Dikkiloona review: Santhanam and Yogi Babu save this madcap ride based on time travel

3/5

Story: 

Mani, who leads an unhappy married life, bumps into his schoolmate who is working with a few scientists who are hell-bent on making a time machine work. He gets an opportunity to travel in time to change an important thing which happened in his life - marriage. Will he he able to lead a happy life post the time travel? 

Review:

Karthik Yogi's Dikkiloona is the latest film in Tamil which is made against the backdrop of time travel. Quite similar to the previous attempts made in Kollywood, this one, too, has layers of romance and family drama, apart from twists and turns. However, Dikkiloona doesn't take itself too seriously because of which we can't complain much about the host of loopholes in it. The gadgets and other technical details the film mentions as part of multiple time travels in it aren't convincing, but the makers do not seem to be interested in bringing authenticity to it. The film is a comedy and they rely only on comic sequences from its characters.    

The story begins in 2027. Mani aka EB Mani (Santhanam), who works as an EB lineman, leads a mundane married life. He bumps into his old school friend Albert (Yogi Babu), who works as a sweeper in a bizarre set-up where a few scientists are working on a time machine. The manner in which time machine works after an absurd incident which happens to Albert, and the rules and regulations for returning to the present, comes across as silly. But when the director himself has deliberately staged the sequence in an inane manner to create laughs, we are left with no option, but to ignore the logic.

Mani gets an opportunity to change one of the biggest blunders of his life - marriage - by engaging in time travel. He thinks he has had enough with seven years of marital life with Priya (Anagha). A former hockey player, he regrets getting married as he strongly believes that it was his wedding with Priya which made him a loser in life. He travels back to 2020 to stop his marriage, and asks Mapla Mani (the character of Santhanam who is about to get married) to cancel the event so that he wouldn't regret in the future. Mapla Mani, who is convinced with EB Mani's explanation, goes to the future in 2027, and realizes that the latter was right. 

Meanwhile, the head of the scientists (Arun Alexander) purposefully sends two idiots to the past in order to stop Mani from changing the past, as doing so will affect his life as well. Later, Mani plans to get married to Meghna (Shirin Kanchwala) by changing a few things in the past. But post his travel to the future, he gets the shock of his life after knowing that all's not well with him and Meghna. After a point, he regrets changing the past and not marrying Priya. So, he travels in time again to marry Priya. But will he be able to do it? 

Like most films of Santhanam, who shines in the film in three roles he played in the past, present and future, the character artists have ample scope to evoke laughter. The sequences involving Anandraj and Munishkanth are outright hilarious from the word go. Their characters are introduced as idiots, and hence, we find their acts amusing. Yogi Babu, too, impresses as a look-alike of Albert Einstein, and brings the house down in a few sequences. Anagha and Shirin are apt in their roles as the two wives of Santhanam with contrasting characters. Chitra Lakshman and Nizhalgal Ravi are funny in some of their scenes, while Naan Kadavul Rajendran's comedy and Harbhajan Singh's cameo are ineffective.   

Yuvan Shankar Raja's music is one of the biggest positives for the movie; his background score elevates emotional scenes between hero and heroine. The film has an interesting screenplay, which appears unappealing at certain instances due to the overdose of name-calling, misogynistic dialogues and mansplaining. Santhanam's punch-lines in his trademark style are hilarious, but the dialogues in which he resorts to insult comedy test our patience.

Verdict:

A time-pass flick which has incorporated the ambitious concept of time travel with ample family drama, romance and emotions, Dikkiloona is an interesting attempt if you don't mind watching no-brainers. But some of the regressive dialogues which have sexist undertones in a few scenes will make you cringe, though. 

Dikkiloona is streaming on Zee5.