Ashok Selvan and Preethi Mukundan, a married couple who fell in love and got married, work at a star hotel. Ever since her college days, Preethi Mukundan has dreamed of starting her own homestay. Wanting to make his wife’s dream come true after she gave up everything to be with him, Ashok Selvan decides to support her ambition.
The couple buys a house in a mountain village and begins converting it into a homestay. However, an unexpected problem arises there. What is the problem? Do they manage to escape from it or not? “Anbil Avan” tells this story through love, conflict and action.
Ashok Selvan has done a good job portraying a character who enjoys love and conflicts during his college days but, after marriage, understands the realities of life and begins living with a sense of responsibility. He handles various emotions effectively, particularly the distress caused by the problems that arise while trying to fulfil his wife’s dream and the subsequent difficulties he faces while attempting to resolve them.
Ashok Selvan’s look as a college student is extremely stylish. One could easily imagine him carrying an entire action film with that appearance.
Preethi Mukundan proves that she is not merely a beautiful presence on screen but also an actress capable of delivering emotional performances. Her natural acting, particularly in scenes involving her love for her husband and their small disagreements, adds considerable strength to the film.
Kathir Balu, who plays the MLA, Maha Delhi Ganesh, who plays a police inspector, Shabumon Abdusamad, who appears as a lawyer, and Revathi, who makes a special appearance as Rani Padmini, have all performed their respective roles effectively.
Cinematographer Gautham Rajendran has given the film a colourful visual treatment while effectively bringing the major struggle in the second half and the tension surrounding it before the audience.
All the songs composed by Govind Vasantha are enjoyable and make you want to listen to them repeatedly. The background score also complements the characters’ emotional struggles and adds strength to their internal conflicts.
Editor Selva R.K. has attempted to keep the film moving without losing momentum while smoothly handling the two different emotional elements of romance and action.
Based on an incident, the story written by Vignesh Raja has been developed into a screenplay by the team of Vignesh Raja, R. Karthikeyan and Ashok Selvan. The trio attempts to beautifully portray the love between a young couple who are forced to fight their way through a difficult situation in order to survive. At the same time, they try to present their predicament and the question of whether or not they will manage to escape from it in an engaging and suspenseful manner.
Although the film is essentially a conventional romance-and-action story, director R. Karthikeyan falters by failing to present it in an intelligent or fresh manner and instead relying on an excessively long action sequence.
The romantic scenes in the first half and the chemistry between the husband and wife are enjoyable. However, the story that begins in the second half and the way it has been filmed feel extremely outdated. In particular, the length of the major action sequence in the second half and its lack of believability are among the film’s biggest weaknesses.
Although the film loses momentum because of its ordinary story, conventional screenplay and predictable scenes, the romance and conflicts between Ashok Selvan and Preethi Mukundan make the film somewhat enjoyable.
