With Madhavan being hot property in Kodambakkam ever since Alaipayuthey, his second movie was highly anticipated. But unless he selects stories and scripts that are much better than Ennavale, his stay might be a short-lived one. The movie has a familiar feel with both the story and many of the sequences reminding one of earlier movies. While his charm and enthusiasm are apparent, he is still a long way from carrying an otherwise inferior movie entirely on his thin shoulders.

James Vasanth(Madhavan) and his friends - quite a curious collection of a deaf man, a blind man and a man with the voice of a woman - run a band that sings at weddings. They move in as renters into the house of Lakshmi(Sneha), who lives with her father, sister and grandmother. Using an idea given by Lakshmi, James manages to gain popularity as a singer and subsequently falls in love with her. But Sneha expectedly has a sad past.

Watching the movie unfold, one can't shake off the idea that this was a story that was originally written with Murali in mind! Consider these facts. Madhavan is a singer, he is surrounded by his three friends, and after falling in love with the heroine, silently pines for her for a while. It is a role that Murali has played time and again. In fact, the initial scenes of the hero and his friends staying in the thatch house and gaining fame as a result of an idea given by Sneha remind one of Pudhu Vasantham, an old Murali starrer. But the humorous dialogs and funny sequences make these portions move quite fast. The way Charlie announces Sneha's house as being their own and the following revelation are quite cute. The friend who speaks in a woman's voice also gives rise to some funny lines of dialog.

The character of the hero is not the only factor that reminds us of earlier movies. The twist regarding Sneha's past has been so often(most recently in Ilayavan) that it is no longer a surprise. And on a side note, it is amazing how many variations the directors are coming up with to make sure that a woman's first marriage is not consummated when the movie revolves around her having a second shot at it. If only a portion of this thinking was applied to the main story, I'm sure we would get many more original stories.

Once we are past this, the director throws in another wrench by making Sneha confess her love for Madhavan to Charlie, the deaf friend, who misunderstands her and confuses the situation. This leads to even more familiar situations like the hero singing a sad song at the heroine's wedding and standard tamil cinema caricatures like the greedy would-be husband and his mercenary parents, a docile wife rising against her husband for the sake of love, etc. There is not a bit or originality or surprise in any of these sequences and nothing to hold our waning interest.

Madhavan looks cute and performs well though his inadequacy in dancing is brought out during the few steps he has to perform in the song sequences. Sneha looks pretty and also comes up with a good performance. 'Thalaivaasal' Vijay has arguably the smallest and most pathetic role in his career with one scene in the beginning before resurfacing in the climax and getting verbally beaten down. S.A.Rajkumar's tunes remind one of his own, earlier tunes, especially Ovvoru Paadalilum.... Adi Kaadhal Enbathu... is superbly picturised with its fast movements and plain colors of Sneha's sarees.