UN SAMAYAL ARAYIL MOVIE REVIEW

Prakash Raj’s third directorial (second in Tamil after Dhoni), Un Samayal Arayil is a faithful remake of the Malayalam Hit, Salt N’ Pepper. The movie, produced by Prakash Raj Productions, is about two unmarried people, who have come to terms with their single life, discovering their need for each other.
 

Kalidasan (Prakash Raj) is a person who believes not that people eat to live, but that people live to eat. However, due to a failed love, he chose to stay unmarried. On the other hand, due to issues in her horoscope, Gowri (Sneha) stays unwed. What sets their life rolling is food – they are connoisseurs of good food. So much love for food that Kalidasan, after a bridal visit, brings home the bride’s cook (for his Vadas), but leaves behind the bride.
 

True to the title and the theme of the movie, it’s an item called ‘Kutti Dosai’ that introduces the lead pair to each other. However, their self-doubts keep them away from meeting each other. How events turn out when they decide to meet is what the remaining of Un Samayal Arayil is made of.
 

Prakash Raj and Sneha deliver good performances. The pre-climax portion involving the two and two other important characters, in Prakash Raj’s SUV, was a treat to watch. However, the scenes involving their romance – the phone calls, their romantic messages, and their slow motion laughs – seem a little bloated. The scenes seem like from the 80s and 90s. And, the scenes involving the tribal find no connection with the mainline. There were lip sync problems as well.
 

Again, Ilango Kumaravel, a regular in Prakash Raj movies, delivers yet another neat performance. Thambi Ramaiah, as the cook, impresses as well.
 

Cinematographer Preetha, of Abhiyum Naanum fame, fills the screen with taste! The film being about foodstuffs, as much as the lead characters, she has worked hard in presenting the food in their entire savoriness. There is a particular scene in which the lead pair shares the recipe of Joan’s Rainbow Cake from the days of French War. The baked cake, with four flavors of Strawberry, Pista, Orange and Chocolate stacked against each other, makes the audience crave for the cake. Through her camera even the Bajjis, Dosas, Curries, and Vadas were appetizing.
 

Except the song ‘Intha porappu than’, that plays in the beginning to a background of the special food items from different parts of Tamil Nadu, and ‘Kaatru Veliyil’, sung by Isaignani Ilaiyaraja, others don’t impress much.
 

“Decide whether she is right for you, not whether you are right for her. That’s her choice.” This dialogue from the movie sums up ‘Un Samayal Arayil’ in a nutshell.