The title evokes your curiosity; no doubt. What is this film about? Aayiram Muthangaludan Thenmozhi; definitely a love story, you would think. Yes, a love story it is, but not the kind that you have seen before, definitely not in Tamil cinema. Yes, the basic idea of Aayiram Muthangaludan Thenmozhi is something novel. You might like it or not, but you will definitely have an opinion on it. It is a love story that tries to tell us what love is not; it doesn’t find enough time to tell us what love is.

Aayiram Muthangaludan Thenmozhi (AMT) talks about a relationship and through that, tries to make a statement about all relationships in our times. Two youngsters fall in love; at least, they think they are in love.  But, life teaches them that love has to be much more than a few stolen glances. How does life teach them? You have to watch the movie for that. As in every relationship, it is the small things that snowball into the bigger things.

A realistic look at the nature of contemporary relationships is a nice idea. It’s true that a lot of people might be able to connect with it. But, where Aayiram Muthangaludan Thenmozhi falters is that people can only connect to a relationship that exists. Don’t get the drift. Almost very early in the movie we are told, through a very thorough clinical psychological analysis, that there is no love between them. Well, if there is no love, then you lose faith in the relationship and don’t feel much surprised that the couple follows suit soon after. It is a good thing that the director wants to state the difference between love and infatuation; but he placed it wrongly in the script. Also, the director seems to have deployed an artificial narrative device, in the form of different people reading a story. You expect that to have some kind of traction on the central plot, but there is none whatsoever.

Director Shanmugaraj has been successful in portraying how small issues turn into bigger ones in a relationship. But, the problem is that film is full of these small issues only. To be frank, that might be the truth about life but a film needs a bit more. Maybe a bit of humor, or a serious twist. But, that does not happen and we are passive spectators to the minor incompatibilities of a confused couple. The director seems to know that entertaining the audience is imperative but there are better methods than highly sensual song that seems out of sync with the general nature of the film. In fact, there are two or three instances where you feel that a scene with a bit of sensuality has been squeezed in without proper reason.

In the performances, both Venkatesh and Arya have given a good account as the couple who have no idea about the direction in which their relationship is headed. Since the movie is all about them and their relationship others do not have very noticeable roles. Music by Taj Noor is average; you will remember ‘Paalodu Then’, and Un Peyer Enna Theriyathu perhaps. The other technical aspects are just about adequate.

AMT is a novel idea. The director has tried to tell the five important traits needed to keep a relationship alive and he has chosen to do this by showing a couple who fail in all five of them. A good thought. But, he makes the mistake of pulling down the relationship too early in the film and then following it up with these traits. When you already know that there is no love, can you still be serious about the couple?

Verdict: New take on relationships; falters in narration