Sometimes you get tired ranting about quality of films hitting a new low every other week. And if one of those films has a doyen like I V Sasi associated with it, it compounds the pain. His latest venture Vellathooval, starring youngsters like Renjith Menon and Nithya, was supposed to be a romantic film but ended up being a chase film.
Vellathooval tells a weird tale about a rich, spoilt girl Jiya (Nithya), whose hobby it seems is to run away from home at the drop of a hat. Initially, it appears she has a psychological problem. But her wayward behaviour has no base other than that she is a rich, spoilt girl. The director makes an unconvincing effort to establish her character by getting her to trespass into a church in the middle of the night to quench her thirst by drinking holy wine.
Every time Jiya runs out of the house, she ends up at her Police Commissioner uncle's (played by K B Ganesh Kumar) place or her neighbour and college mate Manu's (Renjith Menon) place. Manu has a lot of domestic problems like a drunken and abusive stepfather and financial difficulties.
Due to certain circumstances, Jiya ends up running away with Manu on his bike, and into a lot of adventure. But no romance.
The most important thing in such films is the chemistry between lead players, which is missing. Nithya's characterisation seems to be out of place, thanks to an anglicised clipped accent and urban look. Renjith is sincere but that does not make an impact.
There are other veterans in the ensemble cast like Lalu Alex and Seema as Jiya's parents. Their characterisation requires them go overboard in every scene, and makes them look strained. Vijayraghavan, as Manu's stepfather, and Ganesh Kumar are under par.
In conclusion, Vellathooval is disappointing considering there are veterans like director I V Sasi and writer John Paul associated with it.
Rediff Rating: 
