on love and friendship. 'Endrendrum Punnagai', as aptly titled, is a story that urges to unlock the happiness behind our ego, and a film worth investing your time on.
Rating - 3/5
Credits indiaglitz.com
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