Harikumar is back on screen after a while. His last release was Madurai Sambavam where he had continued the ways of raw action which had got him success in Thoothukudi. Now, he is back trying to deliver more of the same with Bodinayakanur Ganesan. Does he deliver?

One can see that he is still eager to have names of places in his films, a superstition that has worked fairly well till now. Bodinayakanur Ganesan is a story of two individuals, one who courts success and the other who courts disaster and failure throughout life. Their paths cross far too often and it leads to confrontations. Well, it is a tried and tested track, we must say. But, what is interesting is the initial portion where the director shows the need of sensible parenting when a child is confronted with failure. He has tried to tell that too much of bad mouthing can actually be counterproductive.

Harikumar (Ganesan) plays the ideal son of a middle class father while Sai Ravi (Thiruvaachi) plays the son of an affluent man of the same village. No prizes for guessing who is the one with a bright future ahead of him – Harikumar! He studies well, does all things right and is sometimes an object of envy for the affluent dad who wants his son too to follow the same path. And, in that effort he chides him a bit too much which has a negative effect. Thiruvaachi goes haywire in life and nurses a grouse against Ganesan because he thinks that it is the presence of Ganesan that made his dad have unrealistic expectations of him.

It is the presentation and performances that should have saved this film, but unfortunately, they hardly rise above the level of the pedestrian. The director seems to have started out with a single line idea of how extra chiding can be bad for children. While that idea is good, it runs out of steam far too early in the film and we are left to sit through dry and predictable happenings for the rest of the duration. Bland would be a good word to describe proceedings as scene after scene unfolds without getting any sort of grip on the viewer. It is the same even in the climax action portions. Romance plays very little role in the film and comedy handled by Suri doesn’t get any better than the rest of the script.

Director Gnanam really seemed to have very little idea about the way the film was headed. It looks a shoddy product in all. It doesn’t compare well in any way to the previous Harikumar starrers, which had some raw energy and excitement to them. Overall a disappointing product which has to be endured rather than enjoyed!

Verdict: Bland and shoddy tale of two individuals turned foes