Language: TAMIL
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director: Jeeva
Producer: V.Ravichandran
Cast: Vinay, Tanisha, Sada, Raju Sundaram, Srinath, Sathish
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Lyrics: Kavignar Vaali,Pa. Vijay
Dealing with love – as a theme of his movies – seems to be ‘a labor of love’ for director Jeeva. His earlier movies dealt with the same subject and Jeeva is back again with his appositely titled love story ‘Unnale Unnale’ (rechristened from July Katre).
What do a bunch of breezy star cast combined with refreshing music and an awe-inspiring cinematography mean? A feel-good romantic flick, of course. And Jeeva has proved that dealing with romantic subjects is a cake walk for him, yet again. The package has everything to woo the urban audience, principally those in love.
In love
Vinay is blissfully smitten in love with Sadha, who demands all of his attention. With his lady killer looks, Vinay finds it easy to grab attention from damsels around. However, Sadha has troubles in managing this situation and her ‘all’s not fair in love and war’ attitude spells trouble in their love life. Vinay’s flirtatious self gets the most out of him forcing him to lie to Sadha to let his hair down with his other girl friends as well.
Sadha takes offense of the situation and feels that she is being cheated upon. Rather than talking terms with Vinay, she takes the flight to Australia to start a new life. Call it fate or the director’s intention, Vinay sets off to Australia too on an official trip. He meets the pretty Tanisha on his plane, who befriends him during the flight.
Vinay & Tanisha
Australia hosts a whole lot of surprises for Vinay, prominent one being Tanisha turning out to be Sadha’s friend. The movie enters into another interesting twist when Tanisha finds her love for Vinay, who is already rejoicing the ‘return of his love’. So, who is it now that will walk down the aisle with Vinay? The climax tells it all.
Sada & Vinay
Casting
In a world dominated with the rugged looks of Vijays, Ajiths, Suryas, and Vishals it is no wonder Jeeva felt the necessity to discover an urban, trendy, and marshmallowy hero for the rest of the girls who do not (read want to) belong to the league. He is cool, stylish, and there is an added advantage. He can act. Well, almost. We predict that the teenagers will have a hard time getting him out of their heads.
Sadha is back this time, only to emphasize that she is an out-and-out good girl – as she always was in her other movies as well. Posing a typical overprotective lover, she scores in scenes while expressing her inability to read Vinay’s flirtatious nature. Besides, her expressions when she was in a dilemma over her renewed relationship with Vinay are simply adorable. We wonder why Sadha is just an infrequent visitor to Tamil screens, especially with her talents and looks.
Tanisha has a cute smile complemented with sharp features and a great body. Though it appears in the later half of the movie, her role leads the movie to an interesting climax.
Raju Sundaram and Sreenath try hard to get us laugh but in vain. It probably is not their cup of tea, we tend to think.
The rest
Harris has already bagged enough and more admiration for his songs for Unnale Unnale. Released much earlier, they are already popular among the fans and are declared chartbusters. However, if you want feel the nuances of his music, do not miss ‘June Ponal’ ‘Unnale Unnale’ and ‘Vaigaasi Nilave’. That sums up the entire album.
Dialogues more often than not manage to strike the chord that we almost wonder whether Jeeva took tuitions from Balachander. Well, we could always call it an inspiration.
Vinay & Sada
Cinematography is at its peak when the movie travels down under. Probably the only movie after Shankar’s Indian – remember the telephone money pol song? – to capture the beautiful Melbourne in celluloid. We remember that Jeeva was a cinematographer earlier and no wonder that it shows.
Tanisha & Vinay
Verdict
Unnale leaves you with an exuberance injected in your veins that stays in your system long after you left the cinemas. We just couldn’t explain better. It does not really matter that you are not in love to enjoy the experience called ‘Unnale Unnale’, but it definitely helps. The refreshing story line and an imperturbable script only reiterates Jeeva’s prowess in handling romantic movies.
If Unnale could well be taken as a ‘prelude’ to the upcoming Kollywood summer releases, then take our word for it. You are in for a treat. A big one that is.