Director Ezhil is known for his romances, often touching upon issues love brings upon families when it threatens to quaver the family connections. His Manam Kothi Paravai has streaks of Poovellam Un Vaasam, as both the movies have the same plot structure – albeit he has altered the script of the former and in MKP. social stature becomes a core of the movie and the plot unlike PUV.

Themes such as how social stature influences families and jeopardizes love between two people are not novel to our movies and for that reason it’s not erroneous to say that Ezhil’s Manam Kothi Paravai follows a tried and tested path. Not that it’s a bad thing necessarily.

Manam Kothi Paravai follows Kannan (Sivakarthikeyan), who is hopelessly in love with his neighbor Revathy (Aathmiya). Kannan’s love story forms the crux of the movie. He hangs around Revathy’s house and cooks up stories about their supposed love, which is nonexistent. Essentially, Ezhil ensures that everything is not as it seems.

You get a first half that is filled with comical interludes and you almost think this is not a romance and a comedy movie. At the heart of it, it is a comedy movie and to benefit the proceedings, there are Singam Puli, Suri and Chams with their funny one liners. Yes, Sivakarthikeyan is supposed to be good at this but since he has a larger responsibility in the scheme of things as the film’s lead, Ezhil appears to have decided to keep him away from comedy lest we don’t take him seriously.

Nevertheless, Siva is good at what he set out to do. His success is partly because you can so easily relate to him as a guy next door owing to his modest disposition and his earnest acting. He tries not to get too sloppy in sentiment scenes as much as he holds court in other scenes. Siva needs more roles to experiment with his acting talent - not that comedy is such a bad thing.

Aathmiya as Revathy plays the coy girl who turns a blind eye to the moves of the naïve Kannan. She could have admonished him for his bragging or stealing tiny little souvenirs – like her handkerchief – but she enjoys the attention like any other girl. Other actors worth mentioning include Singam Puli, Suri and Chams who propel the movie’s pace when lack of events threatens to buckle it down. Their comic relief also makes you forget the movie’s sluggishness since the script seems void at many places.

The cast is largely made of unknown faces and the movie also stars Ilavarasu, Srinath, Kishore, Ravi Maria and Narain all of whom have performed their roles to the best of their abilities. Other attributes worth mentioning include the movie’s music by D Imman. Two songs pass muster but the background music is nothing to write home about.

In the end, Manam Kothi Paravai might not provide Sivakarthikeyan the platform he is aspiring for – lead roles in movies. But it does showcase his potential as an actor, moving away from the annals of a comedian. We do not know if that’s a good thing because comedians are in great demand these days and have the potential to dictate a movie’s standing at the box office.

Manam Kothi Paravai moves at a very relaxed pace. With not too many events packed into it, the movie might come across as a long haul if you are looking for a love story that is both entertaining and endearing. Parts of it are entertaining and parts of it, endearing. Just that it’s not a perfect blend of both. If that’s your type, do give it a try.

Verdict: Love, not untold before!