Perfect cocktail

There is a staple story line that has been tried and tested in movies many times before -- a poor boy meets rich girl, they have their differences, eventually the boy destroys the rich girl's ego, her family's pride and whatever left of her self-esteem and makes her his docile, submissive, traditional wife. You saw it in Arivali, Periya Idathu Pen, Sagalakala Vallavan, and many other movies.

Now, Tamil film Siva Manasula Sakthi relives the story once again. It is a toned version of Dhanush's Padikkathavan by Vikatan Talkies.

Even before the first scene, you know that debutant director Rajesh M will hit bullseye with this one, never mind the fact that SMS isn't really meaningful cinema. This one is an unapologetic entertainer with seemingly realistic characters. Even if they sometimes irritate you, the actors perform well, and give us some knock-out moments.

'Army man' Siva (Jeeva) bumps into Sakthi (Anuya), an airhostess. Both have a great time on a train. So bowled over is the lad at having met a pretty air-hostess that he drags his mother Kalyani (Urvasi in a delightfully earthy role) and sister to her office -- to learn that she's not an airhostess after all. She is, in fact, the popular RK Sakthi with Hello FM. She, in turn, discovers that he's a courier guy and sparks begin to fly.

Siva and Sakthi slowly discover each other but love takes its time. Sakthi's sophistication and education goes against Siva, who can't read English, drinks at any time of day, swears, and pockets a less-than-satisfactory salary.

Under the circumstances, Sakthi's disgust seems only normal. But Rajesh's screenplay produces twists and turns, as Siva embarks on a quest to subjugate the independent Sakthi. And she responds. 

You can tell Jeeva's had a blast. He seems to be following the Dhanush route with some of his own panache thrown in, and it works. Whether he's following Sakthi around, on a drinking binge, or even fighting with his mom, he comes out tops. His body language and voice are perfect. And that's a pity: his portrayal of a chauvinistic young man, who wants the beautiful girl at his feet, is so realistic that you get upset with some of his diatribes.

For a first-timer, Anuya's done pretty well in the acting department: her annoyance and scorn at Siva is well-done. But the dialogue delivery (dubbed by Savitha) is too syrupy.

Urvasi and Santhanam have come up trumps as well: one is a beleaguered widow, who talks and laughs nonstop and the other is the friend whose cell phone keeps getting smashed. Together, they provide much of the movie's entertainment.

Padhmesh's artwork is perfect, especially when it comes to Jeeva's apartment, while Sakthi Saravanan's camera-work provides clean, unobtrusive fare. Rajesh's dialogues are peppy. Yuvan Shankar Raja's songs -- barring Oru Kal -- don't make an impact.

The film should have been cut short by at least 45 minutes, and seems to send a crass message -- You can be stupid and vulgar but you will still get the rich, beautiful girl.

SMS has all the makings of a runaway hit with its cocktail of humour, love and the eternal man-woman conflict. But if you're a champion of women's rights, this one's not for you.