Itly movie review: Potential riotous laugh let down by weak writing
Direction: Vidhyadharan
Cast: Saranya Ponvannan, Kovai Sarala, Kalpana, Manobala, Imman Annachi
Itly is the acronym for three grandmothers Inba, Twinkle and Lilly played by three veterans Saranya Ponvannan, Kovai Sarala and Kalpana (late) respectively. They are close friends. Inba’s college-going granddaughter Ashmitha (Ashmitha) is suffering from a health problem, and she is in need of money to the tune of six lakhs. The paattis somehow manage to raise money and while depositing in the bank, they end up loosing it due to a bank robbery. The bank manager (Chithra Lakshmanan) also refuses to help the trio, as the money was not deposited at the time of the robbery. Unable to raise money from any other source, the grannies hatch a plan to rob the bank where they lost their money along with Twinkle’s lover China (Manobala). With several customers including Jothida Karadi (Venniradai Moorthy) taken hostage inside the bank, and sirippu police (Imman Annachi and Devadarshini) outside the bank for holding talks with the terrorist paattis, the buffoonery begins.
Also read: I’m not competing with Kovai Sarala, let her win: Saranya Ponvannan
Then there are other plotlines where a gang headed by Karthik (Karthik) blackmails young girls of exposing their private videos to extract huge sums, and yet another terrorist group with Kazhthu (Mansoor Ali Khan) as its leader, training and brainwashing old people to rob banks and an eloped couple who are in a live-in relationship.
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Despite having ace performers like Saranya, Kovai Sarala and Kalpana who excel in comedy too, director Vidhyadharan has underutilized their talents because of his weak writing. While looking good on paper for a riotous laugh, it is in its execution where the director has erred. The gags work only in few places and most of the time they fall flat. The repeated scenes involving fart comedy, though not filmed in a crass manner, is annoying. Thankfully, there are no songs or action blocks, still the film has a running time of two-and-a half hours.
