Hiphop Tamizha Adhi made his debut as an actor with Meesaya Murukku that turned out to be a successful venture and was also highly enjoyed by the audience. The superhit success of that film lead Adhi to sign his second film as an actor, which has released today. Yes, we are talking about Natpe Thunai, the music director turned actor's latest outing, that has hit the screens with high expectations from the audiences. This Hockey based friendship drama is directed by debutante Parthiban Desingu.

Natpe Thunai is all about the fight for an open ground that has a history associated with it. A business tycoon and a minister (Karu Pazhaniappan) plan to demolish the ground and construct a new factory in that place. Prabhakaran (Hiphop Tamizha) and his team of friends decide to stand against all the evil forces and safeguard their ground. Prabhakaran and his team need to win an important Hockey match to safeguard their ground, but did they do it? Did friendship win over the negative forces? Catch the film to know!

Barring Karu Pazhaniappan, the performances of the rest of the supporting actors look artificial. The ace director fits in as the corrupt politician and adds more flavour to the proceedings. He is enticing and looks very much believable in that role and his body language is impressive. Hiphop Adhi entertains the audience with his screen presence and he responsibly maintains the energy of the film. He holds the film on his shoulders. The young actor plays some quality hockey in the film and his dedication for the character is seen. Anagha Malhotra as the female lead doesn't have much to do with the core surrounding. The pre-interval hockey sequence shows her in good form but the makers fail to utilize her in the larger picture. YouTube star Vijay tries to bring in a few laughs, but only a very few turn out to be funny. Same is the case with others like Shah Ra, Bijili Ramesh, to name a few.

Natpe Thunai suffers from the overdo of many aspects. The heroism factor is exaggerated over the top and you could probably feel that a lot of scenes and shots are deliberately kept to elevate the mass of Adhi. The comedies don't work much, except for a few one-liners. The romantic track is dull and uninteresting and it is worrying to see a major part of the first half filled with just that. It adds no value to the screenplay and the makers slowly enter into the story only at the interval point. The pre-interval hockey scene deserves special mention as it is entertainingly presented.

By the interval point, you definitely know the climax and the scenes we are going to witness for the next one hour. The latter half of the film has a major hockey match and those 30 and odd minutes have been ambitiously shot. Kudos to cinematographer Aravinnd Singh and team. At the same time, the hockey match does become boring and flat after a point in time. The commentary by Mirchi Sha and Vijay doesn't entertain you either. The liveliness in Meesaya Murukku goes missing here and due to that, even an emotionally intense flashback doesn't seem to make an impact. There are a lot of dialogues that try to convey messages and end up becoming artificial. For example, the end card sequence wouldn't have made a big difference had it not been there, but the team want to tell the audience about the importance of voting.

On the positive side, the characterisation of Karu Pazhaniappan is neatly etched out and looks relatable. Also, the sequence where Pazhaniappan takes a dig at all the local media about the commercialization of news stories, needs applause. If the film had more of such sequences, the final result would have been different, in a positive way.

Hiphop Tamizha's songs ultimately energize the audience and his background score supplements the mood of the film. As said earlier, Aravinnd Singh does a fine job with his visuals and the colours are used to perfectly sync in with the style of the film. Fenny Oliver's cuts is a positive aspect that helps in the flow of the film maintaining its energy. His trendy cuts come in handy. Sreekath Vasrp and Devesh, the writer duo have got a potential story on their hand, and it could have been way more engaging and entertaining had the screenplay been exciting, with duplicate dialogues.

The friendship concept turns into a sentimental melodrama towards the end, due to the climax. Director Parthiban Desingu understands the pulse of the audience and places scenes that would earn the claps, but as a film, one might feel that Natpe Thunai needed an even more effective execution and packaging.

In a nutshell, Natpe Thunai has some fine moments that might impress you if you are ready to enjoy the templated commercial masala formula with overdo of heroism.