After a long hiatus during which he shifted his focus to the small screen, director K.Balachander returns to the big screen with Paarthaale Paravasam, advertised as his 100th creation. But the absence seems to have made his skills a little rusty. His attempt to cater to a different section of the audience while presenting the relationship between a divorced couple in a new light, achieves neither goal satisfactorily. The story is flimsy to begin with and the convoluted, contrived screenplay only manages to further damage it.

Madhava(Madhavan) is a doctor but a single appearance as hero in a film has also made him the heartthrob of thousands of girls. He marries Simi(Simran) but a revelation about his past separates them and takes them as far as divorce. They remain friends though, even going so far as to fix up each other's second marriages. Simi decides to get Madhava married to Chella(Sneha), a nurse at his hospital while he tries to fix up her marriage with a dancer Azhagu(Raghavendra Lawrence).

KB seems to have tried too hard to make this movie appealing to viewers other than his usual fans. While this movie too deals with relationships at its core, it has been mounted on a much bigger canvas and has a great deal to differentiate it from KB's earlier movies. The most obvious of these differences is the handling of the song sequences. They are more extravagant and youthful and while that in itself is no crime, the midriff-baring, figure-hugging dresses of Simran and Sneha do nothing to enhance Balachander's reputation.

The fact that Madhavan, apart from being a doctor, is a big star and heartthrob serves no purpose in the story and seems to be just a ploy by KB to introduce cameos by a bevy of movie stars like Kamalhassan, Ramya Krishnan and Yuvarani. While Madhavan's introduction(through an interview) contains some nice touches, the scenes through which the characters are introduced seem disjoint and amateurish.

While strong characterization used to be one of KB's strengths, most of the characters here never register and could be excised without affecting the movie in any way. Characters like Vadivukkarasi(with her drinking problem), and Dhamu(with his imitation of Rajni) appear to have been inserted just for the sake of some cheap laughs. And I have no idea why characters like 'Thalaivaasal' Vijay's rowdy were introduced! Worse, none of the characters exhibit any kind of consistency in their behaviour. Simran for instance, initially comes off as strong-willed and brave but seems to have no problem accepting Madhavan's financial assistance and leaning on him whenever she has a problem. For all his good qualities, Madhavan never seems to think twice about hiding his past from his fiance(he does this twice!) and his mother's final volte face after a comment by a small boy is childish.

As always KB manages to touch upon a few socially relevant issues. The fact that a divorced couple can be friends is a refreshing concept in Tamil cinema though KB does go a bit too far in illustrating their open-mindedness. Lawrence's tirade against his parents' refusal to accept a divorced Simran as their daughter-in-law makes several strong points against the stigma of divorce. Radhika Choudhary's attitude is also something new. The famous 'KB touches' are also seen at a few places(the sinking of the paper boat, the dead end sign, etc.).

Madhavan is adequate though his role never allows his natural charm to shine through. It looks like Simran has taken her new avatar as actress seriously and attempts to infuse her character with some special characterizations like the stammer when she is upset. Lawrence amazes us with his speed during the dance sequences and seems to be applying the same to developing his own style in his performance. Sneha is wasted. Vivek raises some laughs with what could be termed a separate comedy track. The result of his attempt to kiss Sneha's shadow is very funny and the idea he uses to retrieve the coin from a boy are the top picks among his sequences. A.R.Rahman delivers an essentially disappointing soundtrack with a few bright spots. Azhage Sugamaa... is a slow but melodious duet. Adhisaya Thirumanam... is a fast-paced chorus song that works wonderfully in raising the tempo before and even during the climax. Too bad that the climax itself is disappointingly unoriginal and lame.