By Manigandan K.R.

Mumbai, Apr 2 (IANS): Film: 'Idiot' (Running in Theatres). Duration: 127 minutes.

Director: Rambhala. Cast: Mirchi Shiva, Nikki Galrani, Anandaraj, Urvashi, Redin Kingsley, Ravi Maria and Mayilsamy.

IANS Rating: **1/2

Director Rambhala, who is known to have delivered some comedies that actually worked before, fails miserably in his mission to entertain the masses with his 'Idiot'.

The Tamil film has a wafer-thin story, if one can even call it that, and a truckload of poor jokes that are so horribly bad, that forget laughter, one can't even manage a smile by the time the film ends.

Some of the so-called "funny" dialogues in the film are either absolutely annoying or dangerously close to being termed obscene.

Synopsis:

Members of a royal family are murdered by two generals, who then usurp their wealth. The spirits of the dead royal family members haunt the place, looking to take revenge.

The story then cuts across to a different time period. Here, we are introduced to Raasu Gounder (Anandaraj), a money-minded landlord who is basically an idiot, and his wife Parimalam (Urvashi).

Their son, Chinnarasu (Mirchi Shiva), is a harsh critic of his dad. To cut a long story short, Chinnarasu walks out of his home after a fight, loses his mental balance after suffering a blow to his head and is admitted to a mental hospital in which Smitha (Nikki Galrani) is a doctor.

The hospital has a bunch of weird characters, including a sorceress called Neelakandi (Akshara Gowda), and a funny patient called Burfi (Redin Kingsley). This apart, there is a gang of kidnappers headed by Thiru Don Sekar (Ravi Maria), which is looking to kidnap Smitha and demand a ransom for her.

Do the spirits get their revenge? Do the kidnappers manage to kidnap Smitha? Does the sorceress succeed in her mission? Will Chinnarasu become normal again?

'Idiot' is actually neither engaging nor entertaining. When a film's high on good humour, audiences might be willing to forgive a flimsy story. Sadly for 'Idiot', neither its story, nor its jokes seem to work. On the contrary, they only annoy.

Redin Kingsley as Burfi and Mirchi Shiva as Chinnarasu try to salvage the situation, cracking an occasional joke, but sadly, their efforts fall miserably short and the film comes across as a drag.

Vikram Selva's music and Raja Bhattacharjee's cinematography are just about okay. Despite having a big star cast, 'Idiot' fails to impress.