Another lyricist takes on the mantle of being a hero with Uyarthiru 420. After the mildly successful foray of Pa Vijay, it is now Snehan’s turn to play the lead. Snehan has done one thing right, chosen a role that will not get lost in the crowd. Though what he has played is not something completely new or unique, it is also not a run of the mill story.

Uyarthiru 420, as the title suggests, is a movie that tells the story of a man who specializes in conning others, mostly out of their money. There are different sizes and kinds of 420s. The one in this film is a person who prefers the big time fraud acts; so, with that level of conning going around, the person executing it also should be intelligent, sophisticated, cunning and street smart. This 420 is all these, or at least tries to be all these. But, he is not just a fraudster out to make the big bucks; he also has got some ethics. The film takes us through an interesting episode of his life as he joins as a trusted functionary of a multimillionaire.

We have seen quite a few con-men movies. The one factor that drives all of them ahead is the ingenuity of the fraudster. The intelligent and foolproof nature of each move is paramount in grabbing the viewer’s full attention. Sadly for Uyarthiru 420, the film falters on this front. It is not that whatever the lead man does is full of loopholes or devoid of intelligence. Yes, there is a method and calculation, but it is not enough to convince us that he will keep getting away with things forever. That brings us to another major drawback of the film; the fraudster is hardly threatened. The thrill of watching such a film comes from seeing the race between law enforcement and the criminal. Here, the police hardly arrives for more than just a few shots and no one even suspects him of being anything but a good man. So, the fraudster has it easy throughout the film, hardly being pushed to the edge which would have made him do something outrageously brilliant or stupid, which would have made the film a lot more interesting. It is this lack of a concrete conflict in the central plot which makes Uyarthiru 420 a film that is not able to hold your interest for long periods. Having said that, the concept of a scheming con man still holds potential, which is reflected in a few portions!

Snehan takes to his first lead role with confidence. He looks convincing as the sleek moving, all knowing con man who is confident that he can wriggle out of any situation. The performance only needed to be supplemented by some stronger situations in the plot. But, nevertheless, Snehan proves that he is a hero material. Vaseegaran as the millionaire is made to look stiff and tense throughout, without too much scope to get into versatilities. Meghana, looking for a good follow through to Kaadhal Solla Vandhen, is let down; the romantic track has got low weightage in the bigger picture. A couple of songs do however help her.

Technically, Uyarthiru 420 is strictly adequate. And, Mani Sharma’s music which is not employed at the best of points in the script, also fails to grab attention, with the exception of one song. The director has included a fleeting message on the growing paparazzi culture in the media; a relevant point.

Uyarthiru 420 is a premise that excites all of us, a man who lives to break the law and never gets caught. But, the writing does not create enough tight corners to prove that its con man is really a big time expert. That proves to be the big pitfall of the entire affair.

Verdict: Not ingenious enough for a 420 movie!