Enna Solla Pogirai Movie Review: A harmless romcom that misses a few beats

Remember Remo? Yes, that film in which Sivakarthikeyan falls in love with an already-engaged Keerthy Suresh, but nevertheless almost coerces her into falling in love with him. In some ways, Enna Solla Pogirai is what we get when the roles are reversed and we get a boy who’s engaged to marry, and a few other beats similar to the 2016 film. Considering the strong performances by the women—Teju Ashwini and Avantika Mishra—we could have, in fact, had a brilliant gender reversal of a rather problematic Remo-ish film. However, director Hariharan has other plans, and while some are executed to perfection, some others are middling, and the rest…

Cast: Ashwin Kumar, Teju Ashwini, Avantika Mishra, Pugazh

Director: Hariharan

In Vaali, the protagonist fashions a non-existent love story to impress the girl he’s interested in, but he gets into trouble when his fictional woman turns out to be real, and worse, meets his beloved. Something similar happens in Enna Solla Pogirai, but the meeting is actually orchestrated by Vikram (Ashwin Kumar), and everything that can go wrong, goes wrong… The other two sides of this seemingly convoluted love triangle are Anjali (Avantika) and Preeti (Teju). Billed as Cook with Comali-fame Ashwin Kumar’s launch as a lead hero, Enna Solla Pogirai functions more as a star vehicle for Teju and Avantika who get author-backed roles. While Vikram’s job as an RJ doesn’t add much to the film, theatre artiste Preethi and romance fiction writer Anjali really use their strengths to figure out their lives. 

While the idea of love propagated is as cliched as it can get, the serendipitous romance scenes translate well on screen. Hariharan’s decision to not rush these scenes allows us to get acquainted with Vikram, Anjali and Preeti. It is impressive how each of these equations gradually blossoms in the film. Vikram and Anjali don’t really hit it off immediately, and although the latter’s love for Vikram might seem rushed, it is a reflection of the person Anjali is. Her idea of love might be warped but it is fiercely her own. The same holds good for Preethi, who is as confident as she is conflicted, and her well-founded dilemma propels the film forward. It is Vikram who gets lost in between Anjali and Preeti, and his misgivings and misplaced anger don’t really seem justified. While Ashwin feels most at home in the song sequences and the initial meet-cutes, the heavy lifting in the emotional scenes are done by Teju and Avantika, and the lack of clarity in his role gets reflected in his performance too. Enna Solla Pogirai is essentially the story of two strong-willed women who are briefly thrown off track of their lives by the intrusion of a charming yet superfluous man.

“Do I love her?” “Does he love me?” “Do I love him?” “Does she love me?” “Does she love him?” There’s only so much of this you can take in a film that is not exactly novel and keeps operating in safe zones. The recent Ashok Selvam films—Ninnila Ninnila/Theeni and Oh My Kadavule—were love triangles too but brought in an element of fantasy to add novelty. This is where Enna Solla Pogirai falters, and the generic conversations don't help either. Another downside is the forced comedy track featuring Ashwin’s Cook with Comali co-star Pugazh. In fact, his presence in the emotional scenes work better than in the comic portions. While it does add points to Pugazh’s acting credentials, the film isn’t a great example of his chops as a comedian.  

There’s a popular meme of a musician on a beach playing a flaming piano—used usually to indicate musical brilliance. I kept thinking of it, while consuming the music of Enna Solla Pogirai, which is easily among Vivek-Mervin’s best works. The director too treats the soundtrack with the respect it deserves. We don’t often get well-made romantic musicals (points to DOP Richard M Nathan for those rich visuals, especially the songs) in our cinema, and in many ways, Enna Solla Pogirai looks to fill that vacuum. It doesn’t do a great job of it, but it’s definitely a decent value-addition.