Siva Manasula Sakthi ……. Successfully sent

Boy meets girls meets in a train, boy lies about himself, girl lies about herself, boy goes behind girl, girl goes behind boy, girl loves boy, boy moves away, then boy loves girl, girl moves away, they finally get married and live happily ever after – huh. Sounds boring and clichéd? This is the story of Vikatan Talkies’ maiden production venture Siva Manasula Sakthi a.k.a SMS. But Hey ! no I didn’t say the movie is boring.

This may be tamil cinema’s oldest storyline but there have been movies which have scored well at the box office. So does SMS, for debutant director Rajesh’s way of looking at love and its side effects. The film starts with Siva (Jeeva), an armyman meeting Sakthi (Anuya), an air-hostess in a train. After they depart, Siva goes in search of Sakthi to her office where she had told she is working just to find out that she is NOT an air-hostess. Tsh. Sakthi walks down to her office reception to receive a courier and oops there is Siva, the courier delivery boy. Tsh-Tsh.

Now the film picks up pace and makes you smile, laugh and giggle through the scenes that await you after this. Sample this. Siva, the courier boy, in an attempt to tease Sakthi, delivers a box containing a bottle of vodka and a pack of cigarettes to Sakthi right in front of her father. This embarrasses Sakthi and she ends up almost in tears. Time for a touchy sorry moment? In the next scene, Sakthi asks Siva to drop her at her office. Siva takes her to a movie hall instead en route to her office. Here Sakthi meets her office colleague and introduces Siva as her “Two- wheeler driver”. Tit for tat?

This is how the movie has been paced. You sometimes get reminded of watching a Tom and Jerry episode on screen. No holds barred. No emotions attached. Laughter has been the only thing on the director’s mind. The second half, drags you through known events. The climax ? Well, it is a happy ending but the fun intended on a women’s integrity is largely objectionable.

Jeeva has done a great job. He’s in his elements and has acted with utmost ease. Be it his binge drinking, ‘madras’ tamil or fighting with his sister, this guy almost has a blast.

Anuya. Has acted well for a newcomer but the major irritant is the lip-synching. She seems to be speaking in some other language while the dialogues are in tamil. Grow up !

Santhanam is the spinal cord of the movie. As Siva’s friend, he has done a fabulous job in humorously taking the movie forward. The audience are definitely in splits in a couple of joke sequences. Way to go!

Urvasi and others have done a good job as well. As a talkative mother, she handles her character with ease though we feel it is a little animated at times.

Editing is slick with new improvisations. Camera by Sakthi Saravanan is clean and so is the art direction. Dialogues are crisp with a lot of pun involved.

Yuvan disappoints this time around with the music. Barring Oru Kal, none of the songs leave an impression. He has done a decent job though in the background score though he does not have much of a scope.

Yes, it is a fun movie with “No Hard Feelings” as its bottom-line. You laugh all through the movie but director Rajesh has slipped in the climax where he has made fun of a woman’s sexual morality.

Overall, SMS is an out-and-out entertainer with a perfect mix of laughter, love, emotions and cat-and-mouse scrap. Debutant director may not have given us a magnum opus but has certainly hit the right cord with the audience when it comes to entertainment. Go watch SMS but remember to leave your brains at home !

  -C.Karthik

 Star-casts: Jeeva, Anuya, Aarya, Santhanam, Oorvasi and others.
Production: Vikatan Talkies
Story Screenplay and Direction: Rajesh
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Camera: Sakthi Saravanan