Enna Solla Pogirai movie review: This romantic drama starring Ashwin, Teju, Avantika is a passable fare

3/5

Story: A young writer who is obsessed with love stories falls in love with an RJ and the two decide to get hitched. The former wants to know if the latter had any affairs earlier. The RJ cooks up a fake love story and narrates it as his past love story to her. Quite intrigued with the love tale, the writer expresses interest to meet her husband-to-be's ex-girlfriend. The RJ requests a girl to pretend as his former lover and sends her to his fiancée. As time passes by, the trio's lives take a drastic turn. 

Review: Hariharan's Enna Solla Pogirai carried decent expectations during its release in theatres, thanks to the craze Ashwin Kumar enjoyed after his stint with the reality show Cooku With Comali. A few songs from the film and its genre were other reasons which made some of the film buffs looking forward to seeing it. 

A love triangle, the film begins with Anjali (Avantika Mishra), a writer, seen quite excited to begin a new chapter of life as she's all set to enter the wedlock with Vikram (Ashwin Kumar), a popular RJ. 

As someone who's obsessed with love stories, Anjali never misses a chance to listen to others' romantic experiences. However, she has never been lucky to fall in love. She gets curious to know if Vikram had an affair in the past and asks him about the same. He comes up with a cock and bull story to engage her. But little did he expect that Anjali, who becomes impressed with his love story, would request him to set up a chance to meet his ex lover. 

This puts him in a spot as he doesn't want to tell her that it was a cooked up story. With the help of his friend, Vikram meets Preethi (Teju Ashwin), an ambitious theatre artist who has been facing pressure from family to settle down in life. 

Vikram convinces Preethi to pretend as his ex-girlfriend and takes her along to meet Anjali. The three develop a bonding eventually, but their equations with each other witness a rollercoaster ride as time passes. What has fate in store for them? 

The chemistry between lead actors is what makes the seemingly weird plot engaging to a decent extent. Ashwin is apt in the role of an energetic RJ who gets torn between his fiancée and girlfriend. His reactions in romantic and emotional scenes elevate the mood of the film in many instances. 

Teju as the confused girlfriend delivers a convincing performance. One wouldn't believe this is her debut film in a lead role. On Avantika's part, she essays the practical bride to be character with ease and ensures that viewers empathize with her performance. 

The conflicts that happen in the love triangle are handled in a matured and practical manner, and the director deserves praise for the same. Delhi Ganesh and Subbu Panchu make their presence felt, thanks to some of the interesting dialogues they get to utter in the movie. 

However, the likes of Pugazh and Swaminathan create little impact despite adequate screen time because of their underwritten characters. The supposedly funny one-liners are unimpressive, and dilutes the overall plot. Some of the dialogues between lead characters are on point and relatable. But the climax conversation between Vikram and Preethi turns out to be predictable and melodramatic. 

Richard M Nathan's cinematography is another positive aspect of the romantic drama. The vibrant visuals complement the narration and help viewers connect to the story without any hassles. The songs and background score by Vivek-Mervin stand out. Had the screenplay been devoid of a few cliches and predictable climax, the fate of the film would be different. Nevertheless, it's a harmless, one time watch and would appeal to hardcore romantic movie buffs. 

Verdict: The film does have flaws, but those can be overlooked if you find the lead actors' performances entertaining. 

Enna Solla Pogirai is streaming on Zee5.