Manmadhan Ambu Movie Review

Every time you go into a cinema hall for a Kamal movie and if the movie promises to be a comedy roller coaster then expectations are sky high for a rip roaring hilarious comic affair. Beware! Manmadham Ambu does not fit into that genre and hence any preconceived notion is detrimental to the excitement. Nevertheless, it is a good movie and is a breezy entertainer but if you have patience the last 30 minutes are rip roaring.

The movie starts off with a Trisha (Ambu aka Nisha) shooting a song with the real hero Suriya. The first scene sets the tone for the movie as it that scene that where the rift between Madhavan (Madanagopal) and Trisha eruptsdue to the suspecting ways of Madhavan on his lover Trisha.

Madhavan is a class act throughout the movie, his performance is easily the best as a vulnerable lover rich boy. The story takes some twists and turns and Trisha decides to go on a vacation (2 years after her so called rift with Madhavan?) with her friend Sangeetha (Deepa) and her 2 kids (really cute performance by them throughout the movie). Madhanagopal sets up Kamal (an army Major), a private detective who has taken up the assignment to arrange for money for the treatment of his friend Ramesh Arvind (Rajan), to spy on Trisha in Europe.

The meat of the movie follows the trail of Trisha traveling through Europe in a cruise ship and is followed by Kujan (Kurup) and his wife. Kunjan is a producer unsuccessfully trying to convince Trisha to act in his movie but she loathes him. Kamal in his detective avatar is convincing and finds that Trisha is a straightforward girl and lets Madhavan know about the same. The movie gains steam when Madhavan refuses to pay Kamal as Madhavan argues that Kamal did not discover anything wrong with Trisha which ought to have been his real assignment. Kamal needs the money for his friend's treatment and hence twists the tale by making a u-turn on his original assessment to milk money from Madhavan and that is the plot of the movie.

All the actors have performed well but special mention must go to Madhavan and Sangeetha who excel in their roles. The movie also sounds different because all sounds and voices were recorded during the live shooting and Trisha's voice is a refreshing change. Kamal as usual excels in his role effortlessly flipping between a dutiful detective's character to a man with sombre past. Watch out for couple of unexpected twists in the movie one in the middle part just before interval and the second in the climax.

Overall the movie is a definite watch and is techically brilliant. The music and the songs are refreshing and watch out for one exceptional song 'Neela Vanam', the picturisation and the music is really heart rendering. What makes the movie watchable and interesting is the unexpected twists in the story line and a generous sprinkling of practical comedy throughout the movie (not over the top). The supporting cast is the strength of the movie and are integrated well within the main storyline

Rating 3/5