Tamil actor-director duo Arun Vijay and Hari’s action drama, Yaanai had a simultaneous release in Telugu as Enugu on July 1st. Let’s see how it is.
Story: The younger brother in a joint family headed by three brothers and their families, Ravi( Arjun Vijay) keeps protecting his family from rivalry family. As a sudden shock, Ravi’s elder brother Ramachandran( Samuthirakani) ’s daughter Papa( Ammu Abhirami) elopes from the house with her boyfriend. After this incident, disturbances happen in the joint family and Ravi will be sent out of the house blaming that he is the main reason behind Samuthirakani’s daughter’s love track. To prove his innocence, Ravi goes out from home along with his mother( Radhikaa Sarathkumar) and starts searching for the whereabouts of Papa. After an intense search, Ravi finds out Papa’s identity. How is the rivalry gang head Lingam( Ramachandra Raju) interconnected with the proceedings? To know that, you have to watch the film in the theatre near you.
Performances: Arun Vijay did his part perfectly as a younger brother in the family. While his intense acting during the second half brings authentic flavour to the screen, Arun’s getup and makeup as a person from a small town are done nicely and elevate the mood of the film.
As an aggressive-natured elder brother, Samuthirakani did a good job. The other two guys who played brother roles are also okay in their key roles
Ramachandra Raju is apt in his negative shaded character. Other artists in the rivalry gang did their part quite effectively. Actor Yogi Babu generates good fun in his sidekick role.
Actress Ammu Abhirami gets a meaty role and the talented actress did justice to her role. Heroine Priya Bhavani Shankar is cute on-screen and her chemistry with Arun Vijay is projected nicely. Radhikaa Sarathkumar and other ladies who did key roles in the family setup are convincing with their performance.
Technicalities: The photography work by S Gopinath is nice as he captured the natural locations in rural areas in a superb manner. His colour texture adds realistic flavour to the screen. GV Prakash did a decent job as a musician. Along with two emotional-coated situational songs, his background score is done perfectly for all action blocks.
The editing work by Anthony is alright as he made sure that the film has any unwanted scenes. Production values for this limited-budget actioner are good.
Analysis: Director Hari who is widely known for making cop dramas has come up with a family drama this time. While is racy screenplay is largely engaging, the wafer-thin storyline and typical melodrama episodes between the family members might not get universal approval.
The confrontation episodes between Ramachandra Raju and Arun Vijay bring authentic texture to this actioner. Apart from action and melodrama episodes between the family members, Enugu has nothing much like commercial songs and glamorous treat to attract the audience.
To summerize, Enugu is an action-packed family drama that has a few engaging moments in both halves but the slow-paced proceedings during the pre-climax portions come as a demerit for this actioner.
Verdict: Formulaic action drama!
Rating: 1.5/5
