Set against the beautiful backdrop of Paris, the world capital of love, Engeyum Kadhal directed by Prabhu Deva and produced by A G S Entertainment, pivots around LOVE, a theme which could be relatable to a wide section of the audience. The film languorously opens up with the Engeyum Kadhal number with Prabhudeva’s slow motion movements criss-crossing the various lovers in Paris and the introduction of his lead characters.
EK is about the rich hero Kamal (Jeyam Ravi) who works hard for 11 months and relaxes for one month in a year and what happens when he meets Kayal Vizhi (Hansika) in one of such sojourns. As the name suggests, it is love love and love everywhere and Prabhu Deva has used this premise to tell his story and the three major components which help him in this undertaking are pleasing cinematography, vibrant music and uber-chic costumes.
Nirav Shah takes us round the breathtaking France and other overseas locales in an enjoyable fashion and Nalini Sriram’s costumes bring about the rich and the trendy look of the lead characters in a fine manner. Harris Jayaraj’s mostly mellifluous numbers are also one of the key positive contributing factors to EK. Having said that, EK almost appears like a musical with a song being thrown in every now and then and Nenjil Nenjil, Nangai and Thee Illai emerge winners from the group.
Although Prabhu Deva has such major supporting features by his side, he has failed to utilize them to the fullest. The intentions may be worthy but the execution is frivolous. This is a clear case of a weak content failing a movie despite support from other departments. The screenplay is given a short shrift by the director and EK goes south in the engrossing scale too.
The love between the lead characters is very shallow and EK never makes you invest enough emotions in its characters. EK is also plagued by feeble characterization. The premise of the film may be soaked in love but the reason why the lead pair falls in love with each other appears very flimsy and lacks depth resulting in a flat and abrupt climax. Added to that, there is no chemistry between Ravi and Hansika.
In the name of comedy Raju Sundaram is irksome and Suman is completely wasted. And the boy who is shown to have a crush on Hansika is a caricature. The lip sync of the heroine is not in tune and the voice of the dubbing artist is highly pretentious. There are not many redeeming factors which makes the two hour and five minutes film seem much longer than its actual period.
Jeyam Ravi looks smart and scores well in the dancing department. It is also interesting to hear him take a dig at his own voice and the ticket checking scene in the train is delightful. But unfortunately such patches of goodness are far and few in between and the film fails to connect.
Verdict: All glitz, no substance
ENGEYUM KADHAL MOVIE REVIEW
