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| Sundara Travels |
Cast:
| Murali | Radha | Vadivelu |
| Manivannan | Pandu | Vinu Chakravarthy |
| P. Vasu | Direction: Thaha | |
A
run down bus that badly needs complete rehauling. Its new owner Gopikrishna who
soon realises that his expense in keeping it in running condition, is more than
the income he earns from renting it out in various ways. His buddy-cum-assistant
Azhagu who is more of a liability than an asset. A rat, they seem to have
inherited with the bus, which is hell bent on creating havoc. Déjà vu here for
those who’ve seen ‘Mouse Hunt’. A traffic cop who appears at the most
inopportune moments to the discomfort of the duo. An finally a run-away girl who
takes refuge with them, turns out to be the disillusioned daughter of a powerful
politician, falls in love with Gopikrishna, inadvertently drawing him into her
problems. ‘It happened One Night’, with the final solution like the one in
‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’.
‘Sundara
Travels’ originally made in Malayalam as ‘ee Parakkum Thaliga’ was
scripted and directed by Thaha and was a success in Kerala. So were its versions
in Telugu and Kannada. Thaha directs the Tamil version, and probably to go with
the so called ‘nativity’ factor, it is comedy that’s a bit too loud for
comfort. The characters screaming their lungs out, even if it is just two of
them in the frame most of the time. Murali whose intensity is commendable in
serious roles takes a break to do lighter role. But is not quite able to carry
off the slapstick comedy and the loud banter. Vadivelu is enjoyable in a few
scenes. But soon his standard expressions of widened eyes, a half-open mouth and
stunned expressions gets quite jarring. Debutant Radha reminds one of Revathy,
expressions coming naturally to her. The scenes between Pandu as the cop &
P. Vasu as the politician - their ‘accidental encounters’ - are some of the
more enjoyable scenes in the film.