ENNA SATHAM INDHA NERAM MOVIE REVIEW

The evergreen Punnagai Mannan number ‘Enna Satham Indha Neram’ becomes the title of this Guru Ramesh film, which sees the acting debut of director Jayam Raja and the comeback of ‘Kadhal Mannan’ fame Maanu. The casting of identical quadruplets has already put Enna Satham Indha Neram (ESIN) into the Limca Book of Records.

Nithin Sathya, newcomer Malavika Wales, Mano Bala, Imman Annachi, Vaiyapuri and Shivashankar are some of the other familiar names in the movie’s cast.

The title has no relevance whatsoever to the movie, which is about a day in a zoo when a group of special children are on a field trip, with a massive anaconda-like snake on the prowl. The aforementioned quadruplets lose their way and are left on their own, with danger lurking. The efforts taken to rescue them, form the plot.

Nithin Sathya’s role has been very poorly written and the actor’s earnest efforts at tickling the funny bone fall flat. The ‘Kathir’ BGM is another irritant. He looks really worn-out in the movie (probably to suit the character that he is playing). Newcomer Malavika comes across as a confident performer though her make-up is patchy.

Maanu and Raja appear on screen for a combined 15 to 20 minutes in all, and they play a pair on the verge of divorce. They are brought together again by circumstance as their kids go missing. There isn’t much to say about their performances and we have to see if Raja would be game to act more.

The kids are adorable and some of their antics are cute. Their casting is the single biggest pulling factor, if any, in the movie.

The comedy element in the movie is provided by Mano Bala, Shivashankar and Imman Annachi. All these actors are dispensable, and just take up some screen time without contributing anything to the story.

The movie also has an irresponsible female journalist, who keeps asking absurd questions and unnerves the lead characters in times of duress. Wonder if the director wished to touch upon sensationalism in the media, through this character!

Then there is an absolutely incompetent and passive police inspector who just doesn’t take charge of the situation. The less said, about the ending, the better.

The filmmaking aspects of the movie are below par, with only the shots from the snake’s point of view standing out for being a little innovative. The VFX work on the snake is amateurish but it isn’t fair to expect much on this front, from ESIN, considering the budget constraints. But, animal lovers would get to see some lovely shots of the zoo.

On the whole, ESIN is a disengaging flick. We wish director Guru Ramesh the best for his second venture.