Director Sasi's Sivappu Manjal Pachai produced by Ramesh P Pillai under the banner Abhishek Films is a mix of a family drama and a crime thriller where the former takes the precedence at most places. Madan (played by GV Prakash) and his sister Raji (Lijomol Jose) are orphans and their only guardian is an aunt, who visits them occasionally. They take care of each other during the toughest times, but what happens when Madan's rival becomes his sister's fiancee? How does he adjust to this new life forms the rest of the plot?

The film is led by Siddharth, GV Prakash and Lijomol Jose's strong performances and the relationship between Madan and Raji (Lijomol Jose) is handled with finesse, in a mature way. These portions gives us a good feel in the first half. When the rivalry between Rajasekar, a traffic cop (Played by a restrained Siddharth) and Madan, a street racer begins, we anticipate a mouth-watering clash. 

Instead, we are presented with a Tom and Jerry kind of relationship, where every serious moment is followed by a less-intense moment making us not take the scenes seriously. When Rajasekar catches Madan for the first time, a lot of time is spent on the chase, and the hype created is high. It ends with Raj insulting Madan there is no payoff because the insult is reduced to a very small moment in the second half and the hype feels less worthy.

The dialogues about women empowerment by Sasi gives a slightly rousing and he doesn't paint the characters as black and white. Rajasekar as Raji's husband is not shown as a saint and Madan is not a rogue either. Their grey shades come out often and they are one among us. 

However, the film's problems begin in the second half where there is a token villain who kills his enemies in 'Assault Sethu-ish' ways. This paves way for a crime thriller subplot but feels less important. It also elongates the second half and slightly drains you. When the action block ends in the climax, GV Prakash and Siddharth are lying beside each other and the bridge between them (their relationship) is Raji and it's shown in a minimalistic way. The film should have ideally ended here. But the director tries to squeeze more emotion and the scene ends up becoming highly melodramatic.

Most of the racing sequences are shot well in terms of framing and angles, but the VFX quality could have been better, due to which it engages you but doesn't make you invest in it. Siddhu Kumar's BGM makes you feel like eating a delicacy dipped in honey. The background score and a couple of songs have a lot of heart especially the Mayilaanjiye track.

Overall, Sivappu Manjal Pachai should have been a proper family drama if it had focussed on only that. Still, there are genuinely well-written parts that makes this a good watch.