Sila Nerangalil Sila Manidhargal movie review: This hyperlink drama is a thoroughly delightful fare

3/5

Story: The lives of an aspiring actor, a hotel room attendant, an IT employee and a phone salesman get connected due to an unfortunate incident that takes the life of an elderly man. Hailing from different walks of life, fate brings them together at an unforeseen circumstance. All of them realize their past mistakes at a point in life and start leading a new life with their dear ones with more enthusiasm and positivity.    

Review: Movies with hyperlink storytelling aren't new to Tamil audience. A few such films were released last year, too, in Kollywood. It requires convincing characterizations, effective screenplay and captivating moments for such attempts to work. Debutant filmmaker Vishal Venkat's experiment with hyperlink stories in Sila Nerangalil Sila Manidhargal works to a good extent because of the detailing of characters and emotions that are easily relatable.

Vijay (Ashok Selvan), a phone salesman; Rajasekar (Manikandan), a hotel room attendant; Praveen (Praveen Raja), an IT employee and Pradeesh (Abi Haasan), a young aspiring actor - the four of them who reside in different parts of Chennai city - have nothing in common and belong to different walks of life.  

But fate connects them through Selvaraj (Nasser), an elderly man and a widower, who also happens to be Vijay's father. The story begins with Selvaraj, who is excited about Vijay's wedding which is slated for next month. As a concerned father, he is keen on distributing the wedding cards to dear ones on the auspicious day, but Vijay asks him not to step out of the house before he leaves to office. 

Praveen, a rich IT employee who is settled in the US, doesn't mind bragging about his wealth and the luxurious life he has been leading to his in-laws. After a point, his pompous nature is looked down on even by his wife Kayal (Riythvika). 

Pradeesh, an ambitious youngster, who is gung-ho about his first film, is hopeful that people will accept him as a talented actor sooner or later. Though he is the son of successful filmmaker Arivazhagan (KS Ravikumar), Pradeesh is least interested to capitalize on his father's reputation in the industry, and is in no mood to listen to the latter's advices.

Rajasekar (Manikandan), a room attendant at a hotel in the outskirts of the city, is disappointed with the lean patch in his career. Though a highly motivated and dedicated person, he thinks only losers put in extra efforts in personal and professional lives. 

The plot thickens when Selvaraj, who goes out to distribute cards for Vijay's wedding to a few near and dear ones, meets with an accident. Unfortunately, Pradeesh and Praveen become part of the incident unknowingly. In a way, Rajasekar's lackadaisical behaviour, too, is a reason behind the elderly man's plight.

Will Selvaraj be able to survive the accident? The mishap occurs as a turning point in the lives of Pradeesh, Praveen and Rajasekar with regard to regretting their actions and the arrogant attitude they have bene carrying for a long time in their lives. Vijay, too, learns to subdue his aggressive nature and curses himself for his harsh behaviour towards his father. His conversations with girlfriend Malar (Reyaa) towards the end are quite enjoyable.

Revealing further about the story and the happenings will be a major spoiler. The simple story of four characters is intriguingly told with the help of organic character arcs and effective emotions between some of the characters. The screenplay stutters in between with not so engaging sequences, but the third act and the flawless performances from Ashok Selvan and Manikandan make up for it.

Despite the story taking a serious turn after the accident, the director manages to offer a few laughs with some of the scenes featuring Abi Haasan and Anju Kurian, who plays an actress. Abhishek Kumar, as a debutant filmmaker, makes his presence felt in some of the scenes. 

However, the sequence that stands out is when Manikadan's character realizes his mistakes and decides to confess his irresponsible behaviour to Ashok. Rishikanth, who appears as Ashok's friend, too, impresses in the crucial scenes towards the climax. The scene where Praveen breaks down in tears with Riythvika is another notable scene in the film. 

Manikandan's heartwarming and realistic dialogues are one of the biggest assets to the film. Radhan's background score, Meyyendiran's cinematography and Prasanna GK's editing elevate relatable emotions in some of the scenes. A bit of fine tuning in the screenplay's second act would have done wonders for the film.  

Verdict: Sila Nerangalil Sila Manidhargal is a pleasing hyperlink drama, which is enjoyable because of its interestingly written characters and warm emotions.