Anand L Rai made her heroine run left, right and center in his latest movie to find her love. And in that process he created the most unusual and bizarre love story which fails to connect at many levels. Like his previous films, the focus is on a small town settings, quirky characters all in a typical celebration style. The story revolves around a forceful marriage (an Iyer boy marriage with a Bihari girl), and both decides to stick to their personal love choices but with living together. They totally falls in opposite spectrum, one a live kudi pataka type and another calm and serious. As usual there is this path of convergence where their mutual respect and attraction kicks in. But before it blossoms, Mr. Khiladi (heartthrob of Sara) the magician enters in his typical style, what follows then is a twisted head scratching narrative which to me is a big misfire in all angles. At one side you may feel this as a fresh concept but execution of that concept was hoodwinked.
With excessive over the top liberties, cheesy dialogues , fake scenarios and a worst depiction of mental illness the second half is like shooting your own foot. The narration felt flat and you will not get invested in the emotional side even if its loaded with some good ones. The dramatic final big reveal is similar to what we have seen in the Malayalam movie Thooval Kottaram, but in the latter it was so sublime. For me the only saving factor was the memorable track from A.R Rahman. Dhanush as usual was solid and Sara Ali Khan was surprisingly good at depicting the range of moods thought her Bihari accent was irritating. One thing is sure ALR really knows how to name the film title and then stay true to its meaning. My recommendation watch the trailer and then listen to the Album (its one of the best).
Verdict - 2.5/5(A confused Paracosm)