Film direction still remains the most sought after field in celluloid and after impressing the audience with his mellifluous tunes in Poo and Kalavani, music director S S Kumaran also turns into direction in Peacock Pictures Theneer Viduthi with a bucolic backdrop to narrate his tale.

For his debut directorial project S S Kumaran has resorted to the usual route of romance with a few commercial elements thrown in. Although the title Theneer Viduthi is suggestive of a premise centering on tea stall and its happenings, albeit acting as a minor catalyst to the lead pair’s love, the tea stall does not have any significance in the film.

Aadith and Kodumudi are brothers who are pandal contractors in a village and Aadith falls in love with Reshmi, the daughter of a sub-registrar who is the chief adversary of their love. Did the lead pair unite in marriage or did they go their individual ways is what Theneer Viduthi all about.

When love and romance are the common grounds that our film makers are known to battle in, what makes some projects stand out among the heap is the presentation and packaging. And unfortunately S S Kumaran has not got the grasp of this assignment resulting in a very bland Theneer Viduthi.

On the performance side too, Theneer Viduthi does not offer anything new and the artists have a long way to go in the emoting department. As the plot travels on a very flat, expected terrain, it becomes very difficult to get involved with the proceedings on screen increasing the ennui quotient. Even the apparently serious sequences of the conflict between the father and daughter do not add any value to the film or the story.

In the name of comedy, the antics of Kodumudi and Aadith are annoying and irksome and make a negative impact on the audience. The first half drags and the second half is even worse. Be it the comedy or the climax or the romance- there is no plausibility at all in the happenings.

On the technical side, cinematography by Manavalan is just ordinary and so are the background tracks. A couple of songs scored by Kumaran himself just pass muster.

The consoling factors in this otherwise bland fare are the soothing lush locations and the picturizaton of few songs. It would have been positive for the film if S S Kumaran had paid the same diligence that he paid to the songs to the main story as well. In short Theneer Viduthi fails to impress.

Verdict: No flavor or taste in this tea