It is the same Manivannan - Satyaraj combination that had earlier presented extremely watchable films like ``Amaidhi Padai.'' But the magic of the past is much wanting in KDK Film International's ``Aandaan Adimai.'' Manivannan whose prowess in comedy needs no elaboration, has come back as a director, after a lull. The story, screenplay and dialogue are also by him. The story has nothing new - the child of a wealthy couple, who is lost, is found by a poor cobbler and his wife who bring him up as their own. The child grows up into the genial, hardworking but illiterate hero - Sivaraman (Sathyaraj) is the name. By chance he sets foot at the place where he was born and blurred images of his years with his parents, give way to paramnesia and soon the knowledge of his past hits him. He is a Brahmin by birth and his name is Sankaran. His father is a purohit. The parents accept him without much ado. And he shuttles between the squalor of the slum where his foster parents live and the traditional `agraharam.' Till the truth is out and the crisis is resolved - of course in a highly implausible manner. The story has a message - but times are changing. The `agraharam' or the exclusive Brahmin colony is rare even in villages, and hence the theme seems rather obsolete. The hero attributes even the grime and lack of hygiene in the slums to innumerable years of subjugation. The only solution seems to be the Brahmin couple's decision to migrate to the slum. And the layman could return home, appeased and happy. But what exactly the storywriter is trying to convey remains a mystery till the end. The screenplay is to blame - not one incident or action has depth. There is friendship, there is villainy and there is love and affection too. But everything at a superficial level. The scene where the parents accept their long lost son, for example. It doesn't require the chain which the child had worn or the `family song', as Sathyaraj puts it, to unite them - but should there not be some amount of genuineness, spontaneity and warmth in the reunion? Action scenes alone add a little pep and punch. ``Undhan Rajiyathil...'' is the only song that makes an impact - Ilaiyaraja is the composer. The insular Brahmin priest, whom we have come across in ever so many films, is here represented by `junior' Balaiah. The heroines, Suvalakshmi and Divya Unni are incidental adornments who have very little to do. The melodrama is taken care of by `Nizhalgal' Ravi and `Thalaivasal' Vijay. ``Aandaan Adimai'' means well and if the incidents brought in had been presented with force the film may have made an impact. - - Review by 'The Hindu'

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