96 - The Movie (2018) - Cut Short Review

Cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Trisha Krishnan, Aadhitya Bhaskar, Gouri G Kishan, Devadarshini, Janagaraj, Bagavathi Perumal, Kavithalaya Krishnan, Aadukalam Murugadoss, Niyathi Kadambi, Varsha Bollamma, Shyam Prasad 
Direction: C.Prem Kumar 
Production: Madras Enterprises, 7 Screen Studio (Release) 
Music: Govind Vasantha 
Genre: Romance, Drama 
Language: Tamil 
Version: 2D
Runtime: 2 hrs 38 mins 
Censor Certificate: U

Plot - Ramachandran (Vijay Sethupathi & Aadhitya Bhaskar) is a travelling photographer, who also teaches about photography to his students. His school friends arranges a re-union of '96' batch. In that re-union, Ramachandran meets his ex-lover Janaki Devi (Trisha Krishnan & Gouri G Kishan). How that re-union party makes them to share their sweet memories forms the crux of the story. 

Performance of the Star Cast - Vijay Sethupathi delivers his usual best performance. He easily steals the show through his simple expressions. When he hesitate to express his love, he makes to smile and also he makes us to feel for it. Trisha Krishnan delivers an excellent performance. She makes everyone to go crazy for her cute smile and expressions. The way she tackles the hesitation of Vijay Sethupathi is really superb. The chemistry between Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha Krishnan works very well. Aadhitya Bhaskar and Gouri G Kishan plays the school life of Vijay Sethupathi - Trisha. They have completely justified their characters, by delivering a neat performance. Through their characters, we can easily re-collect our school memories and about our school-crush. Devadarshini, Bagavathi Perumal and 'Aadukalam' Murugadoss have given their best for the supporting character roles. Janagaraj makes a comeback after a long time. He scores well in the given small space. All the other actors have done their part very well. 

Technical Works - N.Shanmuga Sundaram's cinematography is really amazing. Through his visuals, we can able to feel the emotions between 'Ram' and 'Janu'. R.Govindaraj's editing is really nice. Through his simple cuts, he sets a good flow for this romantic subject. Govind Vasantha's songs are really amazing. When coming out of the theatre, we will still feel for 'Kaadhale Kaadhale' song. His background score is the soul of the film. It elevates the emotions and the situation of those characters very easily. It easily makes to get connected with those two characters. 

Director's Involvement with the Script - Director C Prem Kumar makes a very good directorial debut with a neat and decent romantic subject. He selects an usual plot only, but still the way he treats is the main strength of the film. Through his treatment, he takes us back to our school days. His writing of characters is really great, in which he makes the audience to relate with them easily. His screenplay makes us to feel for our school crush (if you have) and we will start recollecting those sweet moments. Through that love, he also makes to laugh for the fun in those portions. He doesn't make the audience to get bored of the romance between Ram and Janu. He maintains the slow screenplay flow, for  understanding the situation and emotions of the main characters. 

Screenplay Execution - In the first half, the film opens with a very good start. After few minutes, the screenplay settles into the main plot. From there, the film gives us many feel-good moments. The screenplay has a great balance of the flashback (school life) and the present (Re-union). The interval makes an end for the re-union party. In the second half, the screenplay completely focuses only on Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha. The conversation about their love and current life has been shown in a convincing manner. The answers that they both get for their questions has been executed well. It really makes us to feel for those portions. The climax looks very simple, still the strong emotional-love connect will make most of them to feel for it. 

Main Negatives of the Film - The commercial movie lovers will not get connected with this film. The slow screenplay execution, the conversation about love and the simple ending will not satisfy their taste. This may give them a disappointment. Few family audience may also get the same feel. But, the remaining audience will really love the film to the core. 

Verdict 
            '96 - The Movie' is a very good romantic entertainer in recent times. The film will really make most of the people to feel for their sweet school memories and also about their first love. The performance of the star cast and the screenplay with many feel-good moments makes the film to be strong in every aspect. The commercial movie lovers will not get convinced with this film. So, this film deserves 'must watch once' category to cherish with your beautiful memories of school days and also for the performance of the star cast. 

Cut Short Rating - 8.4/10