Un Samayal Arayil 2014)

English Translation: In your Kitchen
Director: Prakash Raj
Screenplay: Shyam Pushkaran, Dileesh Nair, Prakash Raj (based on Salt N’ Pepper by Aashiq Abu)
Cast: Prakash Raj, Sneha, Tejus
Music: Ilayaraja
Time: 130 minutes
Bottom-line: Compared to Prakash Raj’s other films, a disappointment 

My family wanted to watch Prakash Raj’s Un Samayil Arayil, for no special reason except for the fact that it was directed by him. Having seen his previous film, Dhoni, I expected a good film, but I ended up disappointed. The film is basically an adaptation of Salt N’ Pepper, and it also uses themes from other films like Kaadhal Kottai, Lost in Translation etc. Unless you are a fan of Prakash Raj, don’t watch the film.

Prakash Raj as Kalidasan

Kalidasan (Raj) is an archaeologist, who is unmarried for a long time. He goes to pick up his relative, a young college graduate, Navin (Tejus). On a parallel track, dubbing artist Gowri (Sneha) is also unmarried, despite the compulsion from her marry to marry someone soon. Gowri calls Kalidasan one day, mistaking his number for that of a restaurant. Soon they start conversing in a friendly manner, and one day they decide to actually meet face to face. However, both of them are afraid that they are too old for the other, and so Kalidasan sends Navin to take his place, and Gowri sends her cousin Meghna. But Navin and Meghna fall in love with each other, and both Kalidasan and Gowri get the wrong idea of each other.

Sneha as Gowri

The first half of the story does one thing very well – it makes your mouth water... and as theatres don’t allow one to take eatables inside, the effect is even more! But otherwise, the first half is an utter bore. Yes, there are a few jokes, a few good dialogues, but overall, the story hardly progresses. It is only by the end of the first half that Navin and Meghna meet, and that’s when the actual story begins. But to me, the romance between Navin and Meghna never felt real, and was actually boring. And of course, the whole track involving the tribal Jakkiah made no sense, and no contribution to the main theme... why even include it?! I for one, could not empathise with the lead characters, for the concept of ‘not marrying’ doesn’t seem strange to me... not yet at least! So I felt some part of the story and dialogue were dumb, but others may feel differently. And if you are wondering about the title, it says In your kitchen because in the first half, most of the conversations between Kalidasan and Gowri involve cooking and food, especially a long sequence where he teaches her how to make a cake.

Tejus as Navin and Samyuktha Honrad as
Navin and Meghna

Prakash Raj’s acting, as always, was sublime... and that is one of the few things that made me like the film to some extent. I am not sure which was Sneha’s previous film, but I guess it has been a long time since she has starred in any film, and in that case, this is an excellent comeback. On the other hand, the new actors, Tejus and Samyuktha Hornad (who plays Meghna) have given poor performances. But I guess for a first film, these are average performances. Thambi Ramaiah and Elango Kumaravel, though they come only for a brief period, make their mark.

And another thing that you may be looking forward to is Ilayaraja’s music – no disappointment there! There are few memorable dialogues in the film, and also lots of humour (provided you are used to the humour in Prakash Raj films). But in terms of the actual story, the film falls short of expectations... but it is good family film.

My Rating: 3/5