Movie Review: Mayakkam Enna

In Mayakkam Enna, Karthik Swaminathan (Dhanush) wants to follow his heart, his passion, which is to become a renowned wildlife photographer, though in actuality all he does is take photos for weddings and marriage receptions. Life is not great going for him. That is until his best buddy Sundar introduces his girlfriend Yamini (Richa Gangopadhyay) to him and sparks begin to fly between the two. Frustrated with his own life at the thought of his career going downhill, his emotional turmoil at being attracted to his friend's girlfriend rubs salt into his wounds. Director Selvaraghavan, who is no stranger to depicting human relationships (as he did with Kadhal Konden or 7/G Rainbow Colony), does a great job of projecting the emotional upheavals between Karthik and Yamini. The racy and entertaining first half paves the way for a middling melodramatic second act, and the movie loses the spirit and humour that made the pre-interval scenes so effective. And the lesser said about the narrative (especially post intermission), the better, for it appears to have been dealt with seemingly no regard to time. If only the makers were able to sustain the audience's interest in the second half, it would have surely enchanted the house.