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EDITOR'S PICK
Rating:***
First, the storyline. Major R. Mannar (Kamal Haasan) is an
army officer-turned-private detective. Ambu (Trisha) is a popular actress known
by the name Nisha, who is in love with a businessman Madanagopal (Madhavan).
Madan is suspicious about Ambu`s activities and keeps questioning her integrity.
Ambu has enough and walks away.
Madan meanwhile hires Major R. Mannar`s (Kamal) detective services to find out
about Nisha`s `affairs` with her co-stars. His motivation is to prove her
immoral and insult her in the eyes of public before formally parting ways.
Mannar takes up the assignment as he has to earn a huge sum of money for the
treatment of his close friend who suffers from cancer. Deepa (Sangeetha), a
divorcee with two children, is Ambu`s close friend who goes on an European tour
aboard a luxury cruise. Mannar joins them on board to carry out his surveillance
over Ambu.
After watching Ambu closely for a few days, Mannar tells Madan that his fears
about her loyalty are unfounded. Madan then loses interest in the results and
turns passive when Mannar asks for his fee. Smelling Madan`s cunningness, Manar
starts a game wherein he (mis)leads Madan into believing that Nisha slowly
develops an `affair` with someone on the ship.
Things take a different turn when Mannar`s trap not only fixes Madan but also
takes in other unsuspecting individuals. Mannar seeks Deepa`s help to end the
game. A producer, who had long been chasing Ambu, joins the scheme of things
thus making it a laugh riot.
Meanwhile, Ambu feels guilty as she finds that an accident caused by her three
years back had killed Mannar`s wife. While Mannar is not aware of who is
responsible, he is in no mood to take revenge for what happened in the past.
This attitude makes Ambu come closer to Mannar.
The rest of the story is about whether or not Madhan and Ambu come together and
what Mannar and Deepa`s roles were in untying the knots.
Kamal has penned the story, dialogues, screenplay and lyrics. He has deftly
handled the myriad emotions of suspicion, anger, fear, expectancy and relief of
the lead players. The complication in the relationship between Madhavan and
Trisha has been depicted well. Their verbal duel has come out sharp and
credible. Ambu`s self-assertive character, her deep-rooted friendship with Deepa,
Mannar`s ploy to save his friend and Madan`s suspicious outlook have been nicely
put together to provide us with a clean entertainer.
The problem with the movie is it`s neither a full-length comedy nor a serious
film. The second half could have been pacier and the climax, more credible.
Too many English dialogues might affect the overall impact of the movie, as many
important conversations are in stylish English.
Director K.S. Ravikumar, who has worked with Kamal in quite a few movies, has
kept up his reputation of executing the script perfectly. It is interesting to
see the flashback sequences narrated in the `reverse` mode.
It is surprising that Kamal has enacted a role which could have been done by any
actor. There is nothing special in his role and there is little scope for the
veteran to showcase his skills. Madhavan and Sangeetha, on the other hand, have
almost got the role of their lives in this film. Both have utilized this
opportunity and have delivered astonishing performances. Trisha has improved her
acting prowess a bit, though her looks have lost some of their charm. But her
(own) voice sounds good, so she can continue to dub in her own voice in the
future too.
Oorvasi, Ramesh Arvind, Usha Uthoop and many other artistes have done their
roles, albeit brief ones, perfectly. Manush Nandan`s cinematography, in his
debut film, is top-class. Devi Sri Prasad`s music is just about okay.
"Manmathan Ambu" does impress but it lacks the punch to captivate the
audiences.