It is often said that comedy is serious business. When done right it could bring the house down with laughter. Plan Panni Pannanum aspires to do the same with an ensemble cast. Thankfully the actors do the best they can despite the highs and lows of a film.
The story starts off when the sister of the hero's friend elopes. From that point the film attempts to be an endless stretch of comic sequences. The first half of the film mostly succeeds in this attempt because the film doesn't take itself seriously. Genuine laugh out loud moments are scattered throughout the first half.
However, the film takes a melodramatic turn in the second half and goes into a preachy zone. It is here that the film loses its steam and lets go of the laughter that kept us engaged earlier. Is there really a need for a message? The lack of a proper villain or conflict was a dampener as well.
Rio Raj acquits himself quite well and his performance is pretty decent. With the right kind of films he could be a great option for medium budget entertainers. He shares a good camaraderie with Bala Saravanan.
Ramya Nambeesan is reliable as always. Has she dubbed in her own voice? her voice and dubbing was very refreshing. She's always been a part of smaller films which is quite laudable. From Pizza to Plan Panni Pananum Ramya Nambeesan has been a great constant.
The show stealers of the film are MS Bhaskar, Robo Shankar, Bala Saravanan and Thangadurai. The four of them are genuinely funny. It was good to see Bala Saravanan in a full fledged role after a while. We only wish the film had just taken the same route in the second half as well. That would have been a splendid sign-off for the year.
The film also lacks technical finesse which is a downer. This is Badri Venkatesh's third venture after Baana Kaathadi and Semma Botha Aagathey. The other two were technically much better films if compared.
Overall, Plan Panni Pannanum is neither a great film or a bad film. It settles somewhere in between.