Movie Review 'Urumeen': Can be watched for its novel attempt

CAST: Bobby Simha, Kalaiyarasan, Reshmi Menon, Manobala

DIRECTION: Sakthivel Perumalsamy

RATING: 2 & 1/2 Stars

Urumeen is Bobby Simha’s first solo hero attempt and debutant Sakthivel Perumalsamy has given the national award winner a triple role to prove his mettle once again.

The story spans between three generations with a reincarnation touch to it. The film starts in 17th century where Bobby is Rajasimhan, king of a small kingdom and is betrayed by his friend (Kalaiyarasan), which has been captured in Motion Capture Technology ala Kochadaiyaan. This seven minutes fantasy portion is crucial and if one misses it, it is difficult to follow the rest of the film. 

Then the story shifts to the present era where Simha is Selva an engineering graduate who has come to the city from Madurai in search of a job. Selva is kidnapped and tied inside a go-down and he recaptures earlier incidents.  We are shown that all goes well with Selva until one day a mystical book comes to his hand. Every time Selva glimpses it, he is given forewarning of future events through some random calls and numbers. Meanwhile, he gets a job at a call center where he meets Umayaal (Reshmi Menon), his college crush and the inevitable happen –yes they fall for each other.

In the meantime, John Christopher (Kalaiyarasan) an ambitious teashop boy turned debt-recovering loan shark along with his brother and a group of friends involve in various nefarious activities. Umayaal approaches John’s company to sort out her financial problem and is troubled by the latter’s brother. A disturbed Umayaal takes Selva’s help. When a gang sets John’s brother on fire, he mistakes it to be the handiwork of Selva and now he is kidnapped.

Cut to past, the plot set in 1939 travels to a tea estate where a rebellious lawyer Chezian (Bobby Simha) and Krishnan Nair (Kalaiyarasan) are thick friends. Krishnan is ambitious and when the British offer him a tea estate in Quilon in exchange of his patriotic friend Chezhiyan, without any hesitation Krishnan accomplishes the task.   Back to the present, it is the final revenge saga.

Bobby Simha looks natural playing different shades of characters and he is able to pull it off with consumable ease. Kalaiyarasan is impressive as a stylish antagonist and he has given a decent performance. Reshmi Menon looks pretty, but hardly has any substantial role. Achu’s background score goes well with the revenge mood of the film. Ravindranath Guru has used three different tones and colors and his visuals elevate the feel of the movie. The movie is racy in the first half, while a trimming would have helped post interval portions. Sakthivel’s plot had all the potential to become a highly engaging thriller, had he concentrated on a taut screenplay. Nevertheless, the film can be watched for its novel attempt.