First things first - IF YOU ARE EXPECTING ANOTHER GHILLI, YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED. Kuruvi is a different film than Ghilli and remembering this before starting to watch the film will help you enjoy the film more. Kuruvi, starring Tamil Cinema's current youth sensation Vijay along with Trisha, Vivek and others entertains you in wholesome manner although one feels it could have been a little better, especially from the director Dharani who is known for giving razor sharp entertaining films like Ghilli, Dhool and Dhill.

Gotcha (Suman) along with a few of his villian friends have captured people and have put them as slaves, which includes Vijay's father Manivannan, in Cudappah of Andhra Pradesh to extract diamond from that area. Vetrivel (Vijay) is the typical Chennai youth (carefree guy!) who is burdened with the responsibility of taking care of his big family. He goes as a Kuruvi to Malaysia along with Vivek to get some money from Gotcha (Suman) so that he can help repay the debts of his father and support his family. There he meets Trisha who falls madly in love with Kuruvi. Vijay comes to know that his father is captured as a slave under the clutches of Suman. How he frees his father and the other slaves, forms the rest of the story

Screenplay & Direction: Director Dharani is in his full elements in the first half with some rip roaring comedy scenes by Vivek and Vijay, even though some of the scenes resemble a few other Hindi and English films. Dharani has also made sure that the songs have been picturised in a very extravagant fashion and in a very colorful manner. But the director slips up quite a bit in the second half where the inspiration heavily comes from a hit Telugu film 'Chatrapathi' which has been modified and looks like it has been pasted to the first half to make a full length feature film.

Some of the scenes in the second half are pretty violent and dragging and could have been trimmed (heard that some were trimmed eventually in theatres across India). The scene before the interval where Vijay flies from the building to the train dilutes the enormous impact created by the first half (it almost induces laughter!). The racing scene at the beginning could have been trimmed a little bit.

Rating: 6/10

Music & BGM: Vidyasagar has as usual rocked with his music and background score. Considering that he is working for his favorite Dharani's film, he keeps his record intact with some mind blowing music and background score. Especially the fight scene at the club makes the fans go clapping in delight with the background score enhancing the effect. The songs coupled with the stylish picturisation make a grand impact on the screen making the fans dance to their heart's content

Rating: 9/10

Camera & Other Technical Aspects: The camera work for this film has been really splendid. It especially shows through in the picturisation of the songs, especially "Happy New Year" and "Thaen Thaen". The editing work is also very good, though the second half could have been made a little bit shorter to make it more racier (but the editor has done what the director wanted him to do!).

Rating: 8/10

Other Cast & Crew: All the cast have performed exactly according to what the director wanted them to do. Special mention needs to be given to Suman, who is menacing as Gotcha and brings a punch to the character. If he excelled as "Adiseshan" with his quite and cool personality in Sivaji, here he is aggressive and fierce as the diamond hungry 'Gotcha'. Ashish Vidyarthi deserves a better role than his portrayal of 'Konda Reddy'. Blink your eye, and you could miss seeing Malavika on screen in Kuruvi. The characters who make up the family of Vijay have all acted very well.

Rating: 8/10

Trisha & Vivek: Trisha is at her lively best in this movie. She provides adequate support to the comedy combo of Vijay and Vivek. She provides ample glamour to entertain her fans. Her chemistry with Vijay is electrifying, and she looks gorgeous in the songs and in many of the scenes. One notices a marked change in her costumes and make up and they further enhance her beauty. She also dances well along with Vijay who is the industry's best "dancer". But the presence of Trisha is greatly limited in this movie unlike Ghilli where she formed a vital part in the pace of the movie. Vivek as "Aaps.." (does anyone know his name in the movie?) is as usual a revelation in Dharani's films. He did a great job in Dhill and Dhool, and he outdoes that with his brilliant coming timing in 'Kuruvi'. He includes quite a few double meaning dialogues that if understood can be really embarassing, but overall his comedy in this film is excellent and invokes a lot of laughter. He combines perfectly with Vijay, who in himself is a very good comedian. Some of his comedy (e.g. the mimicry of certain actors and directors) sound funny when done by Vivek onscreen.

Rating: 9/10

ILAYATHALAPATHY Vijay: Be it dancing, comedy, romance, action, expressions among other things, Vijay shows that he is a master. He does not need a good story, he does not need expert direction. He can carry a film all by himself and take it to the brink of success. He does just that in Kuruvi by literally carrying the film on his own shoulders. His dancing keeps improving with each and every film, and he can be rightfully called the 'Best Dancer in Kollywood'. One cant imagine the amount of effort that he must be putting into those complex dancing steps! His brand of comedy as usual rocks, and he makes a terrific combination with Vivek. His chemistry with Trisha is fantastic (the highlight being the 'Thaen Thaen' song shot in Switzerland). His encounters with Suman in the second half are entertaining to watch, and his punch dialogues certainly pack a punch (e.g. "Nee Kedi naa naan Jilla Kedi daa..")

Rating: Can you rate this man? I can't...

OVERALL VERDICT: Considering Dharani's lofty standards, its a disappointment from his side. If compared with Ghilli, might not fulfill your expectations. But it is certainly an entertaining film that is worth a watch (if you're a Vijay fan, wonder how many times you will watch it!).

MOVIE OVERALL RATING: 8 / 10