After three long years, Gautham Menon’s Enai Noki Paayum Thotta is finally here. The film begins with lines from Bharathiyar’s famous ‘Naan veezhven endru ninaithayo?’ (Did you think I will fall?) poem, and the director could have been talking about himself, considering all the struggle that he’s been through. And to his credit, the film does not feel dated at all.

But, that’s not necessarily a compliment – Gautham Menon’s thrillers increasingly feel like he’s remaking the same template over and over again, moving a few pieces on the chessboard to make it look fresh every time.

Here, too, there’s a police officer. One damsel dies. The other is in distress. There are lines about her beauty (although it was Helen of Troy and not Cleopatra who was described as the ‘The face that launched a thousand ships’ – sorry to be pedantic). There are gangsters (one is predictably named Pandian). There’s violence. There’s an upper class family. There’s wonderful music (Darbuka Siva’s music is one reason why the film was never forgotten despite the delay). Great frames. There’s a flashback. There’s even a throwaway homophobic joke. There’s a voice-over nearly all through the film, like an annoying member of the audience who’s already watched the film and is keen to explain every scene happening right before your eyes. There are people casually mixing English with Tamil lines.

These old GVM tropes are set within a new story. Raghu (Dhanush) finds himself staring at a bullet that’s approaching him; the story unfolds from that point of danger, taking us to how and why he got there. Megha Akash plays Lekha, a young actor who’s forced into the profession by her guardian Kuberan (a creepy Senthil Veerasamy); he’s named after the god of wealth and is full of avarice. The romance is like a soap bubble – light, beautiful to watch, insubstantial. Perhaps it’s excusable because the protagonists are so young (look at the sparkling conversations in Thanneer Maththan Dhinangal though), but would it have been too much to include one genuine conversation between the two?

There’s suspense. Raghu’s older brother chose to leave him when he was young. And he’s now somehow mixed up with Lekha. The two threads intersect and BOOM, you expect a mighty revelation. But when it comes, it’s quite tame and remains underexplored. M Sasikumar is usually the sickle man, here, he’s the slick man. It’s fun to watch him in a role that requires sophistication – the scene with him and Lekha at the hotel room especially stands out. There’s tension, a bit of humour, and some paisa vasool moments for the audience. But he’s gone too soon.

Dhanush can play any age he wants and as Raghu, who’s just passed out of engineering, he’s every bit convincing. Only, I kept wishing that I could put the distracting voice-over on mute and watch him perform. Like that scene when he sees Lekha after a long time or the part when he learns of the death of someone he loves. He doesn’t say anything, his shifting emotions just reflect on his face. The voice-over slows the film down even as the screenplay tries to race ahead.

As in his other thrillers, the Gautham Menon heroine here too is someone to be cherished but largely helpless. The hero still cares for her though she’s not “pure” in the way our heroines are required to be. We get a small lesson on consent. Good. Nice. Okay. Ticks all the boxes.

The fight sequences are choreographed well, the one in the lift especially. The climax on the foot bridge, too, has us on edge. But as snazzy as these sequences are, they cannot compensate for a thin plot.

Is it watchable? Yes. But does it leave us wanting to watch it one more time like a Khaaka Khaaka? Nope. Gautham Menon needs some new ammunition for his next; this gun has been fired one too many times and has no bullets left.

Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the series/film. TNM Editorial is independent of any business relationship the organisation may have with producers or any other members of its cast or crew.