Chennai: Santhanam is back after Dhillukku Thuddu 2, with A1, a comedy entertainer directed by debutant K Johnson, starring Tara Alisha Berry and a host of comedians that include Tiger Thangadurai, MS Bhaskar, Lollu Sabha Manohar, Swaminathan and Motta Rajendran.
The story is about Divya (Tara Alisha Berry), a girl from ‘Agraharam’, who wants to marry a goon, but on a condition that he must be from her caste. She puts this condition mainly because of her dad, Ramanathan (Yatin Karyekar). Ramanathan is shown as a social activist who has a very good name in the society for his selfless social service and it is said that he will not accept his daughter, marrying someone from another caste.
When Divya was caught by a group of goons, which was set up by her to test the strength of a traffic police, who proposed her, enters Saravanan (Santhanam) with a namam on his forehead and when he beats up the goons, Divya is so impressed that she immediately falls for him and the worst part is that she even forces Santhanam to fall in love with her.
However, she later realises that Saravanan is not from her community and breaks up with him, only to fall for him again. How they convince her dad in order to get married forms the rest of the story, which is taken in a comical way.
The movie’s main strength is comedy as Santhanam, along with other comedy sidekicks delivers some rib-tickling jokes. Though the movie lacks some logic, it is the comedy that covers it up.
Even though the first half of the film is very cliched, with some unbelievable romance and needless songs, the director deserves credit for the second-half as it entirely revolves around a funeral and engages the audience completely with interesting twists.
Santhosh Narayanan has scored music. Tara Alisha Berry, making her Tamil debut, speaks Brahmin baasha and lip-syncs the dialogues perfectly, that deserves special mention. If you want to watch a comedy film and have a hearty laugh, without caring about the logic, then A1 is the apt film for you.