Saravanan Irukka Bayamaen movie review: Ezhil’s film falls flat on its face

Director Ezhil, so good in Velainu Vandhutta Velaikkaran, fails badly with Saravanan Irukka Bayamaen. Despite having a battalion of comedians at his disposal, the jokes in his film just don’t work.

Saravanan Irukka Bayamaen
Director: Ezhil
Cast: Udhayanidhi Stalin, Regina Cassandra, Soori, Robo Shankar, Shrushti Dange and Livingston
Rating: 1/5

Saravanan Irukka Bayamaen (SIB) fails badly in what ought to have been its calling card -- comedy.

Ezhil is known for churning out rib-tickling entertainers and even though most of his films don’t really have a story to rave about, the overall entertainment factor has worked in his favour every single time. Unfortunately, it doesn’t click in the case of his latest outing, Saravanan Irukka Bayamaen (SIB), despite having a battalion of comedians at his disposal. What’s even more disappointing is that this film comes after the highly successful and cracker of an entertainer Velainu Vandhutta Velaikkaran, which was also directed by Ezhil.

There’s no dearth of comedy in SIB, with almost every comedian given an opportunity to shine, but still the film falls flat on its face because the jokes just don’t work. Soori, for instance, has been in a terrific form for the longest time but he has reached a stage in his career where he badly needs to reinvent, at least with the way he delivers his dialogues. The same applies to Robo Shankar, another promising comedian, who hasn’t got his due yet and so far has mostly been wasted in silly roles. You can go on a rant about every decent comedian and their underwhelming portrayal in the movie.

Udhay, who proved he can do more than just piggybacking on a star comedian with Manithan (Tamil remake of Jolly LLB), hardly gets to showcase his talent in SIB, and it leaves one wondering what even convinced him to accept the project in the first place. Like the hero of most Tamil films, he is unemployed and is accompanied by a gang of friends who help him woo the girl of his dreams. Then, there’s Regina Cassandra, the actor with beauty and talent but never gets to prove her mettle. In a role where she is mostly seen furious (because she has been at loggerheads with Saravanan from childhood) and sharing her bed with her teenager brother, one can gladly ignore that she is part of the film.

The film stars Udhayanidhi Stalin and Regina Cassandra.

Ezhil believes he can make films without a story and expect comedy to magically make it click. Well, he has been lucky a few times but if that’s a successful formula we’d be making blockbusters every week. Saravanan Irukka Bayamaen is proof to the attitude that audiences can be taken for granted and its result is exactly why every filmmaker, who shares the similar ideology, needs to pull up their socks because it’s not going to get them anywhere.

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