Doo, the intriguing title, is mainly responsible for increasing the interest levels in the film supplemented by a peppy track sung by T Rajender. Doo boasts of many newcomers from director Sriram Padmanabhan to music director Abhishek & Lawrence to heroines Nakshathra and Sangeetha Bhat.

The plot is very interesting and urban. The ego clashes and the conflicts between the lead pair in love forms the central point around which Sriram has attempted to spin his tale. Doo reminds a lot of the mega hit Kushi in most aspects. An excellent premise for the director to show his mettle but Sriram struggles to exploit this advantage to his benefit.

On the positives, new comer Nakshathra shows promise and her own dubbing lends a unique character to her role. The girl does have good potential. Sanjay who was last seen in Mun Dinam Parthene does a competent job in his role, emotes, dances and fights well. In a few instances dialogues shine like the one where Sangeetha argues with Sanjay about accepting the family members and friends with their inadequacies but not the life partners. And another example is the dialogue when Jagan says in a lighter vein - Avaluuku naay pidikkalennu daan onnai pidichirukka. Sriram has also eschewed vulgar innuendoes which needs plaudits.

On the flip side, Doo suffers to suck in the audience to the happenings on screen which gives a lengthy feel to the film. The situations get redundant resulting in an unexcited fare- the lead pair fights, makes up, fights again and this continues. It is stretched to such an extent that the audience is made to feel that it is better for them to go their own way. All the characters in the film do not seem to be involved in any other pursuit other than to follow girls, fall in love and have liquor parties.

Heroine Nakshathra is portrayed as someone who loves to accept people as they are and does not believe in changing oneself for the other which is quite laudable and sensible. However her strong characterization suffers a major beating when she gives specifications to hero to appear in a particular way while meeting her dad. In a similar manner, Sanjay’s intentions with the other heroine Sangeetha are not conveyed properly. It is ambiguous whether he is interested in her or not and the director fumbles to decide about the fate of Sangeetha’s character who is finally left in the lurch.

The standard rule of Tamil cinema with a hero surrounded by friends who are not his age is sincerely followed in Doo too and their antics evince more irritation than laughter. Brevity is the causality in Doo where all the characters are involved in incessant banter. Many scenes don’t justify their presence like the song sequences or the fight scenes. Orvashi and Rajesh are wasted and there is no validation to Mayilsamy’s role.

On the technical side tunes by Abhishek and Lawrence are forgettable and the much hyped Doo number by TR does not evoke the desired response. Editing is jumpy which could have been taken care of. Many scenes could have been pruned that may have resulted in a better fare.

Verdict: A game not well played