By Aravindan DI
Film: “Kacheri Aarambam”; Cast: Jeeva, Poonam Bajwa, J.D. Chakravarthy, Vadivelu, Nisha Kothari; Director: Thiraivannan; Music Director: D. Imman; Rating: **

Jeeva delivers yet another commercial potboiler without bothering to worry about finesse. Debutant director Thiraivannan seems to be content with a cliched story and, hence, takes no strain to tell us anything new or novel. The story is all about a youth coming to the city, falling in love and confronting the baddie.

The hero lands up in Chennai (like many other heroes have done in the past) and takes up the job of an assistant to Vadivelu, who runs a shop in the Burma Bazaar locality.

Enters Madhi (Poonam Bajwa), who accidentally saves Jeeva from a ‘road accident’ and steals his heart instantly. Our hero keeps following Poonam wherever she goes, but the girl tries hard to avoid him. She is not even ready to accept the customary thanks for saving his life.

The reason behind her mysterious silence is a local don Sivamani (J.D. Chakravarthy), who loves her madly. He threatens that he would kill her parents if she turns down his love. He had killed two boys who had proposed to Madhi.

Jeeva plans to handle the situation in a novel (!) way. He joins Sivamani’s gang, wins his trust and then tries to tactically dismantle him from his position. The director wants us to believe that he plays the game smartly but the fact is that the whole drama looks immature and idiotic.

Expectedly, once Jeeva’s hide-and-seek game comes out in the open, the baddie tries to kill him but gets killed in the hands of our powerful super hero. All is well that ends well, isn’t it?

The initial scenes dealing with Jeeva moving out of his house are entertaining. So are the scenes involving Vadivelu in the first half. The film becomes boring in the second half. But for Vadivelu the movie would have been a real punishment for the viewers.

We have seen many films that show the hero befriending the villain to checkmate him. Moreover, the way our hero outsmarts the villain at every step hasn’t been conceived and executed well.

The villain, touted to be a terror in the area, looks like a laughing stock in some scenes. To make things worse, the film drags in the second half and even a spirited Vadivelu cannot save it.

Jeeva, who has impressed as an actor in movies like “E” and “Kattradhu Thamizh,” has a natural charm and flair but he needs to be more careful in choosing the scripts. J.D. Chakravarthy as the don has done what’s expected of him.

After “Thenavattu”, this would be the second time Poonam gets to pair up opposite Jeeva. She does have a beautiful face but her appeal gets diluted as she is seen in a state of grief most of the time.

Nisha Kothari returns to Tamil cinema in a bold and new avatar in an item song, which is good.

Thiraivannan proves that he could make a commercial entertainer which doesn’t bother to test anybody’s brain. It’d help him if he creates meaningful stories and better scenes.

Music director D.Imman has given a couple of peppy numbers with “Vaada Vaada,” featuring Nisha, standing out. The song, shot in and around Agra in the backdrop of the Taj Mahal, is beautiful.

‘Kacheri Aarambam’ is for the die hard fans of masala flicks.