Karthi, Tamannaah starrer ‘Aawara’ is a road movie with an ample dose of love, action and masala. The film is the dubbed version of a Tamil film ‘Paiyaa’ which was a big hit in Tamil Nadu. It’s also the first time that Karthi and Tamannaah are acting together. Directed by Linguswamy, the film narrates the story of a jobless, carefree guy who escorts the girl of his dreams from Bangalore to Mumbai.

What’s the Story : Karthi stars as Shiva, a carefree, hot-blooded young man who goes to Bangalore in search of a job. With the help of his friends, he almost gets placed in a firm. However, he decides not to attend the interview and instead he chooses to search for the girl of his dreams. Shiva doesn’t know her name, but keeps bumping into her every now and then. One fine day, this mysterious girl accompanied by her uncle mistake Shiva for a car driver and asks him to give them a ride till Nellore. Shiva understands that not all is well with this girl named Charulatha (Tamannaah) and offers to help. What’s the problem which is haunting Charulatha? How do the two, fall in love with each other while they are on the road? That forms the rest of the story.

What is Good: Linguswamy’s screenplay is a revelation. First things first, the film doesn’t take itself seriously. We have a smart guy who falls madly in love with the cutest girl he comes across. Although he never confesses his love for her, you can see the sense of trust which builds between the couple as they are on the road. Karthi dazzles in his role as Shiva. We have already seen him deliver a brilliant performance in Yugaaniki Okkadu and he fits into the role of a city bred 20 something who doesn’t give a damn about his career pretty well. He may not be too expressive as far as his body language is concerned, but he is at his best when it comes to the action sequences. Oh, by the way, he can’t dance. Atleast not yet. Tamannaah shines, literally. Be it her costumes or how lively she looks in the film, she catches your attention throughout the film. She looks lost in the beginning and slowly her expressions turn towards hope and belief in the strength of Shiva. Milind Soman is strictly average as the villain in the film.

What is bad: While narrating a story which happens on the road is an interesting premise, it would have been a lot better had there been great conversations between the lead pair. On top of that, although Karthi makes an earnest attempt to bring authenticity in his Telugu diction, it has its share of ups and downs. While the first half of the film is spent on trying to create the perfect chemistry between the couple, a major chunk of second half goes away in narrating why tons of villains keep chasing the pair on the road. It’s all a little predictable especially the way it meanders towards the climax.

Technical Departments: Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music is a huge asset to the film and it’s one of the reasons why this movie is worth a watch. Anthony’s editing is slick although some of the locales do repeat every now and then. Madhi’s cinematography is commendable especially considering the fact that it’s a road film. The action sequences and car chases deserve a big thumbs up. Linguswamy, who has films like Run, Pandem Kodi to his credit, makes sure that Aawara is a racy entertainer. While he successfully pulls the right strings to make it a sweet love story with oodles of drama, perhaps it’s a little too contrived. The film falls short of being an absolute joy ride.

Bottomline: The film is not inspired from ‘Jab We Met’ although both the films are about how the couples get closer when they are on the road. It’s not a bad film by any standard, perhaps a good enough film for this summer. Watch it for Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music, slick action choreography and the lead pair. And you get Madhi’s cinematography as the icing on the cake. The film is high on speed and it would have been a lot better if there was more NOS in that script!