Though Sundar. C mostly stuck to light-hearted comedies as a director, he took on an action role when he turned actor in Thalainagaram. Probably because it was a modest success, he has continued to take on action-oriented, masala roles since then. Sandai finds him pitted against Nadhiya in another masala film, whose title gives ample evidence of the kind of film it is. The film starts off well but is unable to sustain its energy and pace past the midway point.

Thangalakshmi(Nadhiya), who is from the village of Kothamangalam, has raised her daughter Abhinaya(Ragini) in Bangkok ever since she had a fight with with her brother Paalpandi(Lalu Alex) and walked out. But when Abhi’s marriage is fixed with a boy in Bangkok, she wants the wedding to take place in her own village since she has a few things to prove to her family, who want Ragini to wed Paalpandi’s son. But problems crop up as soon as she lands with some goons attempting to kidnap Ragini. So she hires a local ruffian Kathi(Sundar.C) to protect her daughter until the wedding. But Kathi has his eyes on Ragini’s wealth and makes his own plans to disrupt the wedding.

The film contains enough masala elements to keep things moving in an entertaining fashion initially. Comedy holds the upper hand as Vivek tries to go one-up on Sundar and then as they both team up to disrupt Ragini’s impending nuptials(the way Moondru Mudichu’s Vasantha Kaala Nadhigalile… is used for this leads to the best laughs). But there is also the suspense about the reason behind Nadhiya’s enmity with her family and action(as Sundar beats up all those goons trying to kidnap Ragini) that keep us interested in the proceedings. With Ragini content to wed the boy her mom has picked and Sundar more intent on breaking up the wedding, romance is the only aspect that is absent but it is not missed much.

The key plot point that occurs midway into the movie generates mixed feelings. One one hand, Nadhiya’s action is silly and completely unbelievable, even taking into consideration her ego and stubbornness. On the other hand, it does lead into a rather unexpected twist and sets the stage for everything that happens next.

The film then pits Sundar and Nadhiya against each other but doesn’t know how to make it interesting. Nadhiya’s plans are uninspired and naturally, Sundar’s ways of beating those plans are equally simplistic. But that doesn’t stop the director from giving each sequence a build-up that makes us look forward to something much cleverer than what is eventually presented. The director’s lack of ideas is clear from the amount of screen time afforded to Namitha and Vivek. Namitha finally gets to play a part in the proceedings but Vivek’s comedy track, which sees him employ the same concept and get-up as he did in Thoondil, is completely transparent as a ploy to extend the running time.

Sundar.C has some way to go before he can carry off an action-comedy role like this. His looks do suit the role but he lacks the charisma and voice modulation that would make us laugh at his antics or cheer him on in his verbal duels with Nadhiya. Nadhiya seems to be one of those actresses who never seems to age. Looking just as good as she did during her heroine days, she has fun as the haughty woman who refuses to back down and almost makes us side with her rather than Sundar(the script obviously recognizes her youthful looks since there are quite a few jokes about she being the bride instead of Ragini but these seem borderline vulgar). Ragini is just an onlooker. She has a couple
of duets with Sundar initially but has to give even that up as Namitha and even Nadhiya(though it is just a few lines in 1 song) get to shake a leg with Sundar.