Pookie movie review: Ajay Dhishan and Dhanusha's rom-com is all about trendy ideas and thin characters

After a public break-up, a couple seek comfort in habits and trends, but Pookie offers little insight into their bond. Heavy on gimmicks and virality, it struggles to find relatability with leads

Pookie movie review

Pookie movie plot:

Following a heated argument and fight fuelled by road rage, Kailash (Ajay Dhishan) and Aazhi (RK Dhanusha) break up publicly on the road, putting an end to their six-year-long relationship. Both try to move on, finding solace in new habits, recreation, and meeting new people, but can they really move forward?

Pookie movie review:

A few minutes into Pookie, we see the lead couple already bickering and throwing daggers at each other inside their car. Their way of irking one another is by addressing each other by their names instead of calling them ‘pookie’. A road rage incident further riles up Kailash, who behaves rudely with Aazhi, culminating in a public display of their break-up. One might expect the film to explore the reasons for the couple’s fight, why being referred to by their names instead of a Gen-Z lingo is seen as an insult, or what made Aazhi and Kailash fall in love in the first place. But instead, what Pookie gives us is a little over a two-hour-long, badly cut social media reel that uses every modern, trending, and viral gimmick, leaving us to wonder what we have just watched.

Also read: Pookie movie 2026: Release date, cast, plot, OTT platform; Everything to know about Ajay Dhishan-Dhanusha film

Interestingly, for a romantic comedy, Pookie seldom has scenes featuring the lead couple together. After their break-up, each goes their separate way. A considerable amount of time is dedicated to showing how Aazhi and Kailash seek comfort in habits that cost them their health, money, and even lifestyle. Kailash takes to binge-watching anime and gets reprimanded for doing so during office hours, goes bike riding only to realise the activity does not suit him, and eventually starts going to the gym. Meanwhile, Aazhi’s stress-eating leads to obesity, her shopping addiction results in excessive splurging, and she finally resorts to joining a spiritual organisation headed by a godman. Naturally, when the reality about the institute’s fakeness hits hard, Aazhi is forced to find other ways to cope. Until then, the film shows little interest in making us understand who the protagonists are beyond their ugly break-up and coping mechanisms. Amid the many random song insertions even before the first half, we are never told what made Aazhi and Kailash stick together for six years. There is a throwaway line about their love blossoming in school, but that is about it. Haven’t they had ugly fights and break-ups before this? Or are we just a witness to one of their episodes?

In a specific scene set in a restaurant, Kailash refuses to order what Aazhi wants, a chicken lasagna, and instead orders what is supposedly the best dish at the place, a Mexican pie. Kailash is right; his choice turns out to be good. But the film conveniently forgets that sometimes it is not just about the choice, but the power to make one in a relationship that matters more. Perhaps this would have been significant communicated, if the film did not want to only thrive on its visual gimmicks. But Pookie wants to talk politics too. At one point, Kailash comes to terms with how a woman he is interested in, saw him as a potential and safe bet simply because they belong to the same caste. While the film handles this portion with some maturity and political correctness, it hops on and off the idea at its convenience. There are also sudden introductions of a family angle, where a confrontation and realisation push Kailash to fulfil his father’s long-cherished dream. As honest as these sequences appear, they feel jarring within the story of two youngsters and their fractured love life.

Also read: Pookie actors Ajay Dhishan, RK Dhanusha: This film is not just for Gen-Z audience | EXCLUSIVE

Ajay Dhishan stays true to his character and confidently carries his role in a film that attempts to prioritise style over substance. With its visual storytelling and stylised screenplay, Pookie attempts to be Love Today in a wacky and eccentric sense. But it ends up as an underwhelming product due to its inability to decide what it wants to say. With sudden music insertions, moral science lessons, and barely any insight into its lead characters, Pookie feels like a first draft of a love story that still has a long way to go.

Pookie movie verdict:

Pookie is a romantic comedy that attempts to capture today’s generation but ends up resembling the first reel one tries out after a new feature is added on social media. With little focus on character depth and heavy reliance on pop culture references and virality, Pookie settles for being an underwhelming and underdeveloped love story.

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