Mannaru comes with the presence of two National Award winners in the cast, in the form of Appukutty and Thambi Ramaiah. The hype has been muted and let us check out what the movie has to offer.

Mannaru is a happy-go-lucky guy who keeps drifting and doesn’t have much focus in life with alcohol being his constant companion. He helps his friend Ganesan get married secretively to his fiancée Anjali through a registered marriage. But Ganesan isn’t able to take Anjali away safely and he forces Mannaru to take her along with him. Somehow Mannaru is forced to land with her in his village posing as ‘man and wife’ and things aren’t rosy at all for him after that.

His impending marriage with his fiancée Mallika is in danger and another relative named Gopi eyes Mallika now, much to the chagrin of both Mannaru and Mallika. Now what happens to Mannaru, whether he unites with Mallika, whether Anjali and Ganesan get back together? Watch the flick to find out.

The film has an interesting plot line as discussed above but it just can’t sustain the interest of the audience. There isn’t any pace in the movie and save Appukutty to an extent, the other performers just don’t pass muster. Thambi Ramaiah’s comic sojourns fall flat on the face. Heroine Swathi (of Raattinam fame) isn’t noteworthy and the character that plays Mallika, though earnestly done, doesn’t make a positive impact thanks to the frequent tight close-ups of her. There are other irritating characters like a loud lady chewing betel leaf always.

The film just doesn’t garner one’s attention thanks to the lethargy that sets in pretty early in the movie. After that, things don’t improve much though the movie falls in place towards the end.

The songs are just needless, including two crass item numbers. One of the songs is actually likeable but absolutely baffling thanks to its positioning in the movie. There is another old-world romantic track between Mallika and Mannaru which just results in more agony to the audience.

The locations in the movie are pretty likable thanks to the Kodaikanal setup and the general greenery in the village. The locations have an ‘Azhagarsami’ hangover and we even see a horse with Appukutty at times. Talk of sentiment!

On the whole, the movie released with hardly a whimper and doesn’t make any impact. A decent plotline has been executed in a laborious manner.

Verdict: Fails to impress. Forget it!