Tenaliraman

When an actor returns to the screens after a two-year gap, we expect him to choose a vehicle worthy of a comeback. Vadivelu seems to have gone for a safer option and so comes with a film that feels like a less funny and bloated version of his own Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi. Like that film, this one too is a historical fiction. They feature garish set design and costumes. The heroines in both these films are dispensable. Even the actor's dual roles in both the films are similar — a naive king and an intelligent commoner. But while the previous film had wit and playfulness and nicely adapted the Uthama Puthiran formula (which, in turn, had its roots in Alexander Dumas's Man In The Iron Mask), this one tries to adapt the fables of Tenaliraman, pitching it at a very childish level.

The film opens with ministers from Vigada Nadu meeting the Chinese emperor. They are egged on by Parasparam (Radha Ravi, alternating between his father's style of dialogue delivery and a normal one), the ruler of a smaller state, to agree to a deal giving the Chinese unrestricted access to trade in the kingdom in exchange for personal wealth. One minister, Nandi Varma Rayar, who refuses to accept this offer is offed. In his place, the child-like king takes in a witty and intelligent fellow, Tenaliraman, who has his own agenda for getting close to the king. Meanwhile, he discovers the plot of the corrupt ministers and they, in turn, try to get him exiled from the country. Who wins this battle of wits?

Tenaliraman is somewhat amusing, especially if you like loud comedy. But the laughs are far and few as director Yuvaraj is in a confusion — should he stay true to the narrative or play up the comedic prowess of his hero? Sadly, he chooses the latter, and so, the plot digresses to episodes from the Tenaliraman fable that we are familiar with — an episode involves Tenaliraman demonstrating how he pacified an adamant child by showing it an elephant inside a pot; another has him outwitting the...