Movie review Dhillukku Dhuddu: Santhanam-Rambala recreate magic for third time

Director: Rambala
Cast: Santhanam, Shanaya, Naan Kadavul Rajendhran, Anandaraj

In his third outing Dhillukku Dhuttu, Santhanam as a hero has teamed with his mentor Rambala of 'Lollu Sabha' TV series fame which also catapulted Santa to bigger heights. To go with the tide in Tamil cinema, the duo has taken a horror comedy genre with a host of comedians replete with Mottai Rajendhran in a crucial role. Read on to know whether the duo has recreated the magic and delivered the goods. 

The film opens with a prologue where a typical isolated bungalow on a hill station Sivankonda Malai  is haunted by ghosts after the inmates die unnaturally. Cut to present we are shown Kumar (Santhanam), a happy-go-lucky guy from a middle class family falls in love with Kajal (Shanaya), after few initial mix-ups and later comes to know that she was his sweetheart while in school.  But, Kajal's rich father and a loan shark (Saurabh Shukla) disapproves of the alliance and hatches a plan to bump Kumar off and seeks local goon Mani's(Mottai Rajendhran) help. Now, without knowing the Sivankonda bungalow's background, Mani asks Kajal's dad to lure Kumar's family to it in the pretext of wedding venue so that he can execute his plan by involving his assistants to act as ghosts and scare them to death. Now starts the game of reel ghosts vs real ghosts. .  

Santhanam looks good in the stylish make-over and does everything that is expected out of a hero - he dances an intro number, fights ten thugs with over the top stunt sequences,woos the heroine etc. He also impresses with his usual one-liners. Shanaya may look apt to play a North Indian girl, but one wishes she could have worked better on her expressions and lip-sync. All others like Ananda Raj, Karunas, Rajendhran with his meaty role, Saurabh lend their support to some extent. The problem is the lackluster first half which is full of cliched romantic stuff. Only during post interval when Santhanam and co moves to the haunted bungalow, the film picks up momentum and laughs coming in continuously. But again the spooky elements are rather limited. 

Cinematography by Deepak Kumar Pathy goes well with the mood of the film. Though Thaman's songs are good, they serve only as speed breakers. Over all, the film can be enjoyed only in parts.