Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal Review: Vijay Sethupathi, Samantha & Nayanthara’s romcom with a dream combo manages to entertain only in parts

Kaathuvaakkula Rendu Kaadhal Review: Falling in love with two people at the same time is not an unexplored territory in Tamil cinema, and has been done by stars like Rajinikanth and Mohan. In Kaathuvaakkula Rendu Kaadhal, Vignesh Shivan also deals with a similar topic in his own style, laced with humour and emotions. However, the treatment here doesn’t let you enjoy the movie to the fullest in the way it was intended to. The plot is very predictable and the situations just seem to happen without any real conflicts.

The film starts with a young boy, Ranjankudi Anbarasan Murugesan Boopathy Oohondhiran alias Rambo, leaving his sick mother believing that he has a jinx over his life and his very presence itself might cause her harm. After years, we are shown a grown Rambo (Vijay Sethupathi) who lives a double life, as a cab driver in the morning and bouncer at night. In his two lives, he falls for Khatija (Samantha) and Kanmani (Nayanthara), two women with contrasting personalities. After the two women end up proposing to him, Rambo feels the jinx in his life is broken and he gets all that he wanted in life in double portions. Trouble begins when reality hits and he is forced to make a choice between his two lovers.

Though the storyline is simple, Vignesh Shivan creates a separate universe for the three main characters with interesting back stories. While everything seems to be on track in the beginning, the plot begins to waver as the film progresses. It becomes just another romantic comedy without any purpose and fails to do justice to the dream combo of Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanthara and Samantha. What we miss here is real conflicts and complications involved in a three-way relationship. Just when we expect things to take a serious turn, Shivan waters it down with a humourous take. Though his treatment might be fine for a film in the romcom genre, some scenes could have been written believably for the audience to connect with.

The scenes of Nayanthara taking care of her sister and disabled brother and how Sethupathi forms a bond with them is beautiful and probably Shivan could have explored more on that. Rambo’s individual journeys with the both women is quite interesting but when the worlds collide, the film loses steam and only manages to evoke laughter here and there.

A major saviour of the film is Anirudh, who makes it a passable experience with his foot tapping numbers and emotional background score. The duo of Anirudh and Vignesh Shivan, who conjured a magical experience in Naanum Rowdy Thaan, however manage only to recreate the same in parts.The mere presence of Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanthara and Samantha helps to elevate even ordinary scenes inspite of the sloppy writing. A single-shot scene in which Vijay Sethupathi delivers a lengthy dialogue again showcases the prowess of the actor and how a good actor can make a scene interesting.

Nayathara and Samantha have complimented each other well, proving why they are the most sought-out actresses in the industry. Cricketer Sreesanth, who plays Samantha’s boyfriend, has done a decent job and manages to impress in the short role. Both the cinematography and editing are straightforward as there id not much scope to experiment. Overall, Kaathuvakkula Rendu Kadhal is a one-time watch and can be only enjoyed in parts.