Movie review 'Un Samayal Arayil': Prakash Raj once again sweeps you off your feet

Cast: Prakash Raj, Sneha, Tejus, Samyukta, Thambi Ramaiah

Direction: Prakash Raj

Rating: **1/5

Prakash Raj, committed to produce quality family entertainers, has tasted success to some extent in the past with films like Abhiyum Naanum etc. Now, he is back with the remake of M’town hit Salt N Pepper and apart from playing the lead, he has taken the onus of wielding the mega phone as well as taken over the screenplay.

Kalidasan (Prakash Raj) is a chronic bachelor in his middle age who works in the State Archaeology department and is a complete foodie. He lives with his distant relative Vaidhi (Kumaravel) and has an excellent cook Krishna (Thambi Ramaiah). Naveen (Tejus), nephew of Kalidas comes to Chennai in search of a job and stays at his uncle’s place. True to his profession, Kalidas is fond of collecting antiques and is happy with his routine work which includes his ‘drinking session’ in the evening accompanied by exotic side dishes, often suggested by him and prepared by Krishna.

Gowri (Sneha) is a dubbing artist in her mid 30s who, apart from being a foodie, loves to cook- a habit which she picked up from her deceased mother. She stays as a paying guest along with Meghna (Samyukta) at a common friend’s (Urvasi) house who also runs a beauty parlor. A wrong call from Gowri to Kalidas’s mobile brings both together. On a hectic working day, when Gowri craves to eat ‘kutti dosa’ and calls up a popular restaurant to order the same, it ends up reaching Kalidas by mistake. Though their initial conversations begin on a wrong note, they soon realize that they have something in common – their love for good food.

After a point when both deicide to meet, concerned about their physical appearances, they send their younger substitutes Naveen and Meghna for the first meeting. This is where the confusion begins and the rest is all about how they resolve the issue and come together.

Food plays an important role in the movie. Even in the opening title track Indha Porapputhan rendered by Kailash Kher, visuals of some of the most delicious dishes which are popular in Tamil Nadu start appearing, and your taste buds gears up for a treat. Prakash Raj’s versatility is a known secret and here too playing his age he literally sweeps you off your feet with his natural performance.

Sneha, who is back after a gap has an equal footage and as usual she delivers. The young pair Tejus and Samyukta looks fresh and add spice to the proceedings. Thambi Ramaiah, Kumaravel , Urvasi, Aishwarya lend their support. Despite a wafer thin story, while the first half is engaging, post interval it drags as it deviates from the main story to uninteresting extraneous subplots.

Ilayaraja’s background score warrants mention and elevates the mood of the film. Preetha’s cinematography is undoubtedly one of the highpoints of the movie. In spite of its shortcoming, the movie is fairly engaging.